Lucas,
"The fastest way to end a conversation among Gotham pols is to mention the city's 10 percent unemployment rate. Most think that creating jobs is somebody else's job. Thankfully, a 2013 mayoral candidate is breaking the taboo. Public Advocate Bill de Blasio confronted the subject head-on, calling the unemployment rate 'a stain' on New York and saying, 'If people can't find good jobs -- or, in fact, any jobs -- all other bets are off.'"
That's what NY Post columnist Michael Goodwin wrote about Bill recently, calling him "a pol who means business."
And since his speech on economic revitalizatio n at NYU, Bill has garnered attention from neighborhood businesses and their advocates. In the speech, Bill said the 10 percent unemployment rate was a call to action:
"There is no question we are in a crisis today. There is no question that we are failing to sufficiently address it. And the disturbing reality is that the federal government isn't owning up to its responsibilities. So we have to focus more on what we can do for ourselves as a city.
"When I speak to people in Melrose in the Bronx or Canarsie in Brooklyn, the City's marquee initiatives seem distant and illusory. As bad as unemployment is citywide, it's actually 11 percent in Brooklyn and 14 percent in the Bronx --and young people have the worst of it.
"When I talk to developers who are actually trying to build affordable housing and create good jobs, they feel there's more red tape in the way than ever.
"When I talk to small business owners, they feel under siege by fines and fees like never before.
"These are not the hallmarks of a City responding to crisis. They are the signs of a City unconsciously accepting the status quo and quietly adjusting to the 'new normal.'"
On the roadblocks to development:
"If you had to identify one area where City policy seems stuck in a different era, look no further than our land use process. This is a world of man-made impediments. The Mayor touts the clock in City Hall's bullpen ticking down the minutes of his Administration--but when it comes to development, entire months and years slip away, stalling and scuttling projects.
"Post-2008, the world has changed and it's time for our development process to catch up. History will judge us, not just on whether we saw the iceberg ahead, but whether we mustered the will and had the focus to change course.
"When given the choice to grow or to sit idle, we need to grow and we have to be aggressive about it. There are factors beyond our control--economic conditions, bureaucratic interference from afar--that can kill good projects. The things I value as a progressive--good jobs and affordable housing--cannot happen if projects stall or never materialize. If we aren't doing everything possible as a City government to spur on development, even if valid compromises are included, we risk nothing getting built at all--and that is the worst possible outcome."
On the excessive small business fines hurting our small businesses:
"The City is hauling in twice as much from fines as it did ten years ago; it's now close to $820 million each year. And it's across the board. Department of Finance's fines went up 50 percent since 2002. Consumer Affairs' doubled. The Buildings Department tripled. And the Health Department? Their fines went up more than four-fold. What's driving these numbers? Are New Yorkers really twice as law-breaking as ten years ago? Are inspectors that much more observant?
"I was at a Community Board meeting out in Throggs Neck in the Bronx a few years ago and a business owner who was also a retired police officer approached me. He said when he was on the force and saw a double-parked car, his orders were to get the car to move. Ticketing was a last resort. But when he talks to his colleagues on the force today, they're told to write tickets first, ask questions later.
"
Again, the city is failing to react to the crisis we face, failing to understand how fundamentally the world has changed. Our economic future depends on working with business owners to address actual consumer and public safety concerns without driving them into the ground. Instead of 'fine-first,' let's make our policy 'fix-first.'"
On smarter ways to invest our City's pensions to spur growth:
"Together, our City pension funds top $120 billion. NYCERS, on which I sit as a trustee, holds over $41 billion in assets. Of that, only about $800 million was authorized in recent years for Economically Targeted Investments right here in New York City. But until this year, 2012--four years after the recession began--only $450 million of that had actually been invested. What we did invest earned us a higher than expected rate of return, and helped finance construction and rehabilitation of over 14,000 affordable housing units across the city. The other half of what was allocated sat waiting.
"Here it was again, that business as usual inertia, blind to the intense needs we face. I put forward and the board passed a resolution to invest the remaining $350 million immediately. We also secured a resolution to expand our investments in infrastructure substantially, following the lead of major pension funds in Canada and in states including California, Connecticut, Florida and North Carolina. Again, a little New York pride, please. We are not going to let North Carolina be more creative and strategic in its pension investment than New York City."
And these are just a preview of Bill's vision for our city's economic future. To hear more about Bill's plans for economic revitalization across the five boroughs, watch the full speech here.
Thank you,
Rebecca Katz
New Yorkers for de Blasio