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Opinion

Skills Training is Integral to the Success of the Federal Infrastructure Plan and New York’s Construction Sector


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Construction workers (photo: Michael Appleton/Mayor's Office)


From the first day of its introduction, the Biden infrastructure plan has been cast as a critical tool to transform our nation’s economy after the upheaval caused by the coronavirus pandemic.  

This bipartisan deal aims to pump $1.2 trillion over the course of eight years into repairing and building new roads, bridges, broadband, and electric vehicle infrastructure, creating millions of new, good-paying jobs that will accelerate the covid recovery. 

With the influx of billions of dollars into the state, New York’s construction industry has a unique opportunity to address its longstanding labor shortage – an undertaking that will require the reskilling of thousands of workers in order to succeed.  

The industry lost over 60,000 jobs in New York alone over the past year, a 20.8% decrease, according to New York Department of Labor data. When jobsites closed and production halted during the COVID-19 pandemic — albeit temporarily — thousands of workers were sidelined, and many did not return even after work was allowed to resume with strict public health protocols in place.  

But the reality is that a labor shortage existed even prior to the COVID-19 crisis and has only been exacerbated over the past year. Associated Builders and Contractors (ABC) estimates that companies will need to hire 430,000 more workers than they employed in 2020. That far-reaching hiring effort will be critical to the long-term success of the economic recovery, as an analysis by ABC revealed that for every $1 billion in extra construction spending, an average of 5,700 jobs is generated. 

As the state is almost fully reopened and returning to some semblance of normal, the construction industry must redouble its efforts to create a pipeline of skilled workers who can fill the many job openings that are popping up almost daily. That means reaching out to those who might have taken a break from the industry, as well as recruiting new workers from groups that are under-represented in construction – including people of color and women.  

Once we have attracted these workers into the industry, it is critical that we provide them with the skills they need to succeed in building sustainable and lucrative careers. The federal infrastructure plan does not actually include direct funding for skills training. Which makes it all the more important that New York invests at the state level to ensure we are able to capitalize on the opportunities and jobs coming our way.  

Training programs benefit workplaces and job-seekers alike. They provide new workers with confidence as they enter an industry and help existing workers build their resumes and take their careers to the next level. For employers, these programs provide a well-trained and knowledgeable workforce, maximizing worker effectiveness and minimizing jobsite delays.  

Building Skills New York has focused on tackling the labor shortage head-on by partnering with local community colleges to help individuals gain the skill sets and certifications required to both enter and advance in the construction industry.  

Just this month, Bronx Community College and Building Skills launched the Construction Career Accelerator (CCA) Program, which was made possible by a grant from the state Labor Department. The program aims to help participants already placed on construction jobsites across the five boroughs gain the necessary skills to advance their careers, as well as to meet the industry’s need for experienced workers. 

We are particularly pleased to be able to launch this program in the Bronx, which was disproportionately impacted by the pandemic-induced economic fallout. During the height of the covid crisis in May 2020, the borough’s unemployment rate reached nearly 25% – the highest in the city. Providing additional job training opportunities for Bronx residents is especially meaningful at this critical moment in the city’s history.

Building Skills plans to launch additional programs later this summer and in the fall. The priority is to make these programs as accessible as possible, so every interested individual has a chance to pursue a career within this industry. The more we’re able to reskill workers the better chances we have at spurring economic growth.  

With passage of the federal infrastructure bill imminent, the construction industry must be prepared to quickly capitalize on the once-in-a-lifetime opportunities it will present. That means investing in quality training programs now to assure we have a well-prepared workforce ready and able to tackle a wide range of projects for years to come.   

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David Meade is Executive Director of Building Skills New York. Oswald Feliz is the New York City Council Member for District 15 in the Bronx. On Twitter @BuildSkillsNY@OswaldFeliz.

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As New York’s Economy Recovers, There's a Crucial Role for Internships for People with Disabilities


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At work (photo: icdnyc.org)


Even before the COVID-19 pandemic struck, the U.S. unemployment rate for people with disabilities was 2.5 times higher than for those without. The pandemic has had a devastating effect on the employment and job prospects for people with disabilities, but New York’s business and nonprofit communities can play a vital role in the economic recovery of people with disabilities by reaching out for job candidates and by providing internships.

For people entering the job market for the first time or at a new level, internships are especially important. They provide individuals with disabilities an opportunity to show how skilled they are, and they provide the organization offering the internship a chance to see how valuable that person can be. But, more than that, they give the intern a chance to gain relevant work experience and a credential that can be parlayed into a permanent position. 

Internships all but disappeared during the pandemic. Some businesses or nonprofit organizations that historically offered internships went out of business. Some closed temporarily or switched to remote working. Even those that remained open and operating on-site often could not permit additional people on the property due to COVID-19 protocols.

One important opportunity that emerged through the City of New York’s Department of Social Services (DSS) underscores the vital role of internships. In 2019, DSS launched its Partnership for Inclusive Internships program, an initiative designed to provide job opportunities and valuable work experience for people with disabilities. In 2020, while seeking to preserve the internship program amid the pandemic, DSS was interested in securing additional tech support for employees who were working remotely and had computer problems to be addressed. DSS, therefore, partnered with the Institute for Career Development (ICD) to simultaneously address this need and provide an opportunity to technology-trained interns. 

For several months earlier this year, 12 recent graduates of ICD’s AbilITy Cisco Academy, the first fully-accessible computer networking certification program for New Yorkers with disabilities, served as DSS interns, providing help desk support to DSS staff, developing technical tickets for the IT department, and assisting in problem-solving alongside agency employees. The interns – who were paid but at no cost to city government – thus provided much-needed support to a city agency that has been a lifeline to more than 3 million New Yorkers throughout the pandemic, connecting individuals in need with vital benefits and services, such as food stamps/SNAP and cash assistance. 

This example is especially relevant, as New York seeks to expand tech sector further. A recent study by ICD and New York Institute of Technology – “Opportunities for Pathways & Collaborations” – recommends steps to widen the pool of people with disabilities with tech skills. 

But internships are vital across a wide range of industries and job categories, and need to be pursued broadly, as different industries recover economically at different paces.

The real estate community, for instance, can benefit from existing programs that provide training for building repair technicians and office technology support. These are vital roles, as property owners seek to entice tenants back to the office.

Human services functions across all industries may have greater challenges than ever, as they seek to re-establish office culture with workers in the office, at home, or in hybrid arrangements. Interns serving as human services assistants can be crucial in that context.

Care-providing industries, such as childcare, may be in more demand than ever. They can benefit from trained interns, too, as New Yorkers adjust to new work schedules and the resulting care-providing arrangements needed. 

People with disabilities have a history of overcoming obstacles, and their perspectives and determination can benefit any organization. They value the chance to demonstrate their skills and appreciate those who offer that chance. 

Research shows that companies that are inclusive of people with disabilities are more financially successful. What better opportunity than to improve a company’s financial success, while giving back to the community in ways that open entire careers for people with disabilities?

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Brent Gallenberger is Manager of Workforce Readiness at the Institute for Career Development in New York City. On Twitter @icd_nyc.

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Bill De Blasio Has Been A Good Mayor, Actually


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Mayor de Blasio and kids (photo: Edwin J. Torres/Mayoral Photography Office)


I would have voted for Bill de Blasio a third time if I could. Strip away the car trips to the Park Slope Y and the misguided presidential run, and evaluate the objective facts about New York City before and after his eight years in office and his two terms were a success. De Blasio’s administration shows the value of liberal incrementalism, or as President Obama put it: better is good

De Blasio ran on the idea that New York was a tale of two cities, with inequality at the root of its ills. To rectify that inequality, the two major promises of de Blasio’s 2013 campaign were his commitment to ending the Bloomberg administration’s stop-and-frisk policing program and providing universal pre-kindergarten to New York families. He delivered on those promises.

The Bloomberg administration’s racist, harmful, and unconstitutional policy of unfettered stop-and-frisk was ended almost immediately. As a civil rights attorney, I will be the first to tell you that the NYPD’s abuses and unnecessary contact with the police did not end with Mayor de Blasio’s election, nor with the end of the stop-and-frisk program, but the numbers do not lie: policing got better in New York City under Bill de Blasio on almost every score. Use of force complaints against the NYPD fell dramatically during his time in office. Similarly, the daily jail population in New York City fell, misdemeanor arrests fell, as did marijuana arrests. Those are real improvements that reduced contact between New Yorkers and the police, even as racial disparities in that contact and violence persisted.

Crime also continued its precipitous decline in New York City under de Blasio, even if you would not know it watching TV news or reading daily tabloids. In 2018, New York City set a record for the fewest homicides in its measured history. And that was not merely a reflection of national trends. During Mayor Bloomberg’s last term, New York City contributed 3.4% of the nation’s murders. Under de Blasio, that number was 2.25%. New York has not been immune to a spike in shootings and murders over the past year-plus, but did not increase faster than the national average, and homicides appear to be moving back towards their 2019 numbers in New York City. In de Blasio’s New York, while people are not free from police and interpersonal violence, they are safer from both than they were under Bloomberg. 

Universal pre-K was also successfully implemented. The program is a massive progressive success that has gone relatively unremarked. It is a life-changing result for less well-off New Yorkers and a massive transfer to the least well-off, increasing women’s participation in the labor force and the likelihood children will attend college. The program is now universal 3-K, extending to three-year-olds, adding essentially two years to the public school system, and it will be the largest of its kind in the country. It is a testament to both the success of the program and to its benefit for people underrepresented in the media that such a success has gone so unnoticed. 

Even some of his failures are relative successes compared to national trends. Housing costs in New York City have gone up less quickly than the national average under de Blasio, a first for New York City in decades. Vision Zero brought New York’s auto and pedestrian fatalities down even as traffic fatalities increased in much of the country. New York City students have gained on students throughout the country in reading during de Blasio’s administration even as they stagnated in math.

This is not to absolve de Blasio of his failures. The population living in New York City shelters grew substantially during the mayor’s tenure as housing costs continued to increase and affordable housing remained far too scarce. His response to Eric Garner’s death was completely unacceptable and his defense of the NYPD during last summer’s protests reflected the extent to which de Blasio largely stopped his police reform efforts after 2015. While expanded bike lanes and Citi Bike have been successes, he has not shown enough verve on protecting bike riders and improving bus service. He promised to end solitary confinement a year ago, and has dragged his feet

But better is good, and we must ask, “compared to what?” His failures often reflected the structural factors that constrain all big city mayors. Ask activists what they think of the last few mayors of Chicago or Los Angeles or New York City itself, and you will hear near universal condemnation of their performance, particularly on policing. We cannot, on the one hand, note the power police unions have amassed, which research has shown leads to increased police violence, while at the same time ignore that power in evaluating our leaders. The right wing media and police union ecosystem in place in the city was able to bully New York legislators into rolling back bail reform before it had really started. That same ecosystem successfully pushed a narrative that de Blasio was failing on crime and policing even as crime plummeted in 2014 and 2015.  

Similarly, the political ecosystems of all American cities favor well-off white voters. According to political scientists Jesse Rhodes, Brian Schaffner, and Raymond La Raja, the views of white voters are structurally overrepresented in local politics throughout the country, even in cities like New York that are majority non-white. De Blasio faced this constraint. He rarely maintained a positive approval rating among white voters in New York City. Today, even with his polling numbers highly negative, de Blasio maintains strong net approval among Black voters, a number that would likely surprise the well-off white Democrats who treat his two-terms as a failure. De Blasio’s refusal to center their political preferences, as Bloomberg and Giuliani had while trampling on the rights of Black and brown New Yorkers, has consistently led to high disapproval. 

In 2017, when de Blasio ran for re-election, his approval was low all year, until he ran against a real-life opponent. And when push came to shove in 2017, de Blasio cruised to re-election, and his approval jumped significantly. That is a good lesson for all of us.

Bill de Blasio did not improve policing in New York as much as I had hoped when I voted for him in 2013, and I wish we had built even more housing over the last eight years so that prices would actually come down for once. But New York City has improved over his eight years. It is hard not to look around at mayors of New York and other big American cities — past and present — and conclude that, like the old saying about democracy itself, Bill de Blasio has been the worst, except for all the others.

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Joel Wertheimer is a civil rights attorney and political consultant living in Brooklyn. On Twitter @Wertwhile.

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