NEW YORK — New York City Council Speaker Adrienne E. Adams delivered her State of the City address Wednesday at Judge Sonia Sotomayor’s Homes and Community Center in the Bronx, outlining its vision to invest in city workers, expand entrepreneurial opportunities, prioritize affordable housing, and improve neighborhood health and safety.
Adams announced several new proposals, including those to increase industrial development, increase and preserve affordable housing, promote guaranteed income programs to lift New Yorkers out of poverty, expand fair rates, and fix the city’s 3-K system.
“President Adrienne Adams understands the importance of higher education in driving economic mobility for New Yorkers and making our city stronger,” said CUNY Chancellor Félix V. Matos Rodríguez. “It’s only been a year since he pitched the idea of CUNY Reconnect at his last State of the City and already over 16,000 students have returned to school through the program. These students will improve our workforce, our economy, and the general well-being of our local communities. We are grateful to have him and the city council as partners and look forward to continuing to work together to make our city greater. »
Jobs and economic mobility
Supporting New York City’s workforce, entrepreneurs, and small business owners is essential to expanding economic mobility for more New Yorkers through many diverse avenues.
The city must fulfill understaffed public service roles that provide essential services to New Yorkers, taking advantage of employment opportunities to employ New Yorkers in need. By removing barriers and providing targeted support to foster economic mobility, the city can unlock new opportunities that help more New Yorkers reach their full potential.
Adams also addressed the following priorities and proposals:
- Advocate for budget investments in the frontline positions of key city agencies serving New Yorkers and urge the city to accelerate agency capacities to hire effectively.
- Work with city unions and the mayor’s administration to identify jobs that no longer require college degrees and other unnecessary qualifications, pass laws that open up more public service jobs to New Yorkers.
- Support additional resources and pipeline programs for understaffed public service professions such as mental health workers, nurses, public defenders and housing advocates.
- Establish a “Social Work Scholars” program to cover tuition for those pursuing social work studies and providing mental health services in public settings, such as schools.
- CUNY Reconnect Expansion and CUNY Investments
- Expand workforce development for disconnected youth
- Prioritize industrial development for jobs, manufacturing and green energy
- Expansion of NYCHA Resident-Owned Businesses
fair housing
New York City faces a severe housing crisis that disproportionately affects low-income and working families and exacerbates homelessness.
As the city grows in population and jobs, available housing and housing production have lagged significantly, resulting in a housing shortage. As a result, competition for affordable housing is fierce and rents continue to reach record highs.
The New York Times recently reported that over the past two decades, the city’s black population has shrunk by nearly 10%, fueled by soaring rent prices and the increasingly elusive dream of home ownership. to owning a house. This exodus is deeply troubling and illustrates the need to address our housing and opportunity crisis that is costing the city its diversity.
In her State of the City Address, President Adams offered the following housing proposals:
- Help protect public housing by combining all of our existing municipal, state and federal funding tools into one newly developed NYCHA building to provide new Section 9 units to existing public housing residents living in a development
- Advancing a Framework Law on Fair Housing
- Increased production of affordable housing through zoning changes
- Strengthen housing preservation
“It’s so refreshing to see a set of proposals around supporting entrepreneurship that directly target NYCHA residents,” said Jonathan Bowles, executive director of the Center for an Urban Future. “New Yorkers living in public housing are already very creative and enterprising, but President Adams’ proposals will ensure that many more NYCHA residents can benefit from the city’s small business support services. This will help NYCHA residents succeed in their businesses and build wealth.
Healthier and safer neighborhoods
Health, safety and opportunity were hallmarks of our city’s first majority-female city council, and improving the health and safety of our neighborhoods is key to increasing opportunity for all New Yorkers.
Too many communities currently lack access to the basic support services they need to thrive. New York City must begin to address the longstanding inequities that undermine the health and safety of our neighborhoods by improving current programs and systems and implementing new ideas.
Ideas include:
- Create year-round access to public pools and expand free swimming programs.
- Expand half-price bus, subway and Access-A-Ride rides to more low-income New Yorkers by expanding Fair Fares eligibility to New Yorkers with incomes up to $200 % of federal poverty line.
- Commit $5 million to Guaranteed Income programs that provide direct poverty relief payments to low-income mothers with vulnerable infants and youth, those at risk of poverty due to their involvement in justice or foster care systems.
- Fixing the City’s Early Childhood Education and 3-K program with reforms and solutions. This includes expanding 3-K programming with new contracts, adequate staffing, and the ability to immediately reimburse vendors to settle late contract payments that undermined programs.
- Increase proven investments in community safety to end cycles of violence, including the creation of a new community safety and victim services spokesperson initiative that provides $100,000 to each Council district.
- Renewed City’s commitment to close Rikers Island Jail with action.
“City Harvest thanks the speaker for her commitment to fighting hunger by supporting programs that provide fresh food to families across the city at select NYCHA locations,” said Jerome Nathaniel, City’s Director of Policy and Government Relations. Harvest. “At a time when food price inflation is at its highest level in 40 years, the Spokesperson’s investment in City Harvest’s mobile markets can serve as a lifeline for hundreds of thousands of families. We look forward to continuing to serve our fellow New Yorkers alongside our fearless leaders in municipal government.”
The full text of Adams’ speech can be accessed here.