Press Room

Public Advocate Jumaane D. Williams called for expanded funding to the Department of Small Business Services in the coming city budget, and the prioritization of the unique needs of New York's small businesses, at a City Council executive budget hearing Wednesday afternoon. The Public Advocate noted that the proposed $103.9 million budget for the Department is reduced by $32.3 million, or 31 percent, from the current fiscal year, and raised several key areas in which proposed cuts would be deeply detrimental.

"I am concerned about the budget's priorities and lack thereof," said the Public Advocate. "For example, the absence of funding for Workforce1 Career Centers that provide job placement assistance and skill training referrals. By the end of December 2020, New York City's unemployment rate was 11 percent. The psychological toll of unemployment can be devastating, particularly for people of more color who have disproportionately lost jobs. People deserve not only a chance at employment, but also a boost. I am also concerned about the lack of funding to enforce Equal Employment Opportunity compliance and workforce diversity requirements."

Public Advocate Williams also discussed the need to pass his legislation, Intro. 1990, that would provide interest-free loans to small businesses, non-profits, and freelance workers ineligible for state assistance. The bill is part of his Renewed Deal for New York, which also highlights the need to uplift M/WBEs, another focus of the Public Advocate's remarks.

"Minority and women-owned businesses must also be prioritized in the City's recovery," he argued. "The proposed executive budget slightly increases economic and financial opportunities for M/WBEs from $8.31 million in fiscal year 2021 to $8.38 million in fiscal year 2022. Of course, I welcome it, however we need to ensure M/WBEs can easily access our City's contracts. That increase is almost negligible. The contracting process can be opaque and confusing for M/WBEs. There is no time to wait, these firms face numerous challenges that can be corrected through government intervention."

Read the full statement from the Public Advocate for today's hearing below.

TESTIMONY OF PUBLIC ADVOCATE JUMAANE D. WILLIAMS TO THE COMMITTEE ON SMALL BUSINESS -

EXECUTIVE BUDGET HEARING

MARCH 17, 2021

Good afternoon,

Thank you so much Chair Gjonaj, much appreciated. Thank you to the commissioner for being here. As mentioned, my name is Jumaane D. Williams. I am the Public Advocate for the City of New York. I am thankful for the opportunity to give a statement this afternoon.

At this time last year, New York City shut down all activities because of COVID-19. We still saw high infection rates and death rates, particularly in communities of more color, despite limiting the virus' spread. The sudden closures also meant businesses needed to close, with no knowledge of when to reopen. Clearly, federal assistance would have been needed as businesses wait for the pandemic to pass. We could have incentivized people to stay closed.

One year after, the need among small businesses is as great, perhaps greater, than last year. Numerous small businesses across the City have permanently closed, and workers have lost their jobs in a fragile economy. Loss of income can have serious impacts for communities across the City. That is why a relief plan is needed for the City's recovery. 

The administration's proposed Preliminary Budget for the Department of Small Business Services for fiscal year 2022 is $103.9 million. This is down by $32.3 million or 31 percent from the current fiscal year. I understand that the City is making tough decisions because of the sudden budget shortfalls resulting from COVID-19. The pandemic and the resulting economic crisis has upended municipal budgets across the country.

Yet I am concerned about the budget's priorities and lack thereof. For example, the absence of funding for Workforce1 Career Centers that provide job placement assistance and skill training referrals. By the end of December 2020, New York City's unemployment rate was 11 percent. The psychological toll of unemployment can be devastating, particularly for people of more color who have disproportionately lost jobs. People deserve not only a chance at employment, but also a boost. 

I am also concerned about the lack of funding to enforce Equal Employment Opportunity compliance and workforce diversity requirements. Diversity at workplaces was an issue before the pandemic, and it may have been amplified because of it. We need to make sure employers are following EEO compliance as well as, for example, ensuring opportunities for people with disabilities. 

Frankly, we must exhaust all of our efforts to help small businesses. That requires creative thinking on our part, and I commend the commissioner for talking with businesses across the City in the past year to find solutions. We need to be both transparent and proactive to ensure small businesses and workers get the help they need.

Earlier this month, my Office released A Renewed Deal for New York City. In it, I offer solutions to help the City's businesses and workers. For example, the City should suspend or severely cap commercial rent, offer tax breaks and deferments, and minimize cuts to SBS. Moreover, tax incentives usually offered for wealth corporations should instead go toward our small businesses.

One of my bills, Intro. No. 1990, is another great example of what we can do. The bill provides interest-free loans to small businesses, non-profits, and freelance workers ineligible for state assistance. The commissioner would determine the specific details of the program, from the application process to potential forgiveness. The legislation is one of several solutions that is needed for one of the worst economic crises in the City's history. 

Finally, minority and women-owned businesses must also be prioritized in the City's recovery. The proposed executive budget slightly increases economic and financial opportunities for M/WBEs from $8.31 million in fiscal year 2021 to $8.38 million in fiscal year 2022. Of course, I welcome it, however we need to ensure M/WBEs can easily access our City's contracts. That increase is almost negligible. The contracting process can be opaque and confusing for M/WBEs. There is no time to wait, these firms face numerous challenges that can be corrected through government intervention. We need to level the playing field for historically disadvantaged firms. In general, the administration must ensure that the executive budget reflects the priorities of New Yorkers. Especially with the influx of money expected from the federal government.

I hope we change some of these numbers. It is not lost on me that we are decreasing the amount of many agency budgets, while increasing the NYPD's. That shouldn't be lost on anyone and the message that may send. Being a former small business owner who didn't quite make it like some others, I can only imagine what it would have been like during the pandemic. I worry that if we don't reflect the priority properly, we can anticipate discussion and potential budget changes as negotiations take place. I hope that happens. Thank you to the chair. I look forward to today's hearing. 

Public Advocate Jumaane D. Williams joined Mayor Bill de Blasio today to announce a pilot program to prevent gun violence in New York City under the Advance Peace model. In this model, the City will conduct outreach in areas with elevated levels of gun violence to identify youth and pair them with mentors who provide them with tangible goals for the next 18 months, such as a drivers' license or a GED. Participants who achieve their goals receive a monetary stipend. The Public Advocate first proposed introducing this strategy in the summer of 2020.

Public Advocate Williams released the following statement on the announcement of the pilot program, which will launch in July of 2021 in five precincts citywide: the 46th Precinct in the Bronx, the 114th Precinct in Queens, the 26th Precinct in Manhattan, the 73rd Precinct in Brooklyn, and the 120th Precinct in Staten Island.

"We all have a part to play in co-producing public safety, and healing old wounds and building new partnerships will require bold actions. It is not enough to react to violence, we need to advance peace, and this pilot program is an opportunity to demonstrate the power of not only this program, but these principles of public safety. I thank the Mayor for agreeing to fund this initiative, and recognizing the need to implement strategies that will support community safety, treat community trauma, and build community strength. The Advance Peace Model is an important next step in our efforts to reduce violence in our city by creating a deeper level of mentorship between our violence interrupters and young New Yorkers and providing tangible opportunities and incentives. It has seen great success in other cities, and I believe that by building on New York's existing crisis management infrastructure we can see even greater benefit."

"The last year has demonstrated in stark and tragic terms the intersection of public health and public safety. As COVID-19 has exposed and exploited ingrained failures of our healthcare systems, in the streets and on our screens we have seen the demand to completely reimagine public safety. After witnessing the incredible results achieved through the Crisis Management System, we must continue to innovate in our work toward this goal, and I'm eager to put this model into action and save lives. Investing in this program right now isn't only a moral obligation, it's a governing imperative."

The Advance Peace model has seen great success in other cities around the country including Stockton and Sacramento, California.  A peer-reviewed study of the implementation of Advance Peace in Sacramento demonstrates a 27% reduction in gun violence in the program's catchment area over 2 years. Statistical analysis shows that this reduction was a direct causation, rather than a correlation.

Further, the study demonstrates that the program created significant budget savings for Sacramento. When evaluating the number of gun violence incidents the program prevented, the study found that the program's $1.4 million expenditure over 2 years created a minimum of $25 million in City savings. Early results in Stockton and Richmond show similarly encouraging results.  Since the Richmond program's inception, the City has seen a 60-82% reduction in gun related deaths and injuries.

"It is with great optimism and enthusiasm that we embrace this most recent addition to our arsenal of community focused public safety tools. We look forward to the inclusion of the Advance Peace, evidence-based model into our human justice and cure violence work. We, the leadership of the anti-gun violence movement across the City of New York would like to thank both our Mayor and our Public Advocate for being both innovative and forward thinking and making this important investment into keeping New York the safest big city in the nation," said K. Bain, Co-Founder of the NYC Crisis Management System and Executive Director of  Community Capacity Development.

"The Advance Peace Model is much of what we hold dear in the work we do: relationship building, changing norms, redirecting resources, and creating support systems for people from all walks of life. Integrating this program would reinforce and enhance the principles we've been loyal to for years. I am looking forward to welcoming it into NYC," said Iesha Sekou, CEO and Founder at Street Corner Resources.

"Advance Peace seeks to bridge the gap between anti-violence programs and reaching highest risk youth; I believe exploring this opportunity in the New York City for the Crisis Management System to operationalize could potentially be a turning point in the right direction," said David Caba, Director of Programs at B.R.A.G.

"In a country where the number one cause of  death for young black males is homicide, we need to continue to  implement new strategies from across the country like Advance Peace. This model incentivizes personal development and career driven goals, so gun violence is not only unnecessary but is out of question," said AT Mitchell, Co-Founder of the NYC Crisis Management System Founder/ Executive Director at Man Up! Inc.

"The key point of Advance Peace is understanding that creating transformational opportunities for young people can break the cycle of resorting to violence. We need more anti-gun violence initiatives, I'm in full support," said 'Iron Mike' Perry, Program Manager of True 2 Life Staten Island.

"Confronted with the prospect of having to face true accountability, Governor Cuomo has continued to reveal who he has always been behind the made-for-TV image he hopes people will believe. He has adopted a strategy of deflecting questions, denying responsibility, and dodging accountability - and today, seemingly daring to impugn the motives of the courageous survivors who have come forward. It was grotesquely Trumpian, inexcusable, and entirely expected.

"Every day, the Governor shows more clearly why he cannot lead our state - a rapid acceleration of a revelation that has been ongoing for weeks, months, and years. In creating and then covering up the nursing home crisis as part of a failed pandemic response that made New York the epicenter of the epicenter and disproportionately impacted Black and brown New Yorkers, in setting up the Buffalo Billion and shutting down the Moreland Commission, in expediting the Mario M. Cuomo Bridge at the expense of safety, and in moving to undermine any checks on his own authority, he has long demonstrated that he prioritizes acquiring and abusing power, no matter who is hurt or how. As we face this critical moment for New York, with crises compounding and a budget looming, he must relinquish that power or have it taken from him."

"I applaud the legislators who voted to pass the American Rescue Plan today, and look forward to President Biden quickly signing this bill that will provide urgent relief to a nation grieving and grievously wounded by the pandemic. While it is disappointing that some key provisions were removed, this remains one of the most consequential progressive pieces of legislation in recent history, and the fight for other progressive goals remains ahead of us.

"In addition to allocating critical funding for testing and vaccinations, expanding unemployment benefits and issuing direct payments to Americans, funding schools and small businesses, giving tenants support, drastically reducing poverty, and many more progressive federal initiatives, this legislation will allocate about $100 billion in state and local aid to New York at a time when it is desperately needed. I want to thank our Congressional representatives who helped secure this funding. Disturbingly and unsurprisingly, every Republican voted against this bill, but it is especially frustrating that even some intraparty negotiations weakened the benefits that some New Yorkers could have received.

"I want to be clear that the passage of the American Rescue Plan represents the beginning of New York's recovery efforts, not the end. To facilitate and sustain growth rooted in equity, state and local governments need to enact revenue raising measures on the wealthiest New Yorkers and drive a just economy. For a just recovery, we need our city and state budgets to reflect the scope of the crisis faced by New Yorkers and the scale of the solutions needed in a Renewed Deal. The federal investments in the bill passed today recall Roosevelt's New Deal, and it is those principles of investment, not austerity, that we must model in New York."

"We all want to be able to reopen schools safely. What we do not want, and cannot have, is the existence of a vaccine creating a false sense of safety. I am apprehensive, but if re-opening schools is to move forward, it must be paired with increased vaccination for educators and strict adherence to safety standards, with a commitment to following science to protect students and parents, teachers and school staff.

It is also critical that the move to reopen schools to some students does not detract from the effort or resources needed to support and improve remote learning for the vast majority of students learning from home - throughout this past year, a focus on in-person learning for a third of students has impeded work to enhance remote education for all students. Reopening buildings will require intentional, collaborative community engagement by the city in order to renovate old systems, innovate new strategies, and rebuild confidence in our ability to enact them.

"Positivity rates are still high, new variants are emerging and vaccination rates remain relatively low, especially in communities of more color - while many high schools are currently serving as vaccination sites. We need adequate assurances from the de Blasio administration that the city will be able to reopen in a way that preserves safety and advances equity- which they have been so far unable to achieve in minimizing infection or maximizing injection. The learning loss from closing schools is real, but so too would be the loss of life if their reopening is similarly mismanaged or mistimed."

Public Advocate Jumaane D. Williams today released A Renewed Deal for New York City, an extensive plan for New York's revitalization and recovery in the immediate and long-term aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic. The report, which draws inspiration from the principles of President Roosevelt's New Deal, comes a day before the Public Advocate is set to deliver his annual State of the People address at a Thursday virtual conference, and one year after the first case of COVID-19 was reported in New York City.

A Renewed Deal for New York City is based on the principle that investment and progressivism, rather than austerity and conservatism, are the path forward to recover from the devastation of the coronavirus, the resulting economic disaster, and the systemic inequities exposed and exacerbated by these compounding crises.

"In a moment of national crisis, the New Deal was an acknowledgement that investment, that bold leadership and bold policies, would lift us from the depths of the Depression- but in the decades since, we have too often retreated from that principle." said Public Advocate Williams about the report. "As we face compounding crises today, we need a Renewed Deal to not only recover from the pandemic, but address many of the underlying failures and inequities that existed long before it. The Renewed Deal is ambitious, but not hypothetical- stewardship of the city, the state, and its people in this moment demands action, and action now."

Over 120 pages, the report outlines recommended policy and budget priorities on both a city and state level, spanning a wide range of topics. Many of the proposals included are aligned with legislative initiatives or platforms advanced by dedicated grassroots advocacy organizations, leaders in their respective areas.

While the Renewed Deal comes in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, the report notes, many of the issues it addresses are systemic, and predate the current crisis. The Renewed Deal is not an effort to get "back to normal," but to advance, with a more just, equitable, and thriving New York than existed one year and one week ago.

Specifically, the Renewed Deal centers immediate and long term recovery efforts in the areas of:

Housing Equity The Renewed Deal calls for deep investment in NYCHA and the development and maintenance of income-targeted deeply affordable housing in collaboration with the communities being impacted, as well as targeted action to provide pandemic relief, combat discrimination, inequity, and the longstanding impact of redlining.

Education and Opportunity The Renewed Deal centers equity in education and opportunity in employment- it proposes increased public school funding and expansion of youth employment programs,  while further recognizing that justice for working people means restructuring the economy to raise revenue from and limit influence of giant corporations and billionaires.

Infrastructure and the Environment The Renewed Deal proposes the vast revitalization of the city's transportation infrastructure and a reduction in cost to those using it, paired with prioritization of street safety measures - it further declares that infrastructural growth and economic growth must be economically just to be sustainable.

Civic and Community Empowerment The Renewed Deal is set in the principle that government must represent and respond to the people, and proposes government accountability and transparency reforms together with voting rights expansions - it also centers opportunity and protections for all New Yorkers, regardless of immigration status.

Justice, Health Equity, and Safety The Renewed Deal recognizes the intersection of public health and public safety, the need to confront the health disparities that have been so prevalent amid the pandemic, and to re-define public safety beyond simply law enforcement while driving transformational change in existing systems of injustice. 

In the coming months, Public Advocate Williams and his office will work through legislative and community engagement strategies to advance the principles and policies detailed in the Renewed Deal, combatting the notion that cuts or conservative approaches will suffice.

On Thursday, the Public Advocate will host the 2021 State of the People Conference, virtually, to explore and discuss the report in a series of public workshops and events. Thursday evening, it will be the focus of his State of the People Address.

A Renewed Deal for New York City can be downloaded here.