May 3, 2021

Kathryn Garcia (D)

What are your top 3 legislative initiatives related to increasing work in NYC?

While it has been a dark year for New York City, that thing that makes us New York hasn’t gone away. The people who started those restaurants, theaters, salons, bodegas, dance clubs, gyms, and museums – all their creative talent is still here. They just need help. That’s why the core of our recovery plan is meaningful economic relief and job pathways for the most vulnerable New Yorkers. I have proposed a robust Reopen to Stay Open Plan that has three key focus areas:

Create a single small business City Permit. Any new business with less than 100 employees will be able to fill out just one simple, streamlined permit to get up and running. You will be able to apply for that City Permit on your smartphone. Any new or returning business that applies for a City Permit will get a response within 1 month of submitting the application. Making it easier to open and run a business means more jobs for New Yorkers, and it means better jobs for New Yorkers.
Launch CrowdsourceNYC, a fund that provides zero interest microloans to small businesses with 20 employees or fewer, starting with anchor investments from the City’s pension fund and support from the private sector. When we support our small businesses, we enable them to grow and provide jobs to their communities.
Reimagine how the City uses public space to give local businesses and art organizations a bigger footprint in their communities—by reforming our concessions and public art permitting process to unlock hundreds of thousands of square feet of public space for arts and culture, we can unlock tremendous growth potential in a number of industries.

Education: B.A. University of Wisconsin-Madison

Background:

In March of 2014, appointed Commissioner for the New York City Department of Sanitation, implementing the nation’s largest composting program.
In February 2019 (resigned in 2020), appointed as CEO and interim chair of the New York City Housing Authority (NYCHA) and helped bring the NYCHA properties up-to-date on lead paint regulations.
In March 2020 in the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic, selected to be the Food Czar for the City.

Work Related Proposals (gleaned from Candidate website):

Boost youth employment by creating a summer youth employment program with the private sector to secure paid internships for 10,000 high school students and wage subsidies for youth that face barriers to employment.
Create a pipeline from CUNY and trade schools to jobs, including a guarantee for graduates of City trade schools a path to employment with the City.
Allow freelance and undocumented workers to access benefits and savings accounts.
Implement universal broadband for all
Establish free childcare for children ages 1-3 for families making less than $70 thousand a year.
Repair existing NYCHA units by fixing elevators, installing new boilers, and hiring more plumbers, accomplished by leveraging federal money from in Section 8 and other programs to fix the units.
Launch CrowdsourceNYC, a fund that will provide zero-interest micro-loans to businesses with 20 or fewer employees.
Work with streaming platforms to create a way for theater and musical productions on- and off-Broadway to be streamed, thereby helping the productions get back to work.
To help restaurant and restaurant workers, make outdoor dining permanent, cap third-party app commissions, and give undocumented workers access to emergency cash assistance.
Build 50,000 units of affordable housing.

To learn more about Kathryn Garcia’s campaign: https://www.kgfornyc.com/