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Mayor Eric Adams announced an economic development plan Thursday intended to “reboot” commercial activity in the five boroughs, promising not to allow the city to “stumble” into the post-pandemic era.
During a press conference in the Bronx, Adams touted a new 63-page economic recovery blueprint as he vowed to improve the Big Apple’s economy as it rebounds from the COVID-19 pandemic.
“The recovery is not going to be about getting back to the old ways. It’s going to get to the new ways of doing things, and we’re going to take this opportunity to reboot our entire system, and make changes that are going to include equity and inclusiveness,” he said in Hunts Point, adding achieving his goals would be made possible by creating a “safe, reliable, non-bureaucratic” city government.
The mayor’s plan — dubbed Rebuild, Renew, Reinvent — includes a laundry list of 70 agenda items City Hall plans to take to boost economic development.
“This is more than just a to-do list; this is about moving us in the right direction,” Adams said.
“It’s time to recover and move towards restarting our economy from business to Broadway,” the mayor added. “It’s time we get our city back to a pre-pandemic employment place, especially in the hard-hit areas like tourism, hospitality and the creative economy, and this is what the blueprint and plan is going to do.”
Adams promised the city will begin a “massive” campaign to boost tourism; unveiled a “one-stop-shop concierge service” that will allow businesses to adhere to city regulations; pledged to “dramatically expand” the city’s life-science industry to create jobs; and pointed to efforts to reduce fines for small businesses.
In addition, Adams and Gov. Kathy Hochul will convene a “blue-ribbon commission” of city philanthropic, labor, business and academic leaders to plan for the Big Apple’s altered post-pandemic future, according to the blueprint and the mayor’s remarks.
“We can’t stumble into post-COVID. We must start to think about the definition of what our city is going to look like,” he said at the Thursday morning press conference, noting the team will address education, remote learning as well as remote employment. “We will never be the same. COVID has changed the game, and we must be prepared to win in the game post-COVID.”
Maria Torres-Springer, the deputy mayor for economic development, pledged the blueprint will rectify economic and racial inequalities and bring back roughly 400,000 jobs New York City lost over the last two years.
“Our mission is to bring opportunity to every New Yorker,” she said. “We believe the investments and the initiatives in this blueprint will accelerate the economy and help us more quickly return to re-pandemic employment rates.”
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