Watch a Special Briefing on New York City: New Mayor, Federal Aid, Challenges to Recovery

As Mayor Adam’s Administration begins to lay out plans for the future of New York City, panelists discuss the challenges New York City faces in 2022, including COVID-19, street crime, and the possibility of fiscal challenges as federal pandemic aid wanes in coming years. Featuring the findings from Penn IUR's Recovering Cities Project, which tracks the New York economy through 2020-21, and the final report Recovering New York City: A One Year Look Back on the Penn IUR Recovering Cities Project, and a Look Forward towards Recovery. 

This special briefing features a panel of experts, including Ronnie Lowenstein, former head of of the New York City Independent Budget Office; Ray McGuire, former Citigroup Vice Chairman and New York City mayoral candidate; Richard A. Ravitch, former New York State Lieutenant Governor and Kathryn Wylde, president and CEO, Partnership for New York City. 

Notable Quotes: "

Things are getting better but they're not really where we need them to be," said Eugenie Birch, co-director of Penn IUR. "

One thing that didn't happen is a robust economic recovery," Former New York City IBO Director Ronnie Lowenstein said. 

"These are in many ways one-time events, so we shouldn't get so seduced by where we are in the immediate future," Ray McGuire, former Citigroup Vice Chairman said. "We need to be careful not to create these zombie programs that will last into the future that we simply cannot finance."

 "New York City will come back" Former Lieutenant Governor Richard A. Ravitch said. "The mayor's proposed budget is good step in right direction, but he still is going to have deficits." 

He added that the city is home to “several million very poor people who are in desperate need. We have more homeless than we've ever had before.” Moreover, the city’s low-income residents “are dependent in no small part on the education system. Providing them with the best is critically important to the future of New York." 

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Special Briefing is published by the Volcker Alliance, as part of its Public Finance initiatives, and Penn IUR. The views expressed on this podcast are those of the panelists and do not necessarily reflect the position of the Volcker Alliance or Penn IUR.