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City Announces New Industrial Policy
The Industrial Policy announced today by the de Blasio Administration represents a crucial step towards preserving and expanding the City's industrial sector, a key source of good jobs throughout the five boroughs. With low barriers to entry and real career pathways, industrial and manufacturing jobs, whose average wages are twice that of the retail sector and which are often unionized, are a crucial avenue of opportunity and equitable economic development for low-income communities.
Citywide Coalition Applauds Renewed Industrial Focus
ANHD Press contact: Emily Goldstein, emily.g@anhd.org, 212-747-1117 x 11
The Industrial Policy announced today by the de Blasio Administration represents a crucial step towards preserving and expanding the City's industrial sector, a key source of good jobs throughout the five boroughs. With low barriers to entry and real career pathways, industrial and manufacturing jobs, whose average wages are twice that of the retail sector and which are often unionized, are a crucial avenue of opportunity and equitable economic development for low-income communities.
In addition to preserving and expanding quality jobs, the City's plan includes strategies to limit speculation and preserve affordable space for industrial uses that are currently being priced out of neighborhoods that are home to thriving industrial businesses. With the policy's newly proposed zoning changes, which will stop the building of hotels and self-storage as-of-right in core industrial areas, the City is taking the right step in reforming decades-old land use policy to include provisions that reflect the realities of the 21st century. We hope the Administration and City Council's statements against residential conversions in these same areas will send a strong signal to speculators that encroachment on industrial areas is no longer an acceptable strategy. Hotels and self-storage facilities are two of the most common competing uses driving up prices in industrial areas, and limiting their development is an important step to make sure our city continues to create adequate space for industrial jobs.
We look forward to working with the Administration and City Council as these proposals move through the land use process, and hope to work together on similar restrictions to additional non-compatible uses such as night clubs and big box stores. At the same time, we look forward to learning more about several other pieces of the proposed Industrial Policy, and engaging with the Administration to refine these details.
Innovation districts that combine commercial and manufacturing uses must focus on manufacturing businesses and family-supporting jobs, not just on the designers who conceptualize new goods and services. Similarly, the re-examination of density requirements in manufacturing areas is a welcome signal from the Administration, but must be used carefully to ensure that existing businesses continue to thrive as space is developed or redeveloped. While land use reform is foundational to creating an industrial future in New York City, additional tools are also needed. The establishment of an Industrial Development Fund is a crucial investment into the future of industrial manufacturing in the city.
The importance of putting space in the hands of non-profit, mission-driven developers has been seen time and time again in the development of affordable housing. We look forward to working with the Administration to maximize the impact this newly created fund can have in neighborhoods throughout the City. It is equally fitting that the Mayor is committing to stable, baseline funding for the Industrial Business Service Providers, providing financial stability to organizations that can now develop long-term plans to tackle local obstacles facing industrial businesses. The industrial sector has long been an avenue leading to equitable economic opportunity for immigrant populations, people of color, and low income communities. New, sector-specific workforce development centers in core industrial areas provide the potential for a robust synergy between job seekers and employers. The City's industrial policy proposal, with its inclusion of zoning changes and city investments to support this sector, is laying the groundwork for real equitable economic development. These efforts can reap real rewards for those who have been historically left out of economic recovery, including low-income earners and people of color.
The City has the opportunity to engage with communities and advocates across the five boroughs on these issues of equity and should seize the proposed industrial policy as a means of addressing broader economic injustices. While the City has shown considerable and warranted attention to the need for more affordable housing, no housing is affordable without a good-paying job.
The announcement of a comprehensive industrial policy represents another crucial piece of the puzzle in the City's effort to reduce income inequality and develop safe, vibrant, and affordable neighborhoods.
Asian Americans for Equality, The Assoc. for Neighborhood & Housing Development Business Outreach Center Network Cypress, Hills Local Development Corporation Evergreen (formerly EWVIDCO), Fifth Avenue Committee, Greenpoint Manufacturing and Design Center, Neighbors Helping Neighbors, The New York City Environmental Justice Alliance, Pratt Center for Community Development, South Bronx Overall Economic Development Corp., Southwest Brooklyn Industrial Development Corp., Staten Island Economic Development Corp., Teamsters Joint Council 16, UPRose