Center for an Urban Future

Investing in reducing carbon emissions from the City University of New York’s (CUNY) aging buildings will prove essential for meeting New York’s ambitious climate goals, while also strengthening and modernizing the city’s most important economic mobility institution. Achieving the city and state’s commendable targets to reduce carbon emissions—40 percent by 2030, and 80 percent by 2050—will require a massive retrofit of New York City’s buildings, which make up almost 70 percent of the city’s carbon footprint. In this new commentary, CUF's Senior Fellow for Climate & Opportunity John Surico and Policy Director Eli Dvorkin urge Mayor Adams and the City Council to make CUNY a top priority for building decarbonization investments. The commentary reveals that while CUNY has developed a smart five-year plan to get on track to meet its climate goals, it lacks the resources to see it through. Only about 8 percent of CUNY buildings are in a state of good repair, and next year’s proposed capital budget cuts funding for CUNY by 24 percent. Despite these obstacles, the authors argue that this effort has a secret weapon: CUNY itself. The CUNY Building Performance Lab serves as a hands-on research center for New York’s decarbonization efforts, helping buildings come into compliance with Local Law 97. City College has cutting-edge renewable energy and building electrification research centers, while four colleges now participate in the CUNY Climate Scholars program. Students can earn degrees and certifications in everything from clean energy HVAC to solar power to sustainability in the urban environment. With sufficient investment, New York City and State could mobilize the immense talent and knowledge already at CUNY to build a greener and more resilient university across the five boroughs. Check out our full commentary here: https://lnkd.in/eDrrqySX

For thousands of New York City public high school graduates every year, the most accessible path to a bachelor’s degree—and with it, a major boost to economic mobility—is to enter the City University of New York (CUNY) as a community college student and then transfer to a four-year institution. But despite the power of the transfer pathway to help lift low-income young adults into career success and economic security, the large majority of CUNY students who intend to transfer and complete a bachelor’s fall short of doing so. Although eight of every nine new community college students at CUNY intend to transfer and complete at least a bachelor’s degree, only about one in nine does so within six years. Our new report details the problems at every point in the transfer process. Many who originally intend to springboard from a CUNY community college to a four-year institution never transfer at all. A smaller number are accepted but do not enroll. Others do transfer, but are unable to complete their degrees. The rates of completion for transfer students are notably lower for Black and Hispanic students: whereas 52.4 percent of white students graduated within three years after transferring, the rates were 44 percent for Black students and 47 percent for Hispanic students. But improvement is possible with a few strategic steps from CUNY and modest investments from city and state leaders. One clear place to start is by helping CUNY scale up a recent initiative that is already achieving striking results, but which is now in jeopardy due to funding cuts. Check out the full findings and recommendations in our report: https://lnkd.in/eUWU99zk

New York City has bounced back from the depths of the COVID-19 pandemic, once again demonstrating the city’s remarkable resilience in the face of crisis. But as much as New York has overcome immediate economic tests of the pandemic, it still has work to do to keep pace with a vastly changed post-pandemic landscape and reimagine key facets of the city’s economy at a time when hybrid work, e-commerce, climate change, an affordability crisis, and several other ongoing issues threaten to create long-term economic vulnerabilities. Our new report, Big Ideas to Help NYC Thrive in the Post-Pandemic Economy, offers five actionable ideas that city policymakers can implement in short order to address emerging challenges and seize new opportunities to make New York even stronger, more vibrant, and more equitable. The report, produced jointly with Winston Fisher and Fisher Brothers Foundation, includes the following policy ideas: •Create a new top-flight undergraduate university in New York •Convene a high-profile, multisector AI Week to help New York capture a large and growing share of the nation’s fast-growing AI industry •Launch New York City’s first annual five-borough cultural festival •Create a major new public art installation on the scale of “The Gates” and expand public art programs citywide •Help NYC capture more of the immersive entertainment uses growing globally by eliminating restrictive zoning Dive into the 5 big ideas from our report here: https://lnkd.in/en_RYeqn And check out the feature in the New York Times New York Today newsletter of our report here: https://lnkd.in/e8W7KJHd

Yesterday, the New York State Senate's response to the governor's budget proposed "$30 million for additional appropriations for the Office for New Americans for job training/placement services, case management services, and English as a second language services." While the city has seen a massive influx of new migrants in the last two years, and employers in all corners of the city are struggling to fill positions, New York's workforce training infrastructure has limited capacity to help these newcomers. In our report from September, Preparing Today's Asylum-Seekers to Be Tomorrow's Workforce, we urged the governor and legislature to provide an immediate funding boost for ESOL programs, along with job training services. We reiterated this recommendation in a January op-ed published in the Albany Times-Union, which called on the state to allocate significant "new funding for English classes and job training programs that will help these newcomers prepare to enter the workforce and become productive New Yorkers." We applaud the NYS Senate for including this proposal in their bill so more of the newest New Yorkers can participate in the city's economy, and urge Governor Hochul and the Assembly to support this crucial investment in the final state budget. Read our research on preparing today's asylum seekers for the workforce here: https://lnkd.in/eA8mAFkc And read our January op-ed here: https://lnkd.in/e_3D9TsV

So exciting that City Council Speaker Adrienne Adams just proposed an initiative to enhance and modernize NYC's branch libraries by redeveloping them with new affordable housing, something my colleagues and I at the Center for an Urban Future have been suggesting since our 2014 report, Re-Envisioning New York's Branch Libraries. Big props to Speaker Adams, and also to NYC Deputy Mayor Maria Torres-Springer and other leaders in the Adams Administration who have begun to co-develop affordable housing with wonderful new branch libraries in Inwood and Sunset Park. As we've noted, there are precious few pieces of land to build the housing NYC so badly needs, and dozens of the city's aging branch libraries are in disrepair and too small or poorly configured to deliver the full suite of resources libraries so powerfully provide today.

Today, the Mayor's Office for Economic Opportunity announced a new RFI (Request for Information), the first of its kind, that will support innovative workforce development programs serving New Yorkers with disabilities. Kudos to NYC Opportunity, NYC Department of Small Business Services, NYC Mayor's Office of Talent and Workforce Development, the Mayor's Office People with Disabilities, and the Workforce Development Corporation for starting the work on this exciting new pilot. This RFI will prioritize the input of New Yorkers with disabilities in the design of workforce development services and solutions. Our report Access Opportunity showed that existing city-funded workforce contracts are highly challenging for disability-focused providers to access, and recommended “developing new RFPs specifically focused on serving New Yorkers with disabilities.” We're excited about the possibility of this funding model to provide much-needed city support to innovative workforce programs for people with disabilities, but also to help incentivize other highly effective workforce programs to co-design more accessible programs Check out the RFI here: https://lnkd.in/eTXjt_Bm And check out more of our research on expanding economic opportunity for people with disabilities: https://lnkd.in/dp_qFdh4

Yesterday, the Center for an Urban Future was excited to host the policy symposium, "Big Ideas to Help NYC Thrive in the Post-Pandemic Economy." New York City has bounced back from the depths of the pandemic, fully rebounding from the jobs lost since 2020 and emphatically repelling the threat of a “doom loop” scenario. But New York still has work to do to keep pace with a vastly changed post-pandemic landscape and reimagine key facets of the city’s economy at a time when hybrid work, e-commerce, climate change, an affordability crisis, and several other ongoing issues threaten to create long-term economic vulnerabilities. This forum explored what’s needed to help New York stay ahead of these and other emerging challenges and build a stronger economy. Speakers put forward bold and creative ideas for strengthening the city’s commercial districts, sparking inclusive job growth in emerging high-wage sectors, rethinking the public infrastructure needed to keep New York City competitive, and making the city more livable, sustainable, and affordable. We also sought out ideas from audience members. Watch the replay of the event here: https://lnkd.in/guhAhft3 And thank you to our speakers for their insights, including Dan Garodnick, Margaret Anadu, Gregg Bishop, Jessica Lappin, Timothy Rowe, Benjamin Sun, John Wang, and Claire Weisz.

Yesterday, the Center for an Urban Future was thrilled to host the forum, "Upstate's Creative Spark: Harnessing the Arts to Boost Economic Vitality in Cities Across New York State." In recent years, arts and culture have been vital for economic revitalization in upstate cities from Albany and Syracuse to Buffalo and Rochester, creating jobs, transforming hard-hit downtowns, sparking small business growth, and even reversing years of population decline. Despite this, state funding for the arts has been limited, policymakers are only beginning to harness the arts for local economic development, and many working artists, arts organizations, and cultural venues face steep challenges. This forum explored what’s needed to keep upstate’s creative spark going and bolster artists and cultural organizations in communities across upstate New York. Building on CUF's recently published report, Upstate's Creative Spark: How the Arts is Catalyzing Economic Vitality Across Upstate New York, the forum discussed the promising new proposal put forward in January by Governor Hochul to "Promote Economic Growth by Investing in the Arts,” and delved into ways arts leaders can work with state officials to ensure that this plan not only comes to fruition but is implemented in a way that is smart, sustainable, and equitable. It shined a light on innovative upstate programs and initiatives that deserve to continue and grow and identified other opportunities for state policymakers to strengthen communities by expanding support for both artists and arts and cultural organizations. Watch the replay of the event here: https://lnkd.in/e2YuWZZ8 And thank you to our speakers for sharing their thoughts, including State Senator Sean Ryan, State Senator Jose M. Serrano, Erika Mallin, Sarah Calderon, Erica Fee, Kevin O Connor, Ryan Silva, Cjala Surratt, and Jade Warrick.

Today we are releasing a new Center for an Urban Future report, produced jointly with Brooklyn Org, that provides a roadmap for creating a stronger and more equitable Brooklyn, featuring concrete policy ideas from 50 Brooklyn-based leaders. The visionary ideas presented in the report include: •Reimagine the brownstone to help address Brooklyn’s affordable housing crisis. (Jonathan Marvel, Marvel) •Cap rent increases for small businesses that make capital improvements in their storefronts. (Tayo Giwa and Cynthia Gordy Giwa, Black-Owned Brooklyn) •Provide free legal representation to the growing number of Brooklyn homeowners facing foreclosure. (Lurie Daniel Favors, Center for Law and Social Justice at Medgar Evers College)  •Leverage major transportation projects planned for Brooklyn to strengthen low-income communities and prevent displacement. (Michelle de la Uz, Fifth Avenue Committee) •Develop community-owned solar canopies over parking lots and warehouse rooftops in Sunset Park. (Elizabeth Yeampierre, UPROSE) •Open mental health care centers designed to serve Brooklyn’s recent arrivals. (Lorena Kourousias, LMSW, MSPSY, Mixteca) •Revamp the affordable housing lottery to help long-time Brooklyn residents stay in their neighborhoods and build a larger constituency supporting new affordable housing developments. (Vivian Liao Korich, Totem) Check out the report and all 50 ideas here:  https://lnkd.in/ejsM-r5d And thank you to all of our contributors, including: Gregg Bishop, Tonya Gayle, Camara Jackson, Matthew Harrigan, Travis Fox, Desiree Gordon, Deron Johnston, Shelley Worrell, Lisette Sosa-Dickson, LCSW, Frances Bronet, Katherine Pangaro, Gib Veconi, Jo-Ann Yoo, Blondel A. Pinnock, David Giles, Pastor Gary V. Simpson, LaToya Meaders, Amy Andrieux, Ansen Tang, Oma Holloway, Randolph (Randy) Peers, Mary An, Jelena Kovacevic, Mayra Aldás-Deckert, Marco A. Carrión, David Harrington, Morgan Monaco, Rabbi Avrohom Hecht, Melisha Jackman, Julia Jean-Francois, Julie Brockway, Regina Myer, Jessica Santana, Anastasia Plakias, Mohammad Razvi, Ramik Williams, Gabriel Florenz, Yvonne M Brathwaite, Daniel Murphy, Bibi Esahack, Dale Charles, Kathy P., Rabbi Rachel Timoner, Katie Denny Horowitz, and Rawaa Nancy Albilal.

Today we are releasing a new Center for an Urban Future report, produced jointly with Brooklyn Org, that provides a roadmap for creating a stronger and more equitable Brooklyn, featuring concrete policy ideas from 50 Brooklyn-based leaders. The visionary ideas presented in the report include: •Reimagine the brownstone to help address Brooklyn’s affordable housing crisis. (Jonathan Marvel, Marvel) •Cap rent increases for small businesses that make capital improvements in their storefronts. (Tayo Giwa and Cynthia Gordy Giwa, Black-Owned Brooklyn) •Provide free legal representation to the growing number of Brooklyn homeowners facing foreclosure. (Lurie Daniel Favors, Center for Law and Social Justice at Medgar Evers College)  •Leverage major transportation projects planned for Brooklyn to strengthen low-income communities and prevent displacement. (Michelle de la Uz, Fifth Avenue Committee) •Develop community-owned solar canopies over parking lots and warehouse rooftops in Sunset Park. (Elizabeth Yeampierre, UPROSE) •Open mental health care centers designed to serve Brooklyn’s recent arrivals. (Lorena Kourousias, LMSW, MSPSY, Mixteca) •Revamp the affordable housing lottery to help long-time Brooklyn residents stay in their neighborhoods and build a larger constituency supporting new affordable housing developments. (Vivian Liao Korich, Totem) Check out the report and all 50 ideas here:  https://lnkd.in/ejsM-r5d And thank you to all of our contributors, including: Gregg Bishop, Tonya Gayle, Camara Jackson, Matthew Harrigan, Travis Fox, Desiree Gordon, Deron Johnston, Shelley Worrell, Lisette Sosa-Dickson, LCSW, Frances Bronet, Katherine Pangaro, Gib Veconi, Jo-Ann Yoo, Blondel A. Pinnock, David Giles, Pastor Gary V. Simpson, LaToya Meaders, Amy Andrieux, Ansen Tang, Oma Holloway, Randolph (Randy) Peers, Mary An, Jelena Kovacevic, Mayra Aldás-Deckert, Marco A. Carrión, David Harrington, Morgan Monaco, Rabbi Avrohom Hecht, Melisha Jackman, Julia Jean-Francois, Julie Brockway, Regina Myer, Jessica Santana, Anastasia Plakias, Mohammad Razvi, Ramik Williams, Gabriel Florenz, Yvonne M Brathwaite, Daniel Murphy, Bibi Esahack, Dale Charles, Kathy P., Rabbi Rachel Timoner, Katie Denny Horowitz, and Rawaa Nancy Albilal.