Report - June 2023
NYC’s Stalled Retail RecoveryRetail is one of New York City’s largest industry sectors, and home to an outsized share of the most accessible jobs. But the retail sector is lagging well behind the city’s overall jobs recovery and other face-to-face industries, including restaurants, that were hit hard during the pandemic, raising concerns about whether this vital and diverse part of the city’s economy will ever get back to its pre-pandemic employment level.
Report - March 2023
Playing New York City’s ACE CardFew student success programs nationally have been as effective as CUNY’s Accelerated Study in Associate Programs (ASAP) initiative, which has grown to serve 25,000 community college students. CUNY has a promising program modeled on ASAP that is helping students at senior colleges complete their bachelor’s degrees on time: the Accelerate, Complete, and Engage (ACE) program. But the ACE program has considerable room to grow.
Report - January 2023
Keeping Pace with an Aging New York StateNew York State’s older adult population is booming, with more residents ages 65 and above—nearly 3.5 million—than the entire population of 21 states. An expanding share of the state’s older adults are immigrants and people of color. Alarmingly, older New Yorkers living below the poverty line increased by 37 percent over the past decade.
Report - January 2023
Strengthening NYC’s Nonprofits by Reducing Administrative BurdensGovernment contract requirements are often unnecessarily complicated and inconsistent, forcing nonprofits to spend an exorbitant amount of time toiling over paperwork. Reducing these burdens could offer much-needed relief to the sector.
Report - December 2022
State of the Chains, 2022Our fifteenth annual ranking of national retailers in New York City finds a slight 0.3 percent uptick in chain stores across the five boroughs. However, despite the continued recovery from the sector’s steep contraction in 2020, this year’s bump in chain locations was a fraction of last year’s 2.7 percent increase.
Report - December 2022
Bolstering Minority- and Immigrant-Owned Businesses by Scaling Up CDFIsNew city and state government policies and investments are needed to strengthen New York City’s minority- and immigrant-owned businesses. Few would have a greater impact than expanding the reach of the city's Community Development Financial Institutions.
Report - November 2022
How NYC Can Leverage Data to Strengthen Social ServicesThis is the era of data. But while individuals, businesses, and governments are now using data analytics in countless ways to get smarter about how to allocate resources and deliver services, this data revolution has only just begun to transform one vital area of city government: New York’s social services system. This report shares insights from experts on how to realize this missed opportunity.
Report - November 2022
Harnessing CUNY as a Launchpad Into Tech CareersNew Yorkers of color remain strikingly underrepresented among the city’s tech workforce. No institution is better positioned to help close this opportunity gap for tech careers, at scale, than the City University of New York (CUNY). However, fully capitalizing on CUNY’s remarkable potential to serve as the city’s largest and most equitable springboard into technology careers will require new action from city and state government, the city’s technology companies, and CUNY itself.
Report - November 2022
Video: City of Aspiration: 150 Ideas From New Yorkers for Building a More Equitable NYCThere is growing consensus that New York City leaders should take new action to build a more equitable city. Check out CUF's new report video that breaks down our report featuring 150 New York-based leaders and national experts each sharing a single policy idea for how to make progress toward a more equitable NYC.
Report - September 2022
City of Aspiration: 150 Ideas for Building a More Equitable NYCThere is growing consensus that New York City leaders should take new action to build a more equitable city. This report provides a roadmap for how NYC can get there, featuring 150 New York-based leaders and national experts each sharing a single policy idea for how to make progress toward a more equitable NYC.
Report - July 2022
New York’s New Jobs EngineThe tech sector has matured into New York City's single most dependable economic engine and reliable source of new well-paying jobs. However, New York will have to overcome new challenges and gathering headwinds to build a larger, more sustainable, and more inclusive tech ecosystem.
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.
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.
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.
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.
