Two civic leaders will head a commission to help the Big Apple recover from the COVID-19 pandemic, Mayor Eric Adams and Gov. Kathy Hochul announced Tuesday — two days before a meeting between Hizzoner and corporate executives to address public-safety concerns in the wake of the unprovoked Q-train shooting.
The “‘New’ New York blue-ribbon panel” — tasked with providing recommendations on policies to promote the five borough’s bounce back from the pandemic-driven economic slowdown — will be helmed by Robin Hood CEO Richard Buery and Dan Doctoroff, a top economic development official for former Mayor Michael Bloomberg, the pair revealed.
The body’s work will “focus on how and where people work as well as the mix and use of space in key employment centers, with a goal of minimizing vacancy, catalyzing vibrancy, and bolstering the tax base,” according to a Tuesday morning joint press release from the pair of chief executives.
Former Bloomberg official Dan Doctoroff claimed the Big Apple will rebound similarly to the aftermath of the 9/11 terrorist attacks. Natan Dvir“While our city continues to add jobs at a faster rate than the rest of the country, we have more work to do to ensure all New Yorkers can access family sustaining careers,” said Adams in a prepared statement.
The mayor — who has in recent months repeatedly urged New York’s office workers to get back to their desks — said that the body will be responsible for pinpointing “actionable strategies to build a more equitable economy, reimagine our central business districts, and prepare our city to lead in the industries of the future.”
“It is critical that we find new, innovative solutions to move New York’s economy forward as we continue to build back better than ever from the COVID pandemic,” said Hochul in the news release, echoing the name of President Joe Biden’s social spending plan.
Robin Hood CEO Richard Buery and former deputy mayor Richard Buery vowed to invest millions in New York City’s childcare sector. David McGlynn
“The ‘New’ New York panel is laying the groundwork today to usher in a brighter tomorrow, and their expertise will help support bold initiatives in every corner of the state.”
Buery — whose anti-poverty foundation recently partnered with the mayor to dedicated $100 million toward the childcare sector — said, “New York City has always found new ways to reinvent itself, and the post-COVID era will be no different, because New York’s dynamism, ambition, and entrepreneurial spirit cannot be matched.”
“The central question for the future is not if New York will rebound but how and who will get to participate,” he added. “Creating vibrant centers for commerce throughout the city underscores our commitment to inclusiveness and equity while positioning New York City as an engine of opportunity for all New Yorkers and our economy, a global example of how to foster universal prosperity.”
Doctoroff — former head of urban planning firm Sidewalk Labs — compared the new effort to the city’s rebuilding after the 2001 Twin Tower terrorist attacks.
“After 9/11, we rethought and replanned central business districts across the city — in Hudson Yards, Lower Manhattan, Downtown Brooklyn, Long Island City, Harlem, Flushing, and Jamaica. Never would I have thought that we would need to do it again, just two decades later,” he said.
“But work is changing, technology is opening new opportunities for placemaking, and we can be far more intentional about the way in which we connect people to opportunity.”
The announcement of the panel comes two months after Adams pledged to create a “blue-ribbon commission” on the city’s post-pandemic rebound as he released a 63-page economic recovery blueprint.
Gov. Hochul argued the Big Apple is building “back better than ever.” Lev Radin/Pacific Press via ZUMA Press Wire
Adams stares at a panhandler while riding the D train to the 4 train to City Hall on May 23, 2022. James MesserschmidtIt also comes after Adams on Monday scheduled a Thursday emergency meeting with the Big Apple’s business honchos to address recently heightened fears of commuting to offices amid soaring transit crime.
Subway crime rates have soared since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic — increasing from 1.47 felonies per million riders in 2019 to 2.11 felonies per million riders in April 2022, according to the most recent NYPD and MTA data.
Meanwhile, Adams during an unrelated press conference Monday, predicted the Sunday morning shooting of Goldman Sachs employee Daniel Enriquez would produce a “chilling effect” on public transit commuting.
The Post exclusively reported Monday that Goldman Sachs bankers expressed fear in the wake of the random, broad-daylight shooting — the fourth subway homicide of 2022 — that they could become targets of violent crime during their commutes to the office.
