Mayor Eric Adams Announces New Community Hiring Program To Boost Job Development In NYC

3 months ago

NYC Mayor Eric Adams announced new investments to boost job growth via new community hiring programs.

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Transcript

00:00Good morning. Good morning,

00:10everyone. Good morning. My name

00:12is Sheena Wright. I'm the first

00:14deputy mayor of the city of New

00:16York, and I'm so happy this

00:17morning to be joined by my

00:19colleagues, my sister deputy

00:20mayor Maria Torres Springer.

00:22Yes, let's give her a round of

00:23applause for the leadership that

00:25she gives our administration

00:26every day. We also have

00:28representatives from small

00:30businesses, as well as I think

00:32Doug LaPierre is here. There he

00:34is, our head of our community

00:35hiring. Since day one, since

00:39January 1st, 2022, this mayor

00:43and this administration has been

00:45focused on economic opportunity

00:48and economic mobility for all

00:51New Yorkers, and this mayor has

00:53said from day one, jobs. Jobs

00:57up, crime down, right? But jobs

01:00are the key to get our city back

01:04on its feet, but more

01:06importantly, to move it forward,

01:08and we could not do it without

01:10the partnership of union. Is 32

01:13B.J. in the house? All right.

01:16All right. And what you're

01:18seeing here, so today we are

01:21reaching another really, really

01:23important milestone in the

01:25mayor's vision for making sure

01:27that every New Yorker has

01:28economic opportunity to really

01:31live into all of their talent

01:33and achieve their potential. So

01:35without further ado, I want to

01:37introduce Mayor Eric Adams, the

01:39110th mayor of the city of New

01:41York.

01:42Thank you. Thanks so much,

01:45Deputy Mayor Wright and the

01:47entire team that's here, and I

01:49don't know if it was lost on

01:51everyone when first Deputy Mayor

01:53Wright stated all, prosperity

01:56for all. When we came in, there

01:58was no doubt in our voices that

02:01the equitable distribution of

02:03resources and wealth was

02:05one-sided. We inherited an

02:09unemployment rate of blacks that

02:11was four times the rate of

02:14whites. We cut it in half. For

02:17the first time, unemployment is

02:19at its lowest level since 2022.

02:21For the first time since 2019,

02:24we're less than 8% unemployment

02:27in New York City, but at the

02:29same time, we knew we had a lot

02:31of work, and it was some real

02:33partnerships, partnerships with

02:34our unions, like 32BJ, and also

02:37with all of our agencies.

02:39Everyone had to be laser-focused

02:41on how do we ensure that we

02:44increase the number of jobs in

02:46the city and make the city more

02:48affordable, and we had strong,

02:51strong leaders in the area,

02:53Deputy Mayor Maria Torres-Springer

02:55looking over our entire portfolio

02:57of businesses, making sure it

02:59was easy to do business in the

03:01city, stopping the unnecessary

03:04citations, stop work orders, and

03:07how we were slowing businesses

03:09down. Then we had an amazing

03:11leader over at Small Business

03:13Services and Commissioner Kim,

03:15who did not stay in a sterilized

03:17environment of his office. He

03:19went into the streets, and he

03:21spoke with businesses one-on-one

03:23to show people how to increase

03:25their capacity. What was the

03:26largest number of small

03:29businesses in the city, in the

03:31city's history? Largest number

03:34of businesses in general, and

03:37jobs, I should say, in the city,

03:39in the city's history, partnering

03:41with our corporate leaders, the

03:43small, the large corporation and

03:46the small jobs, making sure we

03:48improved on outdoor dining to

03:51expand operation, job training,

03:53justice-involved young people,

03:55making sure that when we have

03:57criminal interactions or

03:59interactions with law

04:00enforcement, we want them to be

04:02employable at the same time,

04:03investing in our foster care

04:05children, summer youth jobs,

04:07over 100,000 summer youth jobs,

04:09and not only having our children

04:11do the jobs, but developing their

04:13full personhood on how they

04:15learn financial literacy,

04:17interaction, exploring the city.

04:19We are laser-focused on making

04:22sure the popularity of this brand

04:24for every New Yorker, and that

04:26is what we've been focused on,

04:28and that's what we continue to

04:30ensure, that our city is safe,

04:32and it prospers. That's why we

04:34have coined the phrase, because

04:36it's a true one, crime is down

04:38and jobs are up. We are looking

04:41at overall crime numbers across

04:43the city. The numbers are down

04:45and will increasingly be down,

04:47and listen, we know it plays on

04:50our psyche when we see horrific

04:52actions of criminal behavior, but

04:54we are laser-focused on finding

04:56ways to continue to see our city

04:58safe, and that is what we're

05:00focused on, and despite our

05:02historic progress, we know that

05:04too many New Yorkers have been

05:06left behind. We partnered with

05:08DC37 during the first hiring

05:10halls, and we saw the result,

05:12thousands of people showing up,

05:14looking for jobs like some of

05:16the folks who are here, and we

05:18cannot thank our team that's

05:20here, our staffers that are here

05:22who have been moving around the

05:24city, and the people, how to get

05:26it done, DCAS and all my other

05:28agencies that are here are making

05:30sure that we can employ New

05:32Yorkers, and our administration

05:34has set out to lead by example,

05:36visiting these hiring halls,

05:38interacting with individuals who

05:40are looking for employment.

05:42People want a good job. No one

05:44wants to be unemployed.

05:46Employment is more than where you

05:48go for a 9 to 5. I like to say

05:50it's the precursor to sleep that

05:52allows you to experience the

05:54reality that you're not enjoying

05:56the city that you want to be a

05:58part of. We're also thinking

06:00about how to be smarter, more

06:02inclusive, and more equitable

06:04with our contracts and engage

06:06communities most in need as we

06:08work to create even more

06:10pathways to good careers, and

06:12today, we are announcing the

06:14first step in our groundbreaking

06:16effort to leverage billions of

06:18dollars in city contracts to

06:20advance community hiring.

06:22The folks in Harlem, South

06:24Jamaica, Queens, Brownsville,

06:26East New York, Midtown, Uptown,

06:28you pay your tax dollars. They

06:30go into our coffers, but far too

06:32often, when we put out city

06:34contracts, you are not being

06:36hired to be part of the jobs

06:38that are available. Well, today,

06:40that stops. We are looking at a

06:42concept called community hiring.

06:44It's a new initiative and puts

06:46New Yorkers first. We want to

06:48thank the city of Harlem for

06:50helping us to have this

06:52initiative, and New Yorkers

06:54first. We want to thank

06:56Senator Parker and Assemblywoman

06:58Zimmerman who pushed this bill

07:00through Albany. This was such an

07:02important bill. We were excited.

07:04It was one of our big wins out

07:06of Albany. It uses the city's

07:08purchasing power to create jobs.

07:10It's a smart, smart way of

07:12recycling our tax dollars. It

07:14drives new economic

07:16opportunities to communities

07:18across the five boroughs,

07:20so much to invest in NYCHA, from the NYCHA land trust, to having NYCHA part of our housing

07:26agenda, to giving free high-speed broadband to every NYCHA resident so our children can

07:32do remote learning.

07:34We have been focused on NYCHA, and we also are focused on those zip codes that have been

07:38forgotten for far too long under the community hiring program.

07:42They're going to come into the fold.

07:45Community vendors and contractors must provide employment and apprenticeship opportunities

07:51to working people in low-income neighborhoods.

07:54You're not being passed up any longer.

07:57You're going to be included.

07:59This is not just a theory.

08:01This is not a theoretical policy that's taking place.

08:04No, we're hitting the ground right away.

08:07And today, DCAS.

08:08DCAS is the agency that probably has the largest portfolio of buy-in, purchasing, sending out

08:16contracts.

08:17You don't realize the impact it has on your life, but DCAS has a huge impact on your life.

08:22And so DCAS is releasing the city's first group of contracts subject to community hiring.

08:29So this is the power behind the program.

08:32And what are we talking about?

08:33Are we talking about $1 million?

08:34Are we talking about $2 million, $5 million?

08:37No.

08:38$1.2 billion into community hiring, and it will require that nearly half of the labor

08:46be performed by NYCHA residents or those who live in low-income neighborhoods, creating

08:52good-paying jobs, security jobs, fire safety personnel, many of which the union jobs with

08:59our good friends at 32BJ who fought hard for contracts to make sure that our security officers

09:08are paid the salaries they deserve.

09:09And it's a big deal for working-class New Yorkers, and it's a big deal for New York City.

09:15I'm a blue-collar mayor.

09:16I'm one of you.

09:18And being one of you, I know what it is to struggle every day, and we must make sure

09:22that we have employment for everyone in this city.

09:26That is what city dollars should be doing, creating opportunities for New Yorkers who

09:30need them the most.

09:31And because we want everyone to have a fair shot, community hiring is just one part of

09:38our whole-of-government effort to meet New Yorkers where they are and bring opportunities

09:43to communities across the five boroughs that have been overlooked for so long.

09:48So today's announcement also concludes our spring job sprint, where we created opportunities

09:57for thousands of New Yorkers over the past few weeks, from revitalizing Red Hook Marine

10:02Terminal, to growing our apprenticeship accelerator, to launching a new fund to grow small businesses,

10:10to create an offshore wind hub at the South Brooklyn Marine Terminal.

10:15All of this builds on our Run This Town campaign, advertising campaign around jobs, as well

10:21as JobsNYC.

10:23We need an easy way for people to have an entry ramp to employment, and that is with

10:28JobsNYC.

10:30You can go to the portal, jobs.nyc.gov.

10:37This portal helps New Yorkers find jobs and job training.

10:40So really, I want to thank the team.

10:42They put a lot of effort behind this.

10:44First Deputy Mayor Wright, Deputy Mayor Maria Torres-Springer, my elected officials that

10:50are here, and our real partners that understand the power of employment, DC37 and the union

10:58that is here with us today, 32BJ, Local 79, I ain't seeing you guys.

11:08You know what momma said, you be quiet, you get missed.

11:11All I got to do is say 32.

11:17So, 79 is in the house, you know, everything from our laborers and what they're doing.

11:23This is the partnership that we're talking about, and we're really excited about this

11:27because this is something that is going to hit home and continue our improvement of unemployment

11:33that we've seen for far too long in our city.

11:36We don't want you hanging out in the corner, we want you hanging out dry walls and do part

11:40of the building in our city.

11:42Really excited about this.

11:43Thank you team.

11:45Thank you so much, Mayor.

11:48Thank you so much, Mayor.

11:51One of the things, as the Mayor sat back and really looked at the challenges and the opportunities,

11:58he looked at neighborhoods like the South Bronx, like Harlem, where there was record

12:02investment happening in those communities, and also very high unemployment.

12:07And the Mayor asked us a simple question, why?

12:10And how can we hardwire those opportunities and make sure that the people that live in

12:15those neighborhoods get access to those opportunities?

12:18So this groundbreaking legislation that is community hiring makes us lead by example.

12:24So the city of New York is now going to be requiring, if you're doing business with us,

12:29you've got to hire from the community.

12:31And as I said, we could not do it without our partners and union, 79 and 32.

12:41And here to talk to us this morning is Israel Melendez, the Vice President of 32BJ.

12:4732BJ!

12:4832BJ!

12:4932BJ!

12:5032BJ!

12:5132BJ!

12:5232BJ!

12:5332BJ!

12:5432BJ!

12:5532BJ!

12:5632BJ!

12:57Alright, we're very excited this morning.

12:58I think we're excited for the initiative.

12:59You see the membership's excitement with this.

13:00I want to thank the Mayor.

13:01I want to thank Deputy Mayor Wright, all the commissioners and everything for this initiative.

13:04My name is Israel Melendez.

13:05I'm the Vice President of 32BJ.

13:08I run the security division here that represents 20,000 security officers here in the city,

13:14more than 5,000 that work under city agencies.

13:17So this initiative is something that we really much are in concert and together with the

13:22administration to see succeed.

13:26More than 5,000 security officers in 32BJ work under city agencies.

13:31These security officers put their lives on the line, protect public employees, public

13:35property and fellow New Yorkers at the municipal buildings surrounding City Hall, HRA, centers,

13:42DHS, Stand Island Ferry terminals and more.

13:45This morning, we are celebrating the city's announcement of a new request for proposals

13:52for security vendors to provide guard services across New York City.

13:57I'm going to get a little bit away from the talking points because I just want to, I'm

14:00very excited for this initiative.

14:02I'm very happy to partner with the city on this.

14:05As a former security officer myself, I would have never seen myself in this position.

14:09But being part of 32BJ, seeing the commitment that they've made across the city to lift standards in this industry.

14:15I'm a living example of a New Yorker, a kid from High Bridge in the Bronx that was able to come here,

14:21be Vice President and represent 20,000 members that look like me, that sound like me, that live where I live.

14:28So I'm very happy to be able to be part of this.

14:31We also have some minority businesses that have came by that partnered with 32BJ.

14:36Under 32BJ's leadership, we've made a concentrated effort to expand the women business and

14:42minority business bench to make sure that more opportunities, union opportunities,

14:47are given to these companies to be able to have an opportunity to bid and

14:52win contracts across the 900 different work locations that we represent.

14:56So I'm very happy to be able to say that.

14:58I want to thank the partnership that we have with City Hall and making sure that these are family sustaining jobs.

15:05I think people don't understand how important that is.

15:08It's a, I was able to send my college, I was able to send my daughter to college on a security officer's salary.

15:15And my wife was a school teacher, so we struggled together, but we also was able to do it.

15:19But I had an opportunity to go to the union school, be able to be a fire safety director, and then almost double my salary from when I came in.

15:27The 32BJ training fund is a school that state of the art facility.

15:33We have over 4,000 members that work security that come every year to be able to take these courses.

15:39And I'm just very happy that with this new RFP, we're going to be able to expand that.

15:43Be able to give every security officer an opportunity to be like Izzy here and be able to sit here and have a similar story.

15:49And that's the goal that we have at 32BJ.

15:54Just to, again, I just want to thank Mayor Adams, the entire administration for committing to providing stable jobs for

16:00security officers by making sure security officers keep their jobs and continue to serve the city of New York.

16:06The city agency's transition to vendors is very important.

16:10So again, we're both aligned.

16:12I'm very happy to be part of this.

16:13I want to thank everybody for inviting 32BJ and other labor leaders to be here.

16:18That's right, 79, I got you.

16:22I got you.

16:24All the labor leaders.

16:25That's right, you're right, I'm sure.

16:29The last thing I want to say before stepping is the community hiring component of this is very, very important.

16:34We have to be able to get people from the community, be invested in the community.

16:38Again, as one of you young kids in the Bronx that was on the street with a bunch of my friends, I said, I have to do something more than this.

16:45I did do something more, and I give plenty of people opportunities to be able to come and get union jobs.

16:49So thank you again for everything that you've done, and I'll follow up.

16:54Thank you.

16:56Thank you so much, Israel.

16:5879, 79.

17:04Thank you so much, Israel.

17:06And I also want to really point out that this mayor has settled, I think it's 99.9% of union contracts,

17:14making sure that the city workforce has fair wages.

17:19Can we get a shout out for that?

17:21In addition to a historic investment in the human services community and

17:28workforce, which is predominantly women and women of color, to date about $1.4 billion put in that workforce.

17:35And this is just a part of that.

17:38He has been laser, laser focused on working New Yorkers,

17:42making sure that they have access to opportunity and fair wages.

17:46This is one RFP.

17:48This RFP is a $1.2 billion RFP.

17:51We've got about $80 billion of RFPs that are coming online in the next several years

17:56that will require all of our vendors, all of the partners to hire from these communities.

18:03It will generate an additional 36,000 jobs and

18:07over a billion dollars of wages, money in people's pockets,

18:12so that they can achieve their goals and reach their full potential.

18:16So this is a really important first step, and we're looking forward to many more.

18:21And to close this out, this is why we do what we do.

18:25I want to introduce Tammy Murray.

18:27She is a 32BJ member and a security guard, and we're so grateful for your being here today.

18:32Tammy?

18:33Tammy!

18:34Tammy!

18:35Tammy!

18:36Tammy!

18:37Tammy!

18:38Tammy!

18:39Tammy!

18:40Tammy!

18:41Tammy!

18:42Tammy!

18:43Tammy!

18:44Tammy!

18:46I love y'all guys.

18:49Hello, my name is Tammy Murray.

18:52I currently work as a security supervisor at a private shelter for families with children.

18:58Yes, it's hard out here now.

19:01And I am also a proud member of 32BJ.

19:04My job has allowed me to help and protect these families.

19:15But then also, they also need help in getting wages with jobs that they're working,

19:21or even trying to get a job, because a lot of these families are trying to get out of the shelter,

19:25and if they don't have a job, how can they?

19:29And I'm also excited about Mayor Adams' community hiring program to bring more opportunities

19:35to New Yorkers like me, yourself, our friends, our family.

19:39Thank you, Mayor Adams.

19:41Yes.

19:4232?

19:43BJ!

19:4432?

19:45BJ!

19:46Thank you.

19:50Thank you.

19:51And one last thing to add is the mayor's commitment to MWBE.

19:57I'm also joined by Michael Gardner, our chief business diversity officer for the city of New York,

20:02the first of its kind.

20:03We have huge goals, and we know that small businesses and MWBEs are the largest employers

20:10of people from the communities that we're targeting today.

20:13So thank you for that as well.

20:14And I think at this point, where is Ryan?

20:16There he is.

20:17We're going to take some on-topic questions.

20:22Michael, what's going on?

20:24All right.

20:25I was wondering if somebody could get into the weeds, the details, in terms of the mechanics

20:31of how this works.

20:32So it's, was it $1.8 billion or $1.2 billion?

20:36This contract is a $1.2 billion contract for security services across the city from DCAS.

20:43This one contract.

20:44So this is the first one that now has goals where you have to have 40 percent from communities

20:51or from NYCHA.

20:53So how do you, when you're kind of doing that, right, the 40 percent part, how are

20:59you determining, like, NYCHA's easy, right?

21:01It's residency, but like low-income, is it the neighborhood's threshold or is it the

21:07person's threshold?

21:08Can you just kind of...

21:09It's neighborhoods.

21:10It's specific neighborhoods.

21:11I think there's 17, is it, Doug?

21:13Based on zip codes.

21:14Zip codes.

21:15Yes.

21:16Okay.

21:17So it's just anybody from those neighborhoods from NYCHA are kind of in the pool for 40

21:23percent of those jobs for that contract?

21:25Yes.

21:26Yes.

21:27And you mentioned more money down the road in the pipeline.

21:30Could you, are those all for contracts?

21:33Are those for kind of like city jobs?

21:36Those are RFPs that are coming online.

21:39So every, you know, across our 77 agencies, we'll have requests for proposals that are

21:44coming out for a variety of things, right?

21:45We do everything in the city.

21:47And so those, many of those contracts will also, not all of them, but many of them will

21:51have a requirement for MWBE, but also to hire from these communities and these specific

21:57zip codes.

21:58They won't all have a community?

21:59They won't all.

22:00Okay.

22:01And what's the timeframe on those RFPs going out?

22:04Like, what years are we talking about?

22:06Yeah, I mean, there are RFPs going out just about every day, so ongoing.

22:12The hiring legislation just got finalized, was it last week?

22:16May 15th.

22:17And we just released our rules.

22:18Doug, why don't you step up here?

22:19He's our expert.

22:20He's the head of the Office of Community Hiring.

22:23So our rules were just released.

22:25So this is our first implementation of the actual legislation.

22:30Okay.

22:31I mean, are we talking five years for those RFPs to be put out?

22:35Are we talking two years?

22:36Like, that's what I mean.

22:37Yeah, I mean, so our legislation authorizes us.

22:40That just went into effect, to put out contracts.

22:43So this is the first one.

22:44So we will have, this is the first building services contract,

22:47but we're going to have construction contracts, technology contracts,

22:50consulting, design, engineering, human services contracts,

22:53like daycares, mental health programs.

22:56So as those contracts go out by city agencies,

23:00we can begin to put community hiring goals on those contracts as we roll out.

23:03So we hope that this is a program that is here forever, right,

23:07like the first Deputy Mayor said.

23:08So this is the first one of many.

23:11With that larger product money, like how long does that last?

23:14I guess that's what I'm trying to get at.

23:16It's about the next five, three or four years.

23:18That number that I gave is about, you know,

23:20those are RFPs that are coming online,

23:22about $80 billion over the next three or four years.

23:25All right.

23:26Thank you.

23:28Okay, one more question.

23:30So, you know, this is,

23:33it sounds like 32BJ is pretty happy about this.

23:37Are you expecting an endorsement from the union?

23:41Have you guys talked about that, your grand prix election next year?

23:44Well, listen, listen, as it was stated, it's not on topic.

23:52I would not be standing here calling myself mayor right now if it wasn't for

23:55the endorsement of 32BJ, HCC, DC 37, local 79.

24:03You know, so it's clear being the first probably union member to ever be the

24:11mayor of the city of New York.

24:13These guys just said he's one of us.

24:15You know, I'm just a blue collar guy, being a blue collar mayor.

24:18We're going to keep doing good stuff like this,

24:22and I think over time, the Daily News won't make a mistake,

24:25this next time around either.

24:27They come the right way.

24:30Thank you.

24:32Thanks, everybody.

Mayor Eric Adams Announces New Community Hiring Program To Boost Job Development In NYC

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