Commentary/Op-Ed - June 2022
Strengthening pathways to entrepreneurship for formerly incarcerated New YorkersIn this Daily News op-ed, CUF Executive Director Jonathan Bowles and Vice President of Global Philanthropy for JPMorgan Chase Jeanique Druses make the case for why city and state leaders should embrace the opportunity to strengthen pathways to entrepreneurship for formerly incarcerated New Yorkers.
Report - May 2022
Starting Up & Staying OutFor many formerly incarcerated New Yorkers, entrepreneurship provides a meaningful pathway to economic opportunity. Strengthening support for reentry entrepreneurship offers policymakers one vital, yet largely untapped, opportunity to help far more returning New Yorkers succeed in reentry and beyond.
Report - May 2022
In Good Company: What NYC’s Employers Should Do to Expand Access to Good JobsCreating a more equitable economy will require bold action by the city. But the private sector will also need to step up. This study provides a snapshot of six innovative employer-led initiatives to expand access to good jobs—with enormous potential for replication among other companies in New York.
Report - April 2022
Eliminating Discriminatory Fines & Fees: Learning From San FranciscoThe fifth edition of Economic Opportunity Lab, CUF's series spotlighting innovative policies from other cities and states that are helping to create a more inclusive economy, profiles San Francisco’s Financial Justice Project. A similar initiative in NYC could reform a system of fines and fees with disproportionate consequences for low-income New Yorkers.
Commentary/Op-Ed - April 2022
Make New York City a national leader in employment for people with disabilitiesIn this op-ed for City Limits, CUF Researcher and Multimedia Specialist Melissa Lent and Editorial and Policy Director Eli Dvorkin lay out the opportunity for the mayor and City Council to make New York City a national leader in employment for people with disabilities.
Report - March 2022
Scaling Minority-Owned Businesses: Adapting Cincinnati’s Accelerator for NYCThe fourth edition of Economic Opportunity Lab, CUF's series spotlighting innovative policies from other cities and states that are helping to create a more inclusive economy, profiles Cincinnati's Minority Business Accelerator. If replicated in New York, it could help small businesses grow and contribute to a more equitable economy for the long term.
Report - March 2022
Access Opportunity: Expanding Economic Opportunity for New Yorkers With DisabilitiesUnemployment and underemployment among people with disabilities long predated but was exacerbated by COVID-19. Policymakers have the opportunity in an economic recovery to make New York City a national leader in employment for people with disabilities.
Report - March 2022
New York’s Untapped Entrepreneurship OpportunityNew York City policymakers have an enormous untapped opportunity to create a more equitable economy by increasing rates of entrepreneurship among New York City Housing Authority (NYCHA) residents. Strengthening this vital pathway can enable the many public housing residents already engaged in side hustles and home-based ventures to grow their businesses and build wealth.
Testimony - March 2022
Expanding and Improving NYC’s Workforce Development SystemIn this testimony before the NYC Council's Committee on Economic Development & Committee on Oversight & Investigations, CUF policy director Eli Dvorkin details four key steps that city government should take to make the city’s workforce development system stronger and more effective.
Commentary/Op-Ed - March 2022
Boost equity with TAP access for part-time studentsIn this op-ed for Times Union, CUF's Jonathan Bowles urges the State Legislature to support Gov. Hochul's proposal to expand the state's Tuition Assistance Program (TAP) to the nearly 200,000 SUNY and CUNY students who are enrolled on a part-time basis.
Commentary/Op-Ed - March 2022
Strengthening Natural Areas to Tackle Unemployment and Climate ChangeIn this Gotham Gazette op-ed, CUF Editorial and Policy Director Eli Dvorkin makes a case for the city to invest in NYC’s natural areas to spark thousands of green jobs while strengthening the city’s forests and wetlands.
Report - February 2022
Basic Income for Transition-Age Foster Youth: Adopting California’s ApproachThe third edition of Economic Opportunity Lab, CUF's series spotlighting innovative policies from other cities and states that are helping to create a more inclusive economy, profiles Santa Clara County, California's guaranteed income program for former foster youth, which may help this group establish financial independence and avoid crisis if replicated in New York.
Commentary/Op-Ed - February 2022
Eight Steps Mayor Adams Should Take to Expand and Improve Workforce DevelopmentIn this Crain's New York Business op-ed, CUF Editorial and Policy Director Eli Dvorkin outlines eight steps the Adams administration should take to make the investments and policy changes needed to help New Yorkers reenter the workforce while building ladders to economic mobility.
Commentary/Op-Ed - February 2022
New York City’s economic recovery should be top priorityIn this City & State op-ed, CUF Executive Director Jonathan Bowles and Winston C. Fisher argue five ways the city’s new administration can help boost economic recovery at a time with rising inflation, fewer jobs than before the pandemic, and a shift to remote work.
Report - January 2022
Reengaging Adult Learners to Complete College Degrees: Learning From TennesseeThe second edition of Economic Opportunity Lab, CUF's series spotlighting innovative policies from other cities and states that are helping to create a more inclusive economy, profiles the Tennessee Reconnect program. The program could provide NYC with a framework to help thousands of adult learners earn a credential.
Report - January 2022
Supporting CUNY’s 79,000 Part-Time StudentsNearly 79,000 undergraduate students attend the City University of New York (CUNY) on a part-time basis, but although these part-time students cope with the same economic challenges as other CUNY students, they have long been effectively shut out of New York State’s tuition assistance programs. It is past time for New York’s policymakers to step up and adapt the state’s financial aid system to the needs of today’s students.
Data - December 2021
State of the Chains, 2021Our fourteenth annual ranking of national retailers in New York City finds a slow rebound of chain stores across the five boroughs, following the most challenging year on record. This year chain stores broke a three-year streak of net losses, increasing locations by 2.7 percent. But this year’s bounce back—largely powered by the reopening of 260 stores that had shuttered in 2020—still leaves the city well short of pre-pandemic levels.
Report - December 2021
Financing Economic Mobility: Adopting New Jersey’s Pay It Forward ModelThe first edition of Economic Opportunity Lab, CUF's new project spotlighting innovative policies from other cities and states that are helping to create a more inclusive economy and which have potential for replication in NYC, profiles New Jersey’s Pay It Forward program. The initiative, which creates a career impact bond, could provide a funding model for New York to scale up the most successful job training programs.
Commentary/Op-Ed - December 2021
To ensure an inclusive recovery, encourage and support minority-owned businessesIn this Crain's New York Business op-ed, CUF Executive Director Jonathan Bowles and Vice President of Global Philanthropy for JPMorgan Chase Jeanique Druses urge the city to spark the creation of thousands of new Black- and Latino-owned businesses as part of ensuring an inclusive recovery in New York.
Report - December 2021
No Small Relief: Strengthening NYC’s Most Vulnerable Small BusinessesNew York needs a long-term small business recovery plan that is squarely focused on boosting the smallest, most vulnerable businesses—one that supports them on the long recovery ahead and gives them the best chance of coming back even stronger. This blueprint lays out ten actionable policies that New York City and State can implement in the year ahead.
