When New Yorkers talk about affordability, we usually talk about what things cost.
Housing. Childcare. Groceries. Transportation.
And we should. These costs place enormous pressure on working families and are making it harder for too many New Yorkers to stay in the city they love.
When our city’s small business talk about it, they talk about the exorbitant insurance and healthcare costs that make it impossible for them to flourish.
As a government, we have a responsibility to tackle these burdens head-on and meaningfully lower the day-to-day cost of living for New Yorkers.
But there is another side of the affordability equation that requires as much attention: economic opportunity.
Can you find a good paying job? Can you start a business? Can your company grow in the five boroughs instead of in New Jersey or Florida or Texas? Can a young college graduate land a role here, rather than having to move to Silicon Valley? Can we attract entrepreneurs from all over the country to choose us to locate their start-up?
And we need to be asking those questions.
Last year, New York City added just 27,000 jobs. During the previous four years, we averaged roughly 191,000 new jobs annually. Those jobs aren’t evaporating into thin air –– they’re going to other cities and states across the country that are competing aggressively for our talent and investment.
Texas now has more finance jobs than Wall Street. Tech companies are spreading across the Sun Belt. Cities like Miami, Charlotte, and Nashville are actively marketing themselves as alternatives to New York.
We cannot assume that businesses, workers, and investment will choose New York simply because they always have. We have to lean in and fight with the ferocity of our New York Knicks for employers and talent.
The jobs created by a growing economy allow families to afford homes, support local businesses, and build wealth.
Without a robust and growing tax base we will not be able to pay for the programs and services that New Yorkers need. It’s not political, it’s math. The tax revenue generated by a growing economy funds our schools, parks, libraries, transit system, public safety services, sanitation, and countless other investments that make New York a great place to live.
A fact that should concern all of us is that, according to the Citizen Budget Commission, between 2019 and 2023 New York City lost a staggering $68 Billion of net taxable income due to a massive imbalance in resident migration. Without growth, there is less opportunity to go around and fewer resources available to address the challenges we care most about.
Simply put: New York cannot become more affordable if New Yorkers do not have pathways to economic success.
For the last few decades, this city has understood that reality. New York became the economic capital of the world because we built things. We welcomed new industries. We invested in infrastructure. We competed relentlessly for talent and opportunity.
We were never content to manage decline. We focused on creating growth.
That mindset is needed again today.
Artificial intelligence is reshaping entire sectors of the economy. International tourism remains below pre-pandemic levels. Employers have more choices than ever about where to locate jobs and investment. Global competition is intensifying.
Standing still is not a strategy.
That is why the City Council is taking a more proactive approach to economic development.
Recently, my office launched the Office for Advancing Partnerships and Economic Expansion, or APEX. It’s the Council’s first-ever initiative focused on identifying opportunities for growth, strengthening partnerships across the public and private sectors, and advancing projects that create jobs and expand economic opportunity in all five boroughs.
The goal is simple: ensure that economic development is not something government reacts to, but something it actively pursues.
Because New York’s future will be determined by more than what we regulate, spend, or tax.
It will be determined by what we build.
Through APEX, we have focused on attracting and retaining top businesses and talent; just this week, we hosted a Tech Week event in City Hall — a historic first for the annual confab — to directly engage with members of the tech sector, including founders, investors and non-profits, and send the message that our government is here to support them.
In advance of the World Cup, APEX worked as a liaison between the Host Committee, Chambers of Commerce and official City Tourism Board to drive fans to small businesses across all five boroughs. And this is just the beginning.
It’s also why the Mamdani Administration must expeditiously appoint a head of the Economic Development Corporation, which has remained vacant for over six months. That agency will play a critical important role in advancing growth and economic vitality, and we need to send a strong signal that New York City is serious.
The topics of the affordability crisis and economic growth do not require separate discussions. We have to talk about both in order to work toward a long-lasting, durable solution.
If we want a city where working families can afford to stay, where young people can build careers, and where future generations can thrive, we need more housing. We need safer streets. We need better infrastructure.
But we also need more jobs, more investment, more entrepreneurship, and more growth.
New York has never succeeded by standing still.
And we cannot afford to start now.
Julie Menin is the Speaker of the New York City Council.