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In many of the New York City neighborhoods hit hardest by the pandemic, libraries are among the only trusted resources for immigrants, teens, older adults, and those on the wrong side of the digital divide. For example, in 64 percent of the city's neighborhoods, branch libraries are the sole public hub for career services and support for jobseekers. Libraries are the only local, public resource for small business owners and aspiring entrepreneurs in 67 percent of the city--including many neighborhoods where minority- and immigrant-owned businesses are still reeling from the pandemic--at a time when thousands of lower-income New Yorkers are turning to entrepreneurship out of necessity. As the city faces the consequences of widespread learning loss, libraries are the only local, public provider of family literacy programs in over one-third of city neighborhoods--and among the only options for free, drop-in homework help. Today, the city's public libraries serve over 35 million visitors annually, with program attendance increasing 178 percent over the past decade and WiFi usage more than tripling. This study provides a detailed vision for how policymakers can harness the full potential of New York's 217 branch libraries--operated by the city's three library systems, Brooklyn Public Library (BPL), New York Public Library (NYPL), and Queens Public Library (QPL)--to ensure an inclusive recovery and build a more equitable city for the long term. It expands on previous research examining the critical role of New York City's branch libraries as engines of economic mobility and social cohesion, including the 2013 report "Branches of Opportunity" and the 2014 report "Re-Envisioning New York's Branch Libraries." [For "Branches of Opportunity," see ED540171. For "Re-Envisioning New York's Branch Libraries," see ED555645.]

In March 2014, the Center for an Urban Future documented an array of challenges and vulnerabilities resulting from the New York City's aging infrastructure in their "Caution Ahead" report (see ED555648). And it identified a minimum investment of $47.3 billion over the next five years to bring the city's core infrastructure to a state of good repair. The current study provides a five-year update to the Center's assessment of New York City's aging infrastructure vulnerabilities. It concludes that Mayor Bill de Blasio administration's record infrastructure investments have resulted in real progress in several areas, but also finds that capital needs across many city agencies have grown significantly--and not just in high-profile areas like the subways and New York City Housing Authority (NYCHA). The Center's new analysis shows that some of the problems that were documented five years ago have only gotten worse, and that the new stressors like climate change have only added to the overall price tag to bring the city's core infrastructure to a state of good repair.

This report analyzes data from the U.S. Department of Education on the outcomes of New York's federal student loan borrowers who entered repayment in 2012, covering the period from 2012 to 2016. This data brief--the first comprehensive analysis of five-year student loan outcomes in New York--reveals that the student loan default rate in New York is higher than many previously believed. The analysis shows student loan default rates in New York nearly double between the third and fifth year--from 6.5 percent to 11 percent. Findings reveal that the state's for-profit higher education institutions are responsible for a disproportionate share of all student loan defaults after five years, with students attending for-profit schools defaulting at more than double the rate of public colleges. The data underscores the need to tackle the student debt crisis in New York and suggests that state policymakers should take steps to hold the most default-prone institutions accountable.

To be sure, there is a lot the Bloomberg administration has not accomplished in the social policy arena. City funding for a number of vital social programs--from child care to summer jobs for young adults--has been cut or flat-lined even as demand for these services has increased. Many of those interviewed say that the administration moved away from partnerships with community-based organizations. Many low-income New Yorkers undoubtedly face a more arduous road to the middle class than when Mayor Bloomberg took office. As detailed in this report, however, there are a number of standout programs that deserve to remain intact or be scaled up in the next administration. This report profiles 10 important anti-poverty innovations from the Bloomberg administration that deserve to continue. [Additional research support was provided by Fatema Alzeera, Anthony Drummond and Brandie Moreno.]

With Washington trapped in budget battles and partisan gridlock, cities have emerged as the best source of government innovation. Nowhere is this more visible than in New York City. Since taking office in 2002, Mayor Bloomberg has introduced a steady stream of innovative policies, from a competition to recruit a new applied sciences campus and a far-reaching sustainability plan, to micro-apartments and a first-in-the-nation Office of Financial Empowerment. Some reforms have been more successful than others, and some more widely embraced by New Yorkers, but these policy innovations have undeniably reshaped city government, improved service delivery and sparked economic growth. Yet for all of Mayor Bloomberg's achievements, many problems will remain when he exits City Hall at the end of the year. To successfully address these challenges, the next mayor will have to be as ambitious, experimental, and innovative as his or her predecessor. Over the last six months, researchers at the Center for an Urban Future and NYU Wagner interviewed nearly 200 policy experts in cities across the country and around the globe, looking for game-changing reforms that have proven effective in other cities, that are scalable in New York, and that the next mayor could implement. This report, "Innovation and the City," presents 15 of the most promising reforms--from San Francisco's bold plan to establish a $50 college savings account for every kindergartener in public school, Boston's pioneering approach to remaking the 311 system for today's smartphone age, and London's ambitious experiment with crowdfunding for public infrastructure projects. [Additional research for this report was provided by Adam Eckstein, Kahliah Laney, Christian Gonzalez-Rivera, Emily Laskodi, and Sa Liu. Design by Ahmad Dowla and Jae Ko.]

Academic research institutions have long been important economic anchors for New York City. They provide thousands of jobs and serve as a magnet for talented students and faculty, who inject hundreds of millions of dollars into the local economy through federal research grants. Yet, even though New York's concentration of top-fight scientific institutions--from Columbia University and New York University to Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center and Rockefeller University--is among the world's most impressive, this part of the city's economy has never served as a major source of growth. In the wake of an economic downturn that has delivered a powerful blow to the city's traditional economic drivers--finance in particular--this will have to change. With analysts predicting that the financial sector will never return to its 2007 job levels, New York's universities and nonprofit research institutions could provide a crucial economic spark in the near term and become a reliable job generator in the long run. These institutions represent a promising opportunity for New York in part because they are immobile assets--even in today's global economy, they're not going anywhere--and because scientific and technological breakthroughs are likely to fuel much of the nation's future economic growth. Many of these breakthroughs will emanate from university research. To be sure, New York will never create a high-tech economy on par with Silicon Valley, where technology sectors are as firmly rooted as the finance and media industries are here. Nor does it need to do so. But the city could do much more to capitalize on its prowess in scientific research and technological innovation. And the moment is perfect for such an effort--it has never been more important to diversify the local economy and create a powerful new engine for job creation. In previous years, the Center for an Urban Future has published reports about the growth potential of the city's biotech and video game sectors. This study, however, goes beyond any one technology industry, and looks at the role that universities and nonprofit research institutions play in New York City's economy and their potential to be a catalyst for future growth. It documents both the breadth of scientific assets in the five boroughs and the challenges to converting these resources into economic activity. This report mainly assesses what the city's scientific institutions have done to support and promote the commercialization of research in a way that has local economic benefits, but it also explores the level to which New York City and state economic development officials have attempted to cultivate the growth of emerging technology industries. This report also provides a comparative analysis of the city's leading scientific institutions with those of national leaders such as Stanford University, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and the University of Florida. This study is accompanied by New York City's first-ever Innovation Index, a compendium of data that demonstrates where New York stands compared to other cities and regions on a broad range of indicators measuring both existing science and technology assets and the city's level of success at commercializing these assets. [This report was edited by David Jason Fischer.] (Contains 101 endnotes.

The inauguration of a new president is a typically a time of great hope, and this year is certainly no exception. But the advent of the Obama administration offers residents of New York and other city-dwellers special grounds for optimism: that the period of years, if not decades, when the federal government all but turned its back on the needs of urban communities is finally at an end. President-elect Obama's early pronouncements, from creating a White House Office of Urban Policy to promising bold new investments in infrastructure, education and alternative energy, suggest that the new president understands something that many of his recent predecessors clearly did not: what's good for cities is good for America. New York is the nation's biggest city by population, economic activity, and cultural importance; its success is inextricably linked to that of the country. But if the Obama administration and the 111th Congress appear to present an exciting opportunity for cities, exactly how should policymakers in New York and other urban centers seek to capitalize on this? This paper lays out 51 specific recommendations for what the federal government could do to help New York City. These ideas range from taking immediate steps to ensure that the 2010 Census does not undercount New York and providing anti-terror funds to localities based on risk rather than politics, to accelerating the rollout of new air traffic control technology to reduce fight delays and streamlining the visa process to make it easier for artists to enter the country. While the authors' recommendations are squarely focused on New York, many if not most of them would bring great benefit to cities and metropolitan regions across the United States. (Contains 124 endnotes.)

This report lays out the case for career and technical education (CTE) in New York City. It examines 21 dedicated CTE high schools, the interests and needs of a business community eager to support career-oriented education, and the performance, problems and promise of a vein of educational programming whose time might finally be at hand. The report finds that New York City's long overlooked and under-funded career and technical education high schools might hold the key to improving citywide educational outcomes and ensuring a steady stream of skilled workers for local employers. (Contains 1 table, 1 chart, and 18 endnotes.) [Funding was provided by provided by the Independence Community Foundation, JPMorgan Chase Foundation, and the New York Community Trust.]

The vitality of New York State's economy depends on deepening the ranks of the skilled workforce, a need that will grow more urgent over the next several years as the Baby Boomer generation moves into retirement. If employers cannot fill high-skilled positions they will lose competitive ground, and some may leave. New York has successfully expanded college enrollment among recent high school graduates over the past decade. Yet enrollment among adults has not only lagged--it has sharply dropped, leaving New York with one of the nation's lowest rates of adult college enrollment. Turning around the decline in adult college participation is essential and achievable. While a successful plan will include several integrated components, this study focuses on what the author believes to be the most essential component: improving affordability so that more working adults can gain access to college and avoid dropping out. Currently, New York's financial aid system is failing adult students. To rectify this problem, the author recommends that New York reform its Tuition Assistance Program (TAP) and seek other vehicles for improving adult access to higher education. (Contains 3 tables, 4 charts, and 45 endnotes.) [This report was produced in part by the Schuyler Center for Analysis and Advocacy.]