Commentary/Op-Ed - October 2024
Vanderbilt University is the new neighbor NYC needsIn this amNY op-ed, Executive Director Jonathan Bowles makes the case for why Vanderbilt University's plan to open a new campus in Manhattan is crucial to helping New York City stay competitive in the emerging post-pandemic economy recovery.
Commentary/Op-Ed - August 2024
Making It Easier for New Yorkers to Care for Their ParksNew Yorkers are using parks and open spaces more than ever, and the city can’t keep up with their growing needs. This commentary highlights why and how the city should make it easier for nonprofit organizations and community groups to help care for public parks and open spaces.
Commentary/Op-Ed - May 2024
NYC needs a new world-class collegeIn this Daily News op-ed, Executive Director Jonathan Bowles and Fisher Brother's Winston Fisher argue that establishing a prestigious new undergraduate university would enable the city to spark new job growth and strengthen the city’s talent pipeline for years to come.
Commentary/Op-Ed - May 2024
Why NYC Needs a Citywide Cultural FestivalIn this City Limits op-ed, Eli Dvorkin and Winston Fisher call on the Adams administration to launch the city’s first annual five-borough cultural festival—helping the city tackle several challenges at once.
Commentary/Op-Ed - May 2024
Investing in the arts and artists to tackle New York’s biggest challengesIn this Times Union op-ed, Editorial & Policy Director Eli Dvorkin and Creatives Rebuild New York's Sarah Calderón urge state policymakers to make the arts and artists a centerpiece of an inclusive economic development agenda.
Commentary/Op-Ed - April 2024
To Build a Greener New York City, Start With CUNYMeeting New York City’s ambitious climate goals will require a massive retrofit of its buildings, which make up almost 70 percent of the city’s carbon footprint. To begin, a major new initiative is needed to build a greener CUNY using incoming federal and state funding.
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.
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.
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.
Commentary/Op-Ed - August 2023
Prioritize skills to fill city jobs: NYC should drop the need for a college degree for some postsIn this NY Daily News op-ed, CUF's Jonathan Bowles urges elected officials and Mayor Adams to take the lead in embracing a skills-first approach by removing degree requirements for hundreds or even thousands of city government jobs to open up well-paying public sector jobs to New Yorkers that have been shut out of these opportunities.
Commentary/Op-Ed - June 2023
To Create a More Equitable Economy, Invest in CUNYIn this Gotham Gazette op-ed, CUF's Jonathan Bowles and Eli Dvorkin make the case for why policymakers should prioritize fully funding CUNY. Despite the essential role CUNY plays in creating economic opportunity for low-income New Yorkers of color, it stands to see a net budget cut of $140.9 million in FY 2024. Now is the time to invest in CUNY’s effectiveness, not limit its potential.
Commentary/Op-Ed - June 2023
Expanding Micromobility Across All Five BoroughsTo make further headway in reducing NYC's carbon footprint, much more progress is needed to lower emissions from transportation—New York's second-largest source after buildings. A faster citywide expansion of green micromobility options can help achieve the city's ambitious climate goals while meeting the changing transit needs of the postpandemic city.
Commentary/Op-Ed - April 2023
To boost economic mobility, help CUNY ACE growIn this amNewYork op-ed, CUF's Eli Dvorkin and Robin Hood's Deborah McCoy urge city and state leaders to commit to scaling the highly promising but small-scale CUNY Accelerate, Complete, and Engage (ACE) program over the next five years to ensure that more New Yorkers from lower-income backgrounds can earn a college degree.
Commentary/Op-Ed - March 2023
Retooling SYEP for New York City’s Changing EconomyIn this new commentary, CUF Fellow David Fischer credits city officials for expanding NYC's Summer Youth Employment Program but argues that SYEP could be doing much more to prepare the mostly low-income youth it serves for a labor market utterly transformed from when the program began.
Commentary/Op-Ed - March 2023
We must pass legislation to make capital construction more efficientThis new op-ed in Crain’s New York Business by CUF’s Jonathan Bowles and Trust for Public Land’s Carter Strickland urges Governor Hochul and the Legislature to pass a set of bills that would lead to a measurable improvement in the speed at which New York City builds parks, resilience projects, libraries, and other critical infrastructure.
Commentary/Op-Ed - February 2023
How to help New Yorkers by reducing red tape for nonprofitsIn this NY Nonprofit Media op-ed, CUF's Jonathan Bowles and Brooklyn Community Foundation's Jocelynne Rainey urge city and state policymakers to help strengthen and stabilize the financially vulnerable nonprofit sector by reducing the unnecessary administrative burdens that government agencies impose on nonprofits.
Commentary/Op-Ed - December 2022
Let’s swiftly implement ‘New’ New York blueprintIn this Crain’s New York Business op-ed, CUF's Jonathan Bowles and Fisher Brothers' and Area15's Winston Fisher urges city and state leaders to re-imagine economic development to focus more on transit, open space, cultural vibrancy, housing, sanitation, and safety, which in today's talent-driven economy are as vital to the city’s future economic competitiveness as any tax incentive or sectoral strategy.
