Contents

CUF in the News

And what a year it was The Bronx saw its share of high drama, low comedy in 2008, New York Daily News, December 28, 2008
Former Bankers Turn to a Creative Plan B, The New York Times, December 26, 2008
The Ellis Island Economy, Next American City, December 21, 2008
The Jewel Box of Union Square, The New York Times, December 19, 2008
NYU launches video gaming degree, Crain's New York Business, December 9, 2008
Engine Failure, Bay Ridge Journal, December 5, 2008
  read more>
Center for an Urban Future
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Q&A with Eldon Scott, founder of the Union Square Holiday Market

The Union Square Holiday Market has become a familiar December destination for New Yorkers. To understand more about why the city's holiday markets work, why street fairs don't and why New York has so few great markets compared to cities like London and Paris, the Center's Jonathan Bowles sat down for an interview with Eldon Scott, who is arguably the person most responsible for creating the city's holiday markets. read more>

Capital Crunch Over the last year, the New York City metro region experienced a sharper decline in SBA-backed small business lending—and microlending—than the rest of the country.
Change in SBA 7(a) loans approved:
NY District: -40 percent
USA: - 30 percent
Change in SBA microloans approved:
NY District: - 35 percent
USA: + 9 percent read more>

November 2008 | DOWNLOAD PDF

CUF Director Featured on NY Times' "Ask the Expert" column CUF director Jonathan Bowles was recently featured on the New York Times' City Room blog's "Ask the Expert" Column. Bowles provided answers to selected readers' questions about the obstacles that immigrant entrepreneurs face in New York and possible strategies for local economic development officials to support the growth of immigrant-run businesses. read more>

TRANSCRIPT

A World of Opportunity The full transcript from the November 18 conference the Center co-sponsored with the Field Center for Entrepreneurship at Baruch College, which examined the impact immigrant entrepreneurs are having, the specific obstacles they face in starting and growing businesses and what policies local and national officials ought to undertake to support this under-appreciated part of the economy. read more>

November 2008 | DOWNLOAD PDF

REPORT

Coney Island Visions What is novelist Jonathan Lethem's vision for Coney Island? What does the CEO of Copenhagen's Tivoli Gardens think the city should do to reinvigorate Coney? What about New York video game developer Eric Zimmerman? In this new report, 23 influential architects, writers, developers and amusement industry experts from New York and around the world offer their "vision" for Coney Island's future. read more>

November 2008 | DOWNLOAD PDF