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Opinion

A Housing Policy to Stimulate the New York Economy


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New York City (photo: Michael Appleton/Mayor's Office)


After months of being on pause and the ravages of COVID-19, we need to be thinking of ways to jumpstart our New York economy. Just as one can take a seemingly dead battery and revive it with the right charge and a set of jumper cables, we too can help to restart our economy with a charge of the right stimulus: changing the condo conversion laws to make condo conversion easier again. 

Condo conversion refers to when a developer changes a rental residential building, typically owned by one landlord, to a condominium in which the units can be purchased by the current tenants or by “outside” buyers who did not live in the building before it became a condominium. 

Prior to last summer, it was required that 15 percent of the units in a building had to be purchased by a combination of existing tenants or outside purchasers in order for a building to be converted to a condominium. In summer 2019, the law was changed to require 51 percent of tenants to purchase in order to convert buildings to condominiums. This increase has effectively resulted in stopping new conversions and the economic activity related to it, as well as the opportunity for tenants to purchase their units at a discounted price.

New York should once again permit condo conversions with 15% of units sold while adding in an affordable housing component.

This would help those in need of housing assistance, an especially dire need with New York unemployment at more than 20%. An affordable housing contribution from both developers and purchasers on initial and future closings would be a source of private funds to help support this important and critical public need. 

This simple stimulus formula costs no infusion of cash from the public sector. To the contrary, it generates funds for the public sector in the form of city and state transfer taxes, income taxes, and filing fees, and most importantly at this time of high unemployment, it generates increased jobs thereby reducing unemployment and the cost of unemployment payments from the government. 

Condo conversions not only help to stabilize neighborhoods and improve old housing stock, they create jobs and work for many types of businesses. In addition to development companies,  they create work for contractors, electricians, plumbers, carpenters, security and building maintenance staff, architects and engineers, lawyers and accountants, advertising and public relations firms, advertising for newspapers, creative and web design firms, photographers, real estate brokers, mortgage brokers, lenders, title companies, furniture stores, lighting stores, decorators, appliance stores, hardware stores, and more. 

Non-eviction condo conversion plans improve the living conditions of all building residents, whether they choose to purchase their apartment or not. In addition, tenants purchasing under condo conversion plans often secure their unit at a discount to the current market rate, and can typically obtain financing with lower down-payments, making home ownership more affordable.

In summary, simply amending the condo conversion laws with these proposed changes will create jobs, reduce unemployment, generate revenue for government, reduce governmental expenditure, generate private sector income, and help those in need of housing assistance. So, what are we waiting for? Now is the time to make this change and let a public-private partnership be a spark of needed energy in our recovery economy.

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Roberta Axelrod is Director of Condo Conversions, Time Equities, Inc.

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Why It’s So Important that Cities Run Summer Youth Employment, Even During a Pandemic


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Students at a town hall (photo: Ed Reed/Mayor's Office)


Early work experience — such as that provided by summer jobs — can keep teens out of trouble, improve soft skills, and build strong pathways for their futures. Based on this belief, over the past several decades policymakers and business leaders have joined together to create summer youth employment programs across many U.S. cities. Generally, these programs provide youth age 14 to 24 the opportunity to work 20-25 hours per week for a six-week period from early July through mid-August and earn the minimum wage. 

Yet the economic disruption caused by the COVID-19 pandemic placed summer jobs programs in jeopardy at the exact moment when they are needed the most. The unemployment rate for youth age 16 to 19 years nearly tripled from 11.0 percent in February to 31.9 percent in April, as many businesses that employ youth such as retail, eating, and drinking establishments were forced to shut down to reduce the spread of infection. At the same time, some cities initially canceled their summer jobs program—much to the dismay of youth and their advocates.

New York City, which typically employs upwards of 75,000 youth each year, recently reinstated its program after a grassroots movement led by youth pushed the mayor to restore funding and get more creative given social distancing protocoles.

Research clearly demonstrates that summer jobs programs develop skills among youth that lead to better long-term criminal justice, academic, and employment outcomes. Our multi-year evaluation in Boston funded by William T. Grant Foundation shows that summer jobs programs lead to significant boosts in community engagement, social skills, job readiness skills, work habits, and college aspirations that are linked to the long-term improvements in crime, school, and employment outcomes. And it’s not just Boston—studies conducted in Boston, Chicago, and New York have shown that summer jobs programs lead to a 30 to 40 percent reduction in violent and property crime and a 10 percent lower probability of incarceration. Participants also increase their school attendance and have a greater likelihood of passing statewide exams needed to graduate from high school.

For opportunity youth -- young adults neither in school or the labor market -- age 19-24 years, both employment and wages were higher one year after participating in the program relative to their peers who did not participate in the program. Despite a price tag of roughly $2,000 per participant, these positive long-term impacts mean that the benefits of summer jobs programs certainly exceed the costs.

Summer jobs programs provide both greater opportunity as well as income support for low-income youth and their families. Survey data show that roughly half of youth participating in the Boston program indicate that they help pay one or more household bills and one in five report that they are saving for college tuition. Moreover, our evaluation has shown that the impacts appear to be greater for Black and brown youth from low-income city neighborhoods.

Take José for example. Jose had been part of the summer jobs program through the Boston Private Industry Council since his sophomore year of high school, starting with a community-based camp job his first summer. The next year, he landed a job as a customer service representative at a local branch of a large bank. His supervisor was so impressed by his professionalism and bilingual Spanish and English skills when it came to assisting customers that he hired José back the following summer, after which José stayed on part-time while in college. 

This is just one example of the types of transformative experiences that thousands of youth encounter very summer through the program.

Yet, due to the global pandemic and economic recession, city and state governments have faced steep budget shortfalls and large logistical hurdles to funding their summer jobs programs this year. Several cities have developed a range of options to preserve as much of the summer youth experience for as many youth as possible. Some, like in New York City, are still just starting as July turns to August.

In designing this summer’s programming, we should aim to replicate the skills that youth typically gain from having a summer job that we know are linked to better outcomes down the road. It’s likely that cities will need to develop multiple tracks to employ the same number of youth and provide greater flexibility as re-opening conditions unfold.

In Boston, Major Walsh invested an additional $4.1 million to fund four new tracks including “earn and learn” opportunities where youth take college courses for credit, virtual internships using an established platform and ready-made projects, a peer-to-peer COVID-19 campaign to educate youth about COVID-19 and safe practices, and a new public works program to engage youth in helping to maintain parks and other outdoor recreational spaces.

The summer months are often cited as a crucial time to engage our youth in positive ways, and that is especially true for the summer of 2020. The COVID-19 pandemic presents new and profound challenges and we must rethink how to adapt workforce development to this new reality. This summer provides an opportunity for us to understand what works with an eye towards shaping year-round programs that start in the fall. For our cities, continuing to invest in youth throughout the current crisis will help create a strong workforce that continues to pay dividends years down the road.

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Alicia Sasser Modestino is an Associate Professor in the School of Public Policy and Urban Affairs at Northeastern University. She studies youth labor markets and is currently leading a multi-year evaluation of the summer jobs program in Boston funded by the William T. Grant Foundation. On Twitter @SasserModestino.

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It's Time to Ensure Everyday New Yorkers Can Afford to Run for Office


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The 2021 elections have begun (photo: Michael Appleton/Mayoral Photography Office)


Running for office is an exciting endeavor and the already-underway 2021 New York City election cycle will be filled with new candidates, but the thing no one talks about is the difficulty of deciding to run for office or being a first-time candidate when it comes to quitting your job. Very few people can afford to leave their jobs behind without having to worry about paying for basic living expenses, such as rent, food, transportation, and health insurance. This barrier disproportionately prevents a slew of New Yorkers who are representative of our city from holding elected office, like young people, women, people with disabilities, and candidates of color. 

We need to elect leaders who understand the challenges of everyday New Yorkers through lived experience, especially at a time when so many folks are struggling. It is time to support a new generation of leaders to effectuate policy changes at City Hall. 

Current New York City leadership should move to further level the playing field and attract under-represented candidates reflecting our diverse communities. And one key way this should be done is by expanding the New York City Campaign Finance Board’s qualified campaign expenditures definition to include vital personal living costs. 

Under my proposal, candidates who don’t hold elected office would be permitted to dedicate up to $20,000 of privately-raised funds toward reasonable living expenses.  These funds could be used for rent, utilities, food, health insurance, public transportation, and other reasonable basic life expenses as approved by the Campaign Finance Board, as long as the candidate proves the need for each expense. Any amount spent above $20,000 would be used against the spending limit in the candidate’s race, limits that vary based on the elected office sought.  

Precedent already exists to alleviate a candidates’ living expenses. Namely, the City Council passed Local Law 196 of 2018, sponsored by Council Member Keith Powers, allowing candidates to make campaign expenditures covering child-care services for children under 13 years of age, as long as public funds are not used. This landmark legislation helped pave the way for more primary caregivers, especially women, to run for office. Under this law, candidates could spend up to $20,000 on child care, though any expenditures in excess of this amount are subject to applicable spending limits.

Beside the obvious benefits, expanding permissible campaign spending to cover basic living expenses is sound public policy. It would not cost the city tax dollars, since the enumerated expenditures would be covered by privately raised cash, not the city’s public matching funds program. 

Additionally, safeguards would adequately prevent abuse of the law by ensuring that candidates who fail to prove their need to use campaign funds for living expenses do not qualify to do so. As with child-care services, candidates would qualify for other living expenditures only if they provide a statement to the CFB and substantiation documents, requiring CFB approval. To prove that you lack the means to cover living expenses, candidates would have to produce documents detailing their assets, if any, as well as any relevant legal documents, such as a lease or a student debt note, among other things.

And, candidates would of course have to be able to raise the money that would be used to cover the basic living expenses, ensuring such funds are coming from private sources who support the candidate’s run for office.

In a city as expensive as New York, advanced financial planning and saving in preparation for a run for elected office may be a fanciful idea for far too many potential candidates. Many people are simply unable to save in significant sums given their wages and expenses. We must make it possible for single parents and working-class people to run for elected office. We need more young adults to run for office. You should not have to be able to save - or borrow - $10,000 or more in order to run for the City Council. And candidates should not have to work full-time while running for office in the lead-up to their election day. 

As for me, I was fortunate to be able to save enough to cover the five months of rent leading up to the June primary I'm running in, for City Council in Upper Manhattan, but when I leave my job as a tenants’ rights attorney early next year, it remains unclear how I will pay for health insurance, food, or utilities for all of 2021. It shouldn’t be this way. 

It’s time to further transform our campaign finance regulations to reduce inequalities that burden under-resourced candidates. Now is the time, just as the 2021 city election cycle is approaching and while the city faces a dire economic picture on top of existing crises, like unaffordable housing and generational poverty.

We must take additional steps to ensure that all potential candidates have an equitable opportunity at running for office, culminating in a diverse legislative body of people who understand what it is like to live under financial constraints and are reflective of the communities they’re elected to represent. 

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Shaun Abreu is a tenants’ rights attorney and a candidate for City Council in Manhattan’s District 7. On Twitter @ShaunAbreu.

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