Olympic Dreams Over, Real Problems Remain

Mayor Bloomberg spent a lot of time, energy, and political capital trying to land the 2012 Olympics for New York City. Given that it was New York’s first try for the Olympics, the effort was admirable. But it was always a long shot. Now it’s time to move on. The mayor needs to get back to the numerous problems that continue to confront New Yorkers.

Among these are the high jobless rate of the city’s black male population, the large number of young people drifting aimlessly - neither in school nor in the labor market – and the high rent burdens that threaten low-income New Yorkers. These have been documented by the Community Service Society (CSS) in its research reports and surveys.

Jobs a Priority

The city’s communities of color can hardly expect to flourish when two out of every five black men are jobless. Job creation and job training must be a priority. The City Council earlier provided $10 million in funding for job training for the chronically unemployed, largely in response to CSS reports. It recently appropriated another $20 million. This is just a beginning. We need a long-term commitment by the city to provide young New Yorkers with the training and technical skilled-based education needed to secure family-sustaining jobs.

One of the most promising areas of job growth is the construction industry. Thanks to pressure brought to bear by Congressman Charles Rangel, the city recently set up a Construction Industry Opportunity Commission. The Commission – of which I’m a member – is exploring strategies for ensuring that all New Yorkers – particularly people of color – gain access to jobs in the construction industry.

Less than 10% get
a Regents diploma

But the city cannot wait to help young people until after they leave school. For many, it is already too late. The problems of joblessness can usually be traced to the educational system.

Nearly half of students entering our high schools drop out before graduation. Even many graduates are not adequately educated to take their place in the labor market. Eva Moskowitz, chair of the City Council’s Education Committee, recently revealed that less than 10 percent of black and Latino students receive a Regents diploma when they graduate. As a result of the dropout rate and an educational system that shortchanges most students, over 170,000 mostly black and Latino youths are disconnected from both the educational system and the job market. Their future is grim.

One of the first places to address this problem is the public schools’ outdated vocational education curriculum. The city recently developed a new initiative to link vocational education to the real world of work. Given the magnitude of the problem, it will be important that the scale of this undertaking is large enough to make a real difference.

Jobs and education are crucial to the future of our communities. But our latest survey revealed what worries low-income New Yorkers most is paying the rent.

Rent Worries

From data drawn from the Housing and Vacancy Survey of 2002, CSS estimates that 65 percent of the city’s families with incomes under the federal poverty line – 200,000 households - paid at least half their income for rent. On average, that leaves less than $30 a week per family member for all else, such as food, utilities, transportation, and medication.

This situation makes it almost impossible for poor New Yorkers to pay for their housing and still survive in the city. With Washington’s housing policies so openly hostile to lower income Americans, it is the city’s duty to protect New Yorkers now. One way is to support Intro 186-A, a City Council bill to preserve existing subsidized housing units.

The city must act to prevent the loss of subsidized housing resources — public housing, HUD-subsidized developments, and Mitchell-Lama rentals. The city and the state must intensify their roles in fighting against the withdrawal of Washington from key housing programs that serve the poor.

These issues need a combination of teamwork, ingenuity, and cash. Olympic dreams are over. It’s time to deal with our real problems.

From the New York Amsterdam News
July 14 - 20, 2005