Mayor Bill de Blasio is up for re-election this year, but he’s looking well beyond the next four years with a new initiative he unveiled Thursday to build New York City’s middle class.
New York Works is a 10-year, 25-point plan that aims to bring 100,000 jobs to the city by investing in high-paying, fast-growing industries like cybersecurity, healthcare, manufacturing and creative sectors.
“Every New Yorker deserves a fair shot at a good job that pays a quality wage and offers the opportunity to develop a meaningful career,” de Blasio said. The plan “invests in our workers, in our buildings, in our neighborhoods and in our companies.”
The “good jobs” defined in the program will pay at least $50,000 or “put people on a clear pathway toward achieving that wage” to “pursue a middle-class career.” The uptick in the middle class would continue a trend that sees fewer New Yorkers living in near-poverty for the first time since the Great Recession, according to a report released last month by the Mayor’s Office for Economic Opportunity.
New York Works initiatives include:
• A $30 million investment in cybersecurity training, research-and-development labs and an “accelerator” for early-stage firms.
• Appointing a senior-level nightlife ambassador to support the city’s nightlife and live music industry.
• Creating a $5 million Digital Health Lab, a facility for healthcare and tech businesses to product test in a clinical environment.
• Office Anchor, which will use city agencies as anchor tenants in commercial buildings in the outer boroughs.
New York Works will commit $96 billion in capital to invest in infrastructure, schools, housing, facilities for city agencies like the NYPD and FDNY and more.
In which industries will New York Works create jobs?
• 30,000 in tech
• 15,000 in life sciences and healthcare
• 20,000 in industrial and manufacturing
• 10,000 in creative and cultural
• 25,000 jobs will be created to “spur millions of square feet of new commercial office space”
Creating better-paying jobs will strengthen the middle class and make New York more affordable for all. pic.twitter.com/q5o5jgVw5T
— NYC Mayor’s Office (@NYCMayorsOffice) June 15, 2017
We are creating 100,000 jobs over the next 10 years – benefiting the livelihoods of at least 250,000 New Yorkers. pic.twitter.com/HA7YBHJhqN
— Bill de Blasio (@NYCMayor) June 15, 2017
For the full plan, visit newyorkworks.cityofnewyork.us.
