Report Outlines Path to NYC's Tech Growth

NEW YORK CITY-Manhattan Borough President Scott Stringer released a report on Tuesday detailing how New York City could expand its entrepreneurial and tech sectors to allow the city to be competitive with other national and international markets. “New York City is in the midst of an entrepreneurial revolution, but the benefits of this revolution are not reaching all New Yorkers,” Stringer stated when releasing his “Start-Up City: Growing the Entrepreneurial Ecosystem for All.”

Stringer says,” Employment in tech and other emerging industries can be a ticket to the middle class, but only if New York City makes significant investments in expanding this economy into all five boroughs.”

He notes that New York City replaced Boston as the number two location for tech expansion in the nation. However, he says that a host of New York City tech employers report that they cannot find suitable workers to fill vacancies at their firms. Stringer says the city must make further investments in education, infrastructure and institute further government efficiencies to spur growth in the tech and business start-up sectors.

“It's astonishing that at a time when our local unemployment rate is hovering around 9.3%, employers are being forced to look outside New York to find qualified candidates,” Stringer notes. “We can change this trend through investments in education, infrastructure and the streamlining of government operations, and make the entrepreneurial economy a true pipeline to the middle class.”

Among the report's recommendations to spur job growth include: having the city's Department of Education offer expanded computer science curricula in schools throughout the city; the creation of a municipal fiber network by using publicly owned assets, such as transportation and utility infrastructure, as conduits for enhanced competition among Internet service providers and improving Internet connectivity; having the city's Digital NYC Business Express serve as a one-stop shop that would offer fully-integrated online applications for permits and licenses, as well as “digital expeditors” who can address the needs of the tech industry.

The Start-Up report also advised that the city and New York State offer a joint financial aid program for students who major in engineering and promise to work in the city and state for at least five years after graduation. In addition the report recommended the Department of Buildings be relieved of building inspection and remediation responsibilities in order to ensure that entrepreneurs get permits, plans and licenses in a reasonable timeframe; encourage “crowd-sourcing” by creating a bulletin board for start-ups to partner in the search for office space in the city. Stringer's report also called for reforming parking minimum requirements on residential properties near transit in order to make projects more affordable; have the city continue to modify zoning laws and building codes to allow smaller affordable housing projects in order to attract young professionals to the city.

The report also calls for the City University of New York to develop a two-year program for high school graduates in science and math to fill coding and middle skill jobs in the tech sector and to use light rail and bus rapid transit to connect job growth areas in the five boroughs.

Kathryn Wylde, president and CEO of the Partnership for New York City, states in response to the report, “Borough President Stringer's report correctly identifies many public-policy interventions that are needed as the city transitions to a high tech economy. His approach suggests how New York can maintain its status as a global business capital, while ensuring all its residents, workers and entrepreneurs the opportunity to share in the benefits that result.”