Report - September 2020
NYC Minority Businesses in Flux: Black- and Asian-Owned Businesses Grow While Hispanic-Owned DeclineA 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.
Commentary/Op-Ed - August 2020
Staying a city of immigrants: Newcomers keep us strongIn this New York Daily News op-ed, CUF Executive Director Jonathan Bowles urges the city to take initiative to prevent an exodus of New York immigrants, many of whom are facing unprecedented economic hardships, but are critical to the city's recovery.
Report - August 2020
Stark Disparities in Employment and Wages for Black New YorkersThe 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.
EventReport - August 2020
What NYC’s immigrant & minority-owned businesses need nowDuring 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.
Report - July 2020
Recovery Signs, New Lows: NYC Employment by Industry Since the Outbreak of CoronavirusWhile 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.
Report - June 2020
Under Threat & Left Out: NYC’s Immigrants and the Coronavirus CrisisImmigrant New Yorkers are enduring unprecedented economic pain from the pandemic—and yet they have been almost completely shut out of government programs created for those in need, CUF research and interviews with two dozen nonprofit leaders reveals.
Commentary/Op-Ed - June 2020
To help struggling small businesses, the city needs to reconsider its public spacesCUF Executive Director Jonathan Bowles and Winston C. Fisher call on the city to think bigger about opportunities for outdoor commerce. Access to open streets, parks, markets and fairs could make the difference for hundreds if not thousands of New York entrepreneurs who have endured three months of business closures and are desperate for customers.
Commentary/Op-Ed - May 2020
Infrastructure Investment Can Restart the Economy, but Prioritize Fixing What We HaveA bold public works program would help put New Yorkers back to work while strengthening the city's economy for the long term. But New York’s infrastructure needs are different than they were during the 1930s. Today, what the city needs most is a massive campaign to upgrade and maintain the infrastructure it already has.
Report - May 2020
Bearing the Brunt: Where NYC’s Hard-Hit Sector Workers LiveWhile coronavirus has devastated much of NYC's economy, our research shows that the impacts are not equally dispersed across the city: workers in the most hard-hit sectors—including restaurants, hotels, retail, and personal care services—predominantly live in lower-income neighborhoods outside Manhattan.
Report - May 2020
Essential Yet Vulnerable: NYC’s Human Services Nonprofits Face Financial Crisis During PandemicIn the midst of an unprecedented surge in demand, NYC's human services nonprofits are confronting millions of dollars in unexpected costs and lost revenue. This report, based on interviews with over two dozen nonprofit leaders, documents the challenges facing New York’s human services nonprofits due to coronavirus.
Report - April 2020
Tech Disrupted: How Coronavirus is Challenging NYC’s Tech SectorWritten in partnership with Tech:NYC, this report provides a new level of detail about the impacts of the coronavirus crisis on NYC-based tech companies, based on interviews with nearly two dozen founders, executives, investors, and industry leaders.
Commentary/Op-Ed - April 2020
Amid Crisis, Mayors Can Build a Workforce for the Second Machine AgeThe economic fallout of Covid-19 combined with growing automation is poised to transform millions of jobs nationwide. Mayors should start developing plans to create a more adaptable workforce for a rapidly changing economy.
Report - April 2020
Art in the Time of Coronavirus: NYC’s Small Arts Organizations Fighting for SurvivalNYC's vibrant arts and cultural sector has endured extraordinary challenges over the past weeks. CUF interviewed small and mid-sized arts organizations, community arts leaders, and working artists themselves to better understand the existential threat facing organizations and artists citywide.
Report - April 2020
Supporting Older Adults Through Coronavirus: Ideas from Experts and Leaders Across NYCNew York's growing older adult population is facing unprecedented barriers accessing meals, groceries, medicine, and support services, and new levels of social isolation brought on by the novel coronavirus. CUF asked nearly two dozen experts in older adult services for specific recommendations on how city and state policymakers can support older New Yorkers during this crisis.
Report - March 2020
A Blow to the Boroughs: Many Industries Hit Hardest by Coronavirus Concentrated Outside ManhattanWith the novel coronavirus already devastating New York City's economy, many of the industries suffering the most—including restaurants, retail, personal care services, childcare services, and air transportation—are overrepresented in Brooklyn, Queens, the Bronx, and Staten Island and have grown fastest outside Manhattan.
Report - March 2020
Supporting small business through coronavirus: ideas from experts and leaders across NYCNew York’s small businesses are facing an existential threat from the novel coronavirus. CUF asked two dozen small business owners and small business experts for recommendations on how city and state policymakers can help them survive this crisis.
Report - March 2020
New York’s Free Tuition Promise Falling ShortFaced with major economic disruption, New Yorkers are likely to turn to higher education. But while the Excelsior Scholarship program is growing, CUNY students and community college students statewide continue to be underserved.
Report - March 2020
Growing and Diversifying Brooklyn’s Innovation EconomyBrooklyn is now a national leader in the innovation economy—tech start-ups, creative companies, and innovative manufacturers—but it still has a ways to go. This report outlines the key obstacles to continued growth and considers how the borough can realize its immense potential to develop a larger and more inclusive innovation economy.
Commentary/Op-Ed - February 2020
NYC tech jobs for all types: Improve education across the boardIn this Daily News op-ed, CUF Executive Director Jonathan Bowles and Tech:NYC Executive Director Julie Samuels call on city leaders to commit to a bold, long-term agenda to expand and improve the tech skills-building ecosystem.
Report - February 2020
Plugging In: Building NYC’s Tech Education & Training EcosystemThe fast-growing tech sector has become NYC's most reliable source of new well-paying jobs. But while tech companies are hungry for talent and increasingly eager to hire locally, too few of the good jobs in tech are going to New Yorkers from low-income communities. The city can do more to expand access to tech careers by strengthening the city's tech skills-building ecosystem and preparing thousands more New Yorkers for the jobs of the future.
