Testimony - March 2024
Implementing Innovative Ways To Fund Parks and Open SpacesIn this testimony before the NYC Council Committee on Parks and Recreation, CUF Senior Fellow for Climate and Opportunity John Surico makes the case for why, and how, city leaders can establish sustainable sources of recurring funding for parks.
Commentary/Op-Ed - March 2024
Generating the new revenues needed to support NYC’s parksIn this amNewYork op-ed, CUF’s Senior Fellow for Climate & Opportunity John Surico and Editorial & Policy Director Eli Dvorkin argue that city leaders need to get creative and seek out new sustainable sources of funding for parks—and put forward actionable ideas to do just that.
Report - March 2024
Big Ideas to Help NYC Thrive in the Post-Pandemic EconomyNew York has overcome the immediate economic tests of the pandemic, but the city still has to keep pace with a vastly changed landscape. Meeting this moment will require a seismic shift in how city officials approach economic development. This report offers five big, immediately actionable ideas that city policymakers can implement to make New York even stronger.
Testimony - March 2024
The importance of investing in CUNYIn this testimony before the NYC Council Committees on Finance and Higher Education, CUF Senior Editor Dorian Block strongly encourages the Council to fully fund CUNY in the FY 2025 budget, outlining four key areas where these investments can have the greatest impact.
Report - March 2024
50 Ideas for a Stronger and More Equitable BrooklynIn many ways, Brooklyn is a shining star of the city's post-pandemic recovery. Despite all its progress, Brooklyn has significant work to do to ensure all of its residents can fully participate in the borough’s growing prosperity. This report presents bold policy ideas from 50 exceptional Brooklynites for what city leaders can do to create a stronger, more equitable Brooklyn.
Report - February 2024
50 Ideas for a Stronger and More Equitable BronxIt will be nearly impossible to create a more equitable economy in New York without putting the Bronx at the forefront. This report presents bold policy ideas from 50 exceptional Bronxites for what city leaders can do to create a stronger, more equitable Bronx.
Testimony - February 2024
Supporting the Needs of Immigrant Older AdultsIn this testimony before the NYC Council Committee on Aging and Committee on Immigration, CUF Data Researcher Rachel Neches details the need to support the rapidly growing older immigrant population in New York.
Commentary/Op-Ed - January 2024
Job training sector needs funding to help asylum seekers prepare for workforceIn this Times Union op-ed, Jonathan Bowles argues that to prepare asylum seekers for independence, more investments in English classes, job training programs, and immigrant-serving workforce development providers will help these newcomers prepare to enter the workforce and become productive New Yorkers.
Commentary/Op-Ed - January 2024
To build a stronger middle class, boost paid internships for CUNY studentsIn this Crain’s New York Business op-ed, Jonathan Bowles and Winston Fisher urge New York City leaders to harness CUNY as an engine of economic mobility by ensuring that far more CUNY students have access to paid internships during their college careers.
Report - January 2024
Paying for the Growing Needs of NYC’s Parks: 20 Fresh Ideas to Fund Parks and Open SpacesThe cities that will prosper in the years ahead are those that boast an exceptional quality of life, and great open spaces are essential to that goal. Yet there is virtually no agreement on how to pay for parks' growing maintenance and infrastructure needs, while investing in new parks and open spaces in the places they’re needed the most. This report puts forth 20 concrete and achievable ideas to do just that.
Report - December 2023
State of the Chains, 2023Our sixteenth annual ranking of national retailers in New York City finds a 3.1 percent downtick in chain stores across the five boroughs over the past year. This is the second-largest single-year decline in chain stores since the report began in 2008, and breaks a two-year streak of modest recovery after the unprecedented plunge of 2020.
Testimony - November 2023
Supercharging CUNY Reconnect to Support Returning StudentsIn this testimony before the NYC Council Committee on Higher Education, CUF Senior Fellow John Surico, on behalf of CUF Policy Director Eli Dvorkin, makes the case to further support the CUNY Reconnect program to help ensure that far more returning students succeed the second time around in postsecondary education.
Testimony - November 2023
Strengthening New York State’s Tuition Assistance Program (TAP)In this testimony before the NYS Assembly Higher Education Committee, CUF Researcher Melissa Lent, on behalf of CUF Policy Director Eli Dvorkin, outlines three specific recommendations for New York State to further strengthen its Tuition Assistance Program (TAP) into one of the most effective and inclusive in the nation.
Report - October 2023
Boosting Tech Career Success for CUNY Students: Doubling Down on CUNY 2X TechThe CUNY 2X Tech initiative is expanding access to internships in tech firms, boosting employment outcomes for graduates, bringing industry expertise into classrooms, and helping to hire the faculty and advisors needed to support booming enrollment in tech degree programs. To make further progress toward a more equitable economy, city leaders should expand this initiative and maintain its momentum.
Commentary/Op-Ed - October 2023
To Get STEM Education to Every Student, Train All New Teachers in Computing EducationIn this The 74 op-ed, Council Member Rita Joseph and CUF's Eli Dvorkin argue that while the city has dramatically expanded the CS4All initiative, only a fraction of schools are meeting the program's participation and equity goals. They call for the city to invest in teacher training in computing education.
Commentary/Op-Ed - October 2023
To build a more vibrant economy across New York State, start with the artsIn this Democrat and Chronicle op-ed, CUF's Eli Dvorkin and Rochester Area Community Foundation's Simeon Banister lay out the opportunity for New York State to double down on supporting the arts, while making equitable arts investment a cornerstone of the state’s economic development strategy.
Commentary/Op-Ed - October 2023
The city should provide free MetroCards to CUNY studentsIn this amNewYork op-ed, CUF's Jonathan Bowles and Fisher Brothers' and Area15's Winston Fisher make the case to the mayor and the City Council that, to ensure a lot more New Yorkers can advance into the middle class, one of the most effective actions they can take is to give every CUNY community college student a free MetroCard.
Report - October 2023
Upstate’s Creative Spark: How the Arts Is Catalyzing Economic Vitality Across Upstate New YorkTo reverse decades of economic stagnation and population declines in upstate New York, policymakers should look to one powerful but often overlooked catalyst: the arts. By better integrating the arts into New York State economic development planning, policymakers have an opportunity to build on recent momentum and lay the groundwork for a more vibrant, sustainable, and equitable economy.
Report - September 2023
Preparing Today’s Asylum Seekers to Be Tomorrow’s WorkforceNew York City has long struggled to help many of the city’s 2.79 million working age foreign-born residents—including over 1.4 million who have limited English proficiency—get on the path to employment. Now, tens of thousands of new asylum seekers are settling here, and the city is further behind. These newest New Yorkers can be a major boon for the city's economy, but workforce development providers need new investment to support them.
Testimony - September 2023
Training NYC’s Future Teachers to Integrate Computing EducationIn this testimony before the NYC Council Committees on Technology and Education, CUF Data Researcher Rachel Neches and Policy Director Eli Dvorkin urge the Council to expand training programs for thousands more of the city's future teachers - at all grade levels and in every subject - to integrate the core concepts of computing education into their classrooms.
