The green economy may be the best chance in a generation to create far more well-paying career opportunities for New Yorkers of color and those from low-income communities—many of whom have long borne the brunt of environmental injustices.

But New York will never fully realize this tantalizing opportunity if the jobs don’t materialize. Unfortunately, that’s a legitimate concern.

In 2023, there were just 2,184 unique job postings in the city’s core green economy—far fewer than traditional industries like health care (70,002), finance (56,314), and tech (46,912).

In this NY Daily News op-ed, Jonathan Bowles and Eli Dvorkin put forward steps that city leaders should take to turn promise into progress, starting with fully implementing Local Law 97, swiftly deploying an NYC Green Building Fund, and putting CUNY students to work creating a greener university.

This op-ed highlights data and ideas from CUF's recent report, New York City's Green Economy Opportunity.