New York City’s recovery will be built on our resilience and ingenuity
I’ve seen the ups and downs of New York City, and now it’s stumbling. We’ve had some hits over the past few years, but nothing like the 1980s and early 1990s. This analysis is based on personal observations. I’m one of those people who is easily identifiable as a New Yorker. I love New York City and root for its people and place. Except for a few years in the 1970s and 1980s, I spent most of my time in New York City. Growing up, I worked summers at a bike company, locksmith, and recording studio, then took the subway to work “in the city.” Wherever I go, I am surrounded by the energy, work ethic, and incredible diversity of New Yorkers and places.This has continued for decades. I keep witnessing the challenges and opportunities that this amazing city presents.
We are in a tough spot again. Our new mayor is trying to figure out how to tackle crime, homelessness and unemployment while maintaining morale and selling his vision for a safe and welcoming city. Over the weekend, he held a strategy meeting with the NYPD’s precinct commanders. Find creative strategies to end this crime wave.as NY1 Dean Meminger reports:
“According to sources, the tables in the auditorium of the police headquarters were placed in a large square so that every commander could participate in discussions and no one was sent to the mission. As the meeting was held on Saturday afternoon, many commanders Fearing they would be questioned about crime and violence in the communities they are charged with protecting safety, Adams broke the ice by asking each commander if he was a Yankees or Mets fan, according to those who attended the meeting. The commander by name said it was difficult to get a microphone because too many people wanted to talk. “The mayor listened more than he talked. He really wanted to hear our thoughts. ‘”
Fantastic, a politician who listens and a manager who seems to know how to manage. Even arranging rooms to make people feel empowered to participate…
New York City was built on a place where people came together, and we’re now trying to recover from more than two years of social distancing. The city’s traditional land use model of separating commercial and residential areas is being upended by people working from home on Zoom. New York has adapted before. Manhattan was once filled with garment factories that were converted into residential and commercial spaces. Columbia University has an administrative building called the Studebaker Building, which used to be an automobile factory. Wall Street was empty before Sunday, but now people have moved in and a new neighborhood has been created where strollers and dog walkers can be seen. This will all happen again.
While hate crimes, racism, anti-Semitism, xenophobia, sexism, and homophobia are part of the New York landscape, so is a culture that tolerates and makes intolerance illegal. Few New Yorkers can say their family lived here more than a century ago. Our elites have regular shifts. Many newcomers to New York are going through a difficult time, but they will find support from family, friends and communities who speak their language and lend a helping hand. People quickly learned that New York City is not a single place, but a collection of neighborhoods, each with a distinct character and atmosphere. The big danger to the city’s future is not its ability to attract people, but its affordability, because in some ways it’s too attractive. The process of gentrification is likely to be unstoppable, so the only way to maintain the economic diversity needed for a vibrant city is to start building public housing all over again. Of course, we can’t even think about doing this until we fix our decaying public housing, where 400,000 residents have been neglected for decades. The current strategy of requiring affordable housing to be set aside in exchange for allowing luxury developers to build larger buildings is theoretically possible, but has yet to be successfully implemented.
A lot of attention has been paid recently to homelessness in subways and makeshift camps, but a deeper issue is the number of homeless families and children in New York City. February 2022, with 60,732 people Living in a homeless shelter in New York City. Estimates vary, but at least 25,000 homeless people are children.according to Family Homeless Coalition:
“Nearly 70 percent of homeless shelter users in New York City are families with children. The Department of Homeless Services serves more than 13,000 families and more than 22,000 children.At least 1,500 additional families and approximately 2,800 children and teens using HRA, DYCD and HPD-operated shelters[1]. Homelessness is traumatic for everyone, especially children, as it has long-term negative effects on their physical and mental health, education, and the likelihood that they may experience homelessness as adults …The average length of shelter for a homeless family is over a year long. ”
There are no more innocent victims than homeless children. My friend and longtime colleague Ralph Nunez wrote an insightful article on homelessness in the family Gotham Gazette last week. Dr. Nunez divides the homeless family population into three groups based on more than 30 years of experience working with family homelessness. The first is for families who are struggling, but can get out of homelessness by reaching out. The second is young, mostly female single parents with little work experience, but with broad support, job preparation, training and education may find a way out of poverty and homelessness. Third, he calls it “chronic homelessness:”
“Many are survivors of domestic violence, have experienced mental health or substance abuse issues, are often older, and have experienced multiple episodes of homelessness. These are long-term users of the shelter system…”
according to Nunes:
“A cookie-cutter policy of ‘housing first’ will never work for three distinct groups. Instead, homeless household populations must be categorized for short-, medium- and long-term stays and provided within different types of shelters services while developing policies tailored to their specific needs.”
Given the need for services and housing, he proposed building community centers to provide social services to local residents and homeless families. Instead of isolating all homeless people from community life, he called for a more integrated, community-based approach. Nunes observes These:
“…will be a true community center, with a transitional homeless housing component and responsible for providing comprehensive vocational training and employment services; adult and youth education programs; and child care and health care, among others Support, not only to meet the needs of homeless residents, but the needs of the entire community.”
This approach is more in line with New York City’s traditional way of reaching out to those in need. It also means that homeless families will receive this help side by side with neighbors who are not homeless. Communities are not required to set up homeless shelters, but community centers, which include temporary housing for those in need.
We need a creative, redesigned approach to homelessness, and we need a similar approach to crime. Mayor Adams is right to link public safety to public morale and our economic recovery. A former police officer, he ran for office promising to focus on public safety at a time when New York was in the midst of a crime surge.in the most recent politics Post Erin Durkin and Sally Goldenberg wrote:
“Although most believe it’s too soon for Adams’ policy to take effect, major crimes have increased by 44% compared to the same period last year. Last year’s shootings doubled compared to 2019, and this year has increased by 14 %. Robbery increased by 47%, burglary increased by 31% and assault increased by 19%. Murder was the only major crime to decline, down 9%. Crime rates in each borough and in the subway system and public housing areas of the city as a whole It’s all going up.”
As Mayor Adams searches for the right formula, everyday New Yorkers continue to return to subways and streets while demonstrating their famous resilience. New Yorkers are also highly empathetic, brave and quick-witted. When a deranged man begins shooting with an automatic weapon at a subway station in Sunset Park, Brooklyn, MTA employees and subway passengers help the injured and prevent the horrific situation from getting worse. Miraculously, no one died in the attack, and by the next day, the subway was back to normal operation.
I believe that post-pandemic New York will be different than the city of 2019, but we will come back and restore our role as the pre-pandemic global capital. There is no shortage of challenges, but as always, the diversity, work ethic, ingenuity and resilience of our employees will ensure success. This diverse and tense city has the intelligence and drive to plan a comeback. We have done it before and we will do it again.
