Innovative Ideas. Independent Policy.

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  Report - December 2020

  State of the Chains, 2020

  Our thirteenth annual ranking of national retailers in New York City finds by far the largest overall decline in the number of chain stores as the national retail market experienced unprecedented contraction due to the COVID-19 outbreak and subsequent shutdowns and store closures.
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  Report - December 2020

  The Changing Face of Creativity in New York: Sustaining NYC’s Immigrant Arts Ecosystem

  Immigrant artists are increasingly essential to the creative landscape of New York City. But now the livelihoods of countless immigrant artists—and the survival of the cultural organiza­tions that champion their work—are facing major threats.
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  Report - December 2020

  A Green Public Works Program for NYC: 40 Ideas from Experts

  To understand how New York might take advantage of federal investment to create jobs and help the city mitigate and adapt to the effects of climate change, CUF asked city leaders in coastal resilience, environmental justice, urban agriculture, renewable energy, and more for sustainability and resiliency project ideas.
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  Report - November 2020

  CUNY’s Key Role in Expanding Access to Tech Careers

  Part of our ongoing research on how to create a more inclusive economy in NYC, this data brief shows that CUNY has made crucial progress in producing STEM grads. Tapping this talent pool, and making further gains in the years ahead, will be key to closing the opportunity gap for tech careers.
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  Report - October 2020

  Surviving the Winter: Helping NYC’s Small Businesses in the Months Ahead

  Open streets and outdoor dining gave the city's small firms a lifeline, but with just a few weeks left until winter, it's time for the city and state to step in with new set of creative solutions to give shops and restaurants a crucial boost. CUF asked over twenty city leaders and experts for ideas and insights on how policymakers can help sustain restaurants and other small businesses through the colder months.
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  Report - September 2020

  NYC Minority Businesses in Flux: Black- and Asian-Owned Businesses Grow While Hispanic-Owned Decline

  A fresh analysis of newly released data on New York City's minority-owned employer businesses shows the increasing importance of these businesses to the economies of every borough, adding urgency to the challenges now facing minority-owned businesses during the COVID crisis.
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  Report - August 2020

  Stark Disparities in Employment and Wages for Black New Yorkers

  The growing mass movement for racial justice has shined a light on harsh disparities affecting nearly every facet of American life—from criminal justice and policing to the health and economic effects of the pandemic. This new analysis examines disparities in employment and wages experienced by Black residents of New York City, finding widespread underrepresentation and alarming wage gaps across dozens of industries.
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  EventReport - August 2020

  What NYC’s immigrant & minority-owned businesses need now

  During the summer of 2020, CUF convened a three-part series of live-streamed discussions focused on specific policy solutions to support the city’s diverse small businesses. These discussions generated dozens of concrete ideas to help these businesses get through the crisis, including five key recommendations that surfaced during all three of our discussions.
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  Report - July 2020

  Recovery Signs, New Lows: NYC Employment by Industry Since the Outbreak of Coronavirus

  While the coronavirus pandemic has affected nearly every part of New York City's economy, new research and analysis shows that the toll has differed strikingly by industry.