40 Initiatives Offer Roadmap for Future, Including Five Focus Areas for 2023 to Make NYC Best Place to Work Action Plan Goals Include Reimagining 24/7 Commercial Districts, Shortening Commutes to Work, and Generating Inclusive, Future-Focused Growth Plan Builds on Recommendations Crafted by 59-Member “‘New’ New York” Panel Led by Former NYC Deputy Mayors Richard Buery and Dan Doctoroff.
New York – New York City Mayor Eric Adams and New York Governor Kathy Hochul today released “‘New’ New York: Making New York Work for Everyone,” set of 40 proposals intended to make New York City the best place to work and serve as a roadmap for the city’s future. The New New York panel was launched in May 2022 and is being led by co-chairs and former New York City deputy mayors Richard Buery, now CEO of Robin Hood, and Daniel Doctoroff, former CEO of Sidewalk Labs. The broad and diverse panel of civic leaders and industry experts worked for six months to generate recommendations for the city and state – at a time of historic alignment between the two – to partner with each other and across sectors to reimagine a “New” New York that propels the city and the region forward for its next chapter of equitable, inclusive growth.
“New Yorkers have been through so much in the last three years, and as society shifts in significant ways, the last year has brought remarkable signs of recovery thanks to our resilience and creativity,” said Mayor Adams. “Our administration is committed to building a ‘New’ New York – a safer, fairer, and more prosperous city that will continue to adapt and thrive throughout the 21st century. And this plan lays out a clear vision for coordinated city, state, nonprofit, and private sector action to reenergize the areas still struggling from the pandemic and supercharge those with new momentum. I want to thank Governor Hochul and the entire panel for their partnership in this critical effort to put our city on the right track, and I look forward to moving that work forward together.”
“Thanks to an extraordinary partnership with Mayor Adams and the New New York Panel, this report is providing the road map toward a stronger, fairer, and more accessible New York,” Governor Hochul said. “We are no longer living in the same New York as we were at the beginning of the pandemic, and these proposals will help to revitalize our business districts, ease New Yorkers’ commutes, promote equity and tackle our 800,000-unit housing shortage. These are the types of bold, ambitious ideas we need right now, and my administration looks forward to closely reviewing the panel’s recommendations in the coming weeks to determine how we continue to make New York an even better place to live.”
“New York City has always been a beacon of hope and an engine of opportunity. I am so proud that today, the ‘New’ New York Panel, alongside Governor Hochul and Mayor Adams, are releasing our report – advancing a bold vision to reimagine New York post-pandemic as an inclusive, future-focused city, with central business districts where people live, work, and play 24/7; transportation policies that make it easier to get to where they want to go; and growth strategies that ensure that all New Yorkers benefit from our recovery,” said Richard R. Buery, Jr., co-chair, ‘New’ New York panel; and CEO, Robin Hood. “While the pandemic turned our world upside down, it also presented a generational opportunity to make New York City the best place in the world to live and to work. Now it’s up to us to make sure that the vision articulated in these pages turn into action and that New York commits to break down the barriers that have prevented so many New Yorkers from realizing their dreams and aspirations.”
“Out of crisis comes opportunity. While the pandemic and the problems it has created, especially its impact on the way we work and our commercial districts, are significant, New Yorkers never back down from a challenge,” said Daniel Doctoroff, co-chair, “New” New York panel; and former CEO, Sidewalk Labs. “The panel’s report is comprehensive and bold and, most important, has the once-in-a generation alignment of the governor and mayor. We have the opportunity to spur growth that is equitable, get people where they need to go faster, reimagine our key commercial districts, and make New York City the best place to work no matter what you do or where you do it from.”…
….
The city and state’s action plan reflects this expanded focus by proposing three overarching goals that work together to ensure that New York works for all New Yorkers:
- Reimagine New York City’s commercial districts as vibrant 24/7 destinations: Transforming New York City’s single-use business districts into great places where people live, work, and play.
- Make it easier for New Yorkers to get to work: Improving commutes into Manhattan while strengthening employment hubs and workspaces across the five boroughs so people can work closer to home.
- Generate inclusive, future-focused growth: Supporting the growth of jobs and innovation and breaking down barriers to economic mobility.
Across those three goals, the plan proposes 40 initiatives – to be advanced through legislation, policy changes, additional funding, and other actions – that Mayor Adams and Governor Hochul embrace as a roadmap for the future, including the following five key areas of action for 2023:
- Make Midtown and other business districts more mixed-use and flexible: Actions include facilitating market-based conversion and redevelopment of outdated office buildings to residential uses, easing conversion of buildings built before December 1990, eliminating the 12 floor area ratio cap on residential buildings, and passing the ‘City of Yes for Economic Development’ zoning text amendment to create needed flexibility to fill vacant storefronts and allow businesses to evolve and expand.
- Create modern, pedestrian-oriented districts with major public realm interventions: Actions include appointing a director of public realm at City Hall to oversee all public realm-related policies and projects, advancing a coordinated master plan to reclaim street space for new pedestrian and cyclist spaces in Midtown, and bringing public realm improvements to business districts and job hubs in all five boroughs.
- Increase the supply of housing by removing regulatory barriers to housing growth across the city, to increase affordability, reduce displacement and encourage inclusive communities,ensure workers have access to stable housing, and give employers confidence that they can retain and attract talent in New York City. To meet this urgent moment of our housing crisis, this set of city and state legislative changes will encourage housing production for all income levels to address the need for hundreds of thousands of new housing units across the city and state over the next decade.
- Increase access to jobs and decrease commute time to Midtown and other business districts: Actions include dramatically expanding the Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) CityTicket program to make all Long Island Rail Road and Metro-North Railroad trips, including peak travel, that begin and end within New York City cost only $5, while encouraging greater housing density around downstate regional transit-oriented development.
- Help working families participate in the labor force and drive an equitable recovery by making childcare accessible and affordable: Actions include continuing to implement the city’s childcare blueprint, encouraging uptake of the recent Business Income Tax Credit and Property Tax Abatement for creation of new childcare seats, exploring expanded eligibility for childcare vouchers and the Empire State Child Tax Credit, and clarifying and streamlining city regulations around using second floor and basement spaces for childcare centers.
The remainder of the 40 initiatives can be viewed in the full “‘New’ New York” report.
The implementation of the action plan will be led by the “New” New York Leadership Steering Group, a cross-governmental convening hosted by the first deputy mayor and the director of state operations and led by the deputy mayor for economic and workforce development and the deputy secretary for economic development and workforce. A new, dedicated senior advisor in the Mayor’s Office of Policy and Planning will be hired to staff the steering group and oversee the day-to-day management of implementing the plan. Mayor Adams and Governor Hochul plan to make additional policy announcements informed by these recommendations in the weeks ahead.
“Today’s action plan demonstrates a unified vision for the city from the mayor and governor to reimagine our commercial districts, increase the supply of housing, and support working families,” said First Deputy Mayor Lorraine Grillo. “I commend the ‘New’ New York panel and its co-chairs, Richard Buery and Daniel Doctoroff, for their creativity and commitment in leading this diverse set of stakeholders to results: 40 initiatives for us to work towards reviving the city.”
“Over centuries and through various crises, we have made decisions that have changed the course of our history, the lives of our people, and the fate of our industries. I’m thrilled that the city and state teams are releasing this action plan today, which will do the same and will build on months of hard work and invaluable insight from the ‘New’ New York panel,” said Deputy Mayor for Economic and Workforce Development Maria Torres-Springer. “Now the hard work of implementing this plan begins, and I look forward to working with the broad and growing coalition of partners that this effort has brought together to build a stronger city that works for every New Yorker and that continues to lead the world.”
“With the release of the ‘Making New York Work for Everyone’ action plan, the New York City of tomorrow starts today,” said Deputy Mayor for Strategic Initiatives Sheena Wright. “Front and center in this plan is strengthening our economy – but through an equity lens, building on the foundation of the administration’s multibillion-dollar childcare blueprint and breaking down historic barriers that have long prevented economic mobility for Black and Brown communities. I applaud the cross-sector collaboration and bold vision that will transform our city for the better.”…