Commentary/Op-Ed - November 2015
Open up schools to priced-out artists: A resource that’s sitting underutilizedIn this Daily News op-ed, CUF Senior Researcher Adam Forman advocates for opening up underutilized spaces in public schools and churches to New York City artists. With leadership and collaboration between government agencies, philanthropy and the nonprofit sector, he argues that these spaces would allow New York City’s creative community to continue to create and thrive in the city.
Data - October 2015
Creative New York, At A GlanceFrom museums to film studios, dance companies to design firms, the creative sector is one of New York City’s most important economic assets. Using data from CUF's 2015 Creative New York report, this infographic shows the incredible growth, as well as the ongoing challenges of the city’s creative industries.
Testimony - September 2015
A New Approach to Funding Library ImprovementsWith the city’s public libraries facing a maintenance crisis, CUF executive director Jonathan Bowles says that policymakers should be open to innovative funding approaches. In testimony before the City Planning Commission, he argues in favor of a proposal to build a modern new branch library in Brooklyn Heights as part of a larger residential development. Under the proposal, the developer would also contribute around $50 million towards library improvements at branches across Brooklyn.
Data - August 2015
NYC’s Tech ProfileThis analysis offers a fresh look at New York City’s tech sector. Using the Federal Reserve Bank of New York’s new definition of tech industries, our analysis documents employment growth by borough and subsector and offers a demographic profile by age, sex and race/ethnicity.
Testimony - August 2015
Better Libraries for BrooklynIn testimony before Brooklyn Borough President Eric Adams, CUF Researcher Jeanette Estima makes the case for redeveloping the Brooklyn Heights branch library. Not only will a new library better serve the neighborhood, it will also help address decades of deferred maintenance in branches throughout Brooklyn.
Commentary/Op-Ed - August 2015
Help artists revive NYC neighborhoods: Build up culture and housing at the same timeIn this Daily News op-ed, CUF Senior Researcher Adam Forman makes the case for integrating cultural planning with city planning to provide much needed affordable space for New York artists, designers and cultural organizations, and jobs for local residents — ensuring a more diverse creative sector.
Data - July 2015
Parks Facilities, How the Boroughs CompareNew York is home to the country’s oldest, busiest and most expansive parks. These facilities, however, are not equally distributed across the city’s neighborhoods and boroughs. In this data brief, we look at the per capita distribution of Department of Parks and Recreation pools, tennis courts, handball courts and baseball diamonds.
Commentary/Op-Ed - July 2015
Boosting Adult Education in New YorkWith 1.6 million adults in New York lacking a high school diploma, Tom Hilliard and Brenda Dann-Messier argue that the state needs a bold new commitment to strengthening its adult education system. In this commentary, they lay out several steps policymakers could take to rebuild the adult ed system for the 21st century economy.
Report - June 2015
Creative New YorkFrom museums to film studios, the creative sector is one of New York City’s most important economic assets. But the city’s working artists, nonprofit arts groups and for-profit creative firms face a growing number of challenges.
Commentary/Op-Ed - June 2015
The Virtuous Cycle of Keeping Your City Affordable for ArtistsIn this Next City op-ed, CUF researcher Adam Forman discusses how New York’s affordability challenges are threatening its remarkable community of artists, nonprofit arts groups, and for profit creative industries. He outlines three ideas for what the city should do to support and retain New York’s now thriving creative economy in the years ahead.
Commentary/Op-Ed - June 2015
City Officials Must Do More To Boost New York’s Creative SectorIn this City & State op-ed, CUF executive director Jonathan Bowles calls on the de Blasio administration to support the arts and the broader creative sector. He argues that the creative sector provides the city with its greatest competitive advantage, but notes that New York faces growing competition from other cities that are aggressively cultivating their creative economies.
Data - June 2015
Data from Creative New YorkCharts and tables from our 2015 Creative New York study. The report found that the creative sector is one of New York City’s most important economic assets but that the city’s working artists, nonprofit arts groups and for-profit creative firms face a growing number of challenges.
Commentary/Op-Ed - June 2015
What can cities do to nurture the arts & the creative sector?In an online essay for Zócalo Public Square, the Center’s Jonathan Bowles argues that the healthiest creative economies owe their success not to gilded performance halls, but to large and sustainable clusters of artists, musicians, dancers, designers, writers, and other creative professionals. He writes that cities wishing to bolster their creative economy should start by developing policies that attract and retain artists.
Data - June 2015
NYC Libraries by the NumbersDespite declining funds and limited hours of service, New York City’s public libraries are seeing a surge in users and uses. Below we show where the growth is happening and how funding cuts in recent years have affected performance, and provide the city’s first branch-by-branch accounting of book circulation, program attendance and visits.
Commentary/Op-Ed - May 2015
Make Commercial Spaces Affordable TooIn this City & State op-ed, CUF executive director Jonathan Bowles analyzes the growing demand for commercial spaces in New York. He argues that as Mayor de Blasio develops innovative proposals to address the city's affordable housing crisis, the administration should also move to unleash the potential of commercial spaces that have long gone vacant or underutilized.
Testimony - May 2015
Mayor de Blasio’s 10-Year Capital Plan: Ambitious But InsufficientAt a time when so much of the city’s essential infrastructure is in need of repair and expansion, funding for New York's infrastructure projects is critical. In a May 2015 testimony before the City’s Committee on Finance, CUF executive director Jonathan Bowles presents new ideas for capital funding streams.
Report - May 2015
Seeking a State Workforce StrategyAs New York’s economy continues to grow, the state needs a workforce development strategy that prepares and connects New Yorkers to careers.
Data - May 2015
NYS Workforce Funding StreamsThese three tables from our Seeking a State Workforce Strategy report track public workforce development funds by program and relate these programs to three larger categories for investment: 1) adult education funding 2) workforce development funding and 3) college access and workforce services in higher education. The tables also indicate where programs receive their funding, what agency or department oversees them and how their funding has changed in the past five years.
Data - May 2015
The Next 10 Years: Mayor de Blasio’s Capital PrioritiesIn this data brief, we compare Mayor de Blasio’s 10-year capital projections to actual capital expenditures in the final decade of the Bloomberg Administration (FY2005-FY2014). The numbers offer a clear insight into Mayor de Blasio’s priorities and how they contrast with the previous administration’s.
Commentary/Op-Ed - May 2015
Fulfilling CUNY’s workforce promiseIn this commentary, CUF senior fellow David Jason Fischer takes a close look at the City University of New York’s role as a workforce development provider. While he finds that CUNY’s adult and continuing education programs provide a path to economic advancement for thousands of New Yorkers, he argues that CUNY must address several structural, funding and cultural obstacles if it is to reach its potential as an engine of economic mobility and high-volume source of workforce talent for city employers.
