Gotham Gazette

The Place for New York Policy and politics

Center for an Urban Future

Center for an Urban Future

  • With Cuomo Promising Gig Economy Regulations, New York Leaders Consider Pros and Cons of California Model

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    (photo: Don Pollard/Office of the Governor)


    This year, more than 40% of New Yorkers will be employed in the so-called gig economy, Governor Andrew Cuomo said in his State of the State speech earlier this month. It was an acknowledgement that the nature of work is changing, or rather has changed, and also a concession that labor rules have not evolved to keep up. Gig economy workers lack the same benefits that full-time workers enjoy, which has helped billion-dollar companies make substantial profit on the backs of unprotected and often underpaid workers. And

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  • First Mandated Survey of Small Businesses Identifies Problems But City Points to Existing Services

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    Mayor de Blasio & Council Member Cornegy stop at a small business (photo: Ed Reed/Mayor's Office)


    New York City’s small businesses need more employees but struggle with hiring, and lack the time and resources they need to find and train talent. Their operational costs continue to be a challenge, including the cost of rent, insurance, and utilities. They need more financial support for growth and more assistance to comply with government rules and regulations.

    Those are just a few of the findings of a limited and first-of-its-kind survey conducted by

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  • Solving New York City’s Next Big Census Problem

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    (photo: John McCarten/City Council)


    New Yorkers got some great news last week when President Trump abandoned plans to add a citizenship question to the 2020 Census. Adding the question to the Census would have resulted in a massive undercount of the city’s population, causing New York to lose its share of billions in federal funding for vital programs and services.

    But there’s another wrinkle in this upcoming Census that could significantly depress participation across the city: the move to a digital Census. This will be

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  • Two Years After New York City Expanded Protections for Freelancers, State Yet to Act

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    Council Members Rafael Espinal, left, & Brad Lander (photo: City Council)


    Two years ago, the New York City Council’s Freelance Isn’t Free Act went into effect, giving freelance workers legal protections against wage theft, delayed payments, employer retaliation, and lack of contracts for their work. The first-of-its-kind law has since allowed the city to recoup thousands of dollars in wages for

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  • The Opportunity Ahead for the New CUNY Chancellor

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    Former CUNY Chancellor James Milliken, left, & incoming Chancellor Felix Matos Rodriguez (photo: CUNY)


    Today -- Wednesday, May 1 -- Felix Matos-Rodriguez assumes the post of CUNY chancellor following a year-long search. After successfully leading two CUNY colleges, Chancellor Matos-Rodriguez takes over an institution that has made important strides in recent years, including opening an innovative new community college and launching nationally renowned programs like CUNY ASAP.

    To help grow New York City’s middle class and greatly expand economic

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  • 15 Ideas for Expanding Economic Opportunity in New York in 2019

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    (photo: Governor's office)


    New York’s Legislature has been on a tear in the first days of 2019, passing the DREAM Act to help undocumented students pay for college, prohibiting discrimination on the basis of gender identity, and overhauling the state’s antiquated election laws. Now lawmakers have an opportunity to take similarly bold steps to reduce income inequality statewide.  

    It’s time to build on early momentum and help lift more New Yorkers into the middle class. To do so, the Center for an Urban Future (CUF) has laid out 15

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  • To Help More Students Succeed in College, Reform Remedial Education

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    (photo via LaGuardia Community College)


    New York’s community college students face long odds of graduating. Only 25 percent of community college students statewide—and just 22 percent in New York City—earn an associate’s degree in three years, an enormous barrier to economic opportunity in a state where a college credential is

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  • Revitalizing New York’s Aging Parks

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    (photo: Parks Department)


    New Yorkers are all too familiar with the consequences of aging urban infrastructure. Years of underinvestment in New York City’s century-old subway system has led to a full-blown transit crisis, with rampant delays, consistently overcrowded trains, and frequent equipment breakdowns.

    But the subways are just the most glaring problem in an aging city. Another vital piece of public infrastructure is also several decades old, years behind on basic maintenance, and nearing a breaking point: New York City’s parks system.

    With more

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  • New York City Tourism Industry Deserves Credit for Major Job Growth

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    (photo: Benjamin Kanter/Mayoral Photo Office)


    Over the past two decades, tourism to New York City has swelled from 33 million to nearly 63 million annual visitors, with powerful ripples throughout the city’s economy. Once just one sector among many, tourism has risen to become one of the top four employment drivers in the city, according to a new report published by the Center for an Urban Future, the Association for a Better New York, and the Times Square

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  • The Transit Crisis Without A Rescue Plan

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    (photo: Kevin P. Coughlin/Governor's Office)


    Even as the subways reach the breaking point, hundreds of thousands of New Yorkers face an additional commuting crisis: the lack of fast, reliable transit service in huge swaths of the boroughs outside Manhattan. In neighborhoods from Flatlands to Queens Village to Castle Hill, getting to work is a grinding chore, even when the trains are on time. That’s because the transit system has failed to keep pace with the demand for better service outside the city’s core.

    Unlike the subway meltdown, this

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  • City Council, Outside Experts Push De Blasio Administration on 'Career Pathways'

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    Council Member Daneek Miller (photo: John McCarten/City Council)


    In June, Mayor Bill de Blasio announced a plan to create 100,000 new jobs in New York City over ten years by investing in high-wage industries where there is potential to grow with a boost from city government. The jobs will all pay at least $50,000 per year, he promised.

    The jobs plan, first outlined as the signature proposal of de Blasio’s 2017

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  • On New York’s Amazon Wishlist? More Homegrown College Graduates

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    (via amazon.com)


    Bids are due today for Amazon’s new headquarters and it seems cities across North America have joined the fray. The suitors are lining up with billion-dollar bouquets, and with good reason. What mayor could resist the promise of 50,000 well-paying jobs and all the economic energy that comes with the headquarters—a massive

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  • Experts Analyze Mayor De Blasio's Jobs Plan

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    Mayor de Blasio and Deputy Mayor Alicia Glen (photo: Edwin J. Torres/Mayor's Office)


    An expert panel convened at The New School on Wednesday by the Center for An Urban Future delved into Mayor Bill de Blasio’s plan to create 100,000 “good-paying” jobs in the next ten years, discussing the challenges of growing the city’s economy while ensuring that New Yorkers are its beneficiaries.

    The mayor’s “...

  • Experts Eye 'College Success' for City Students

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    (2017 Macaulay Honors College commencement, via CUNY Newswire)


    Professors, researchers, and administrators gathered Monday morning to discuss issues related to higher education in New York, especially how to ensure that more New Yorkers are college-ready and successful once they enter higher education. The symposium, held at The Greene Space and titled “Moving the Needle on College Success in NYC,” was hosted by the Center for an Urban Future (CUF), a think tank focused on

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  • Time to Let New York Dance

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    (photo: choreographer Blacka Di Danca)


    New York City is experiencing a sonic boom. From electronic cumbia in the Bronx to thumping techno in an East Williamsburg warehouse to experimental sounds in a former Greenpoint luncheonette, the energy of the city’s diverse music cultures is at a creative and popular peak. At the grassroots level, a diffuse network of DIY arts spaces cultivates the next generation of musicians. These fiercely independent venues exist to create opportunities

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  • Touted Bloomberg Anti-Poverty Incubator Sees New Life in De Blasio Era

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    Above: Mayor Bloomberg speaks (Ed Reed). Below: Gibbs & Doar on panel


    Data-driven Center for Economic Opportunity paves way for workforce development vision in Career Pathways

    On July 14, former Bloomberg Deputy Mayor Linda Gibbs and Robert Doar, former commissioner of anti-poverty efforts, participated in a panel discussion in Washington, D.C., fielding questions

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  • The City's Next Steps to Ensure Vibrant, Creative Communities

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    photo via @NYCulture


    Earlier this month, the city's Department of Cultural Affairs announced a promising new program aimed at strengthening cultural organizations in targeted neighborhoods. The initiative, known as Building Community Capacity, was introduced in conjunction with Mayor de Blasio's rezoning proposal in East New York, where the program will be launched.

    The new initiative is

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  • Led by New Office, De Blasio Forms His Brand of Public-Private Partnerships

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    Mayor de Blasio & the founders of Warby Parker (photo: @BilldeBlasio)


    The de Blasio administration is attempting a new approach to a familiar game in municipal politics. Public-private partnerships, also known as P3s, are a popular tool throughout local, state, and federal government. They are often sought after as a way to formalize coalitions around an issue and take advantage of the flexibility and resources of the private sector to accomplish goals of government.

    Run a search in any given political press

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  • Map Launched to Bring Greater Accountability to Capital Spending

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    A screenshot of the new map launched by Council Member Brad Lander


    They are notoriously over-budget and late. Capital projects - infrastructure investments in things like transportation, parks, libraries, and schools - regularly leave members of the public wondering if their elected officials are competent or honest.

    On a large-scale, think 2nd Avenue Subway, 7-line extension, and East Side Access. But, there are also many, many smaller capital projects all over the city.

    As participatory budgeting

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  • As City Eases Burdens, Access to Capital, Rising Rents Remain Issues for Small Businesses

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    SBS Commissioner Torres-Springer (photo: @NYCBusSolutions)


    Small business assistance is a perennial political promise. Few can argue with the goal of stimulating the city's economy and almost everyone has some connection to the issue.

    After all, the Department of Small Business Services (SBS) reports that 98 percent of the city's 220,000 businesses are considered small (fewer than 100 employees). The number has increased in recent years due to an entrepreneurial boom in the city. ...

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