25 INEFFICIENCIES

THAT LEAD TO INEQUALITY

New York City wastes billions of dollars every year simply because it operates
dysfunctionally, spending irresponsibly, failing to address issues before they
become disasters, and governing in conflict with itself as one agency creates
a problem for another. Worst of all, these inefficiencies lead to inequalities;
and those inequalities lead to injustice—largely for lower-income Black and
Brown communities who most need government to deliver for them.

By identifying the dysfunction, we can eliminate the waste and better deliver
services for New Yorkers at a time when they most need it. These “25 Ineffi-
ciencies That Lead to Inequality” are each problems that I will immediately
correct as mayor, leading to billions of dollars in cost savings for taxpayers,
and, most importantly, a City government that serves its central purpose:
delivering on the promise of New York City for hard-working New Yorkers.

ERIC ADAMS 2021

1. CITY BENEFITS BUREAUCRACY
PROBLEM: Being poor in New York City is a fulltime job. The latest figures show the
city’s poverty rate is 17.3 percent, compared to 13 percent statewide. The poverty
rate for Black and Latino New Yorkers is about 20 percent—twice the rate of white
New Yorkers. And those New Yorkers waste countless hours applying for lifeline
benefits to which they are entitled, keeping them in a cycle of joblessness
and poverty.
SOLUTION: I will launch MyCity, a single portal for all city services and benefits,
which would allow residents to access a secure app or website and instantly
receive every service you qualify for, such as SNAP, without endless hours of
paperwork, person-to-person interviews and without being bounced from agency
to agency. MyCity would be a 311 for the digital age.

2. POISONING OUR HEALTH

PROBLEM: Nearly 1 million New Yorkers have diabetes—and the vast majority are
people of color. Twice as many Black and Latino New Yorkers have diabetes than
white New Yorkers. Shockingly, a large number of diabetics are also children who
are poorly served by the City. For instance, our Department of Health is in conflict
with our Department of Education: while DOHMH fights childhood obesity, DOE
feeds our children the very food that causes it. Overall, poor diets are a leading
cause of diabetes, obesity, heart problems, and other serious ailments. A big reason
for this is limited access to quality foods for lower-income New Yorkers; and too
much empty-calorie and processed foods that impede their ability to thrive.
SOLUTION: I will provide all New Yorkers — especially schoolchildren and people in
hospitals — better access to quality food through expanded healthy local produce
and by growing our own year-round through greenhouses, hydroponics and other
non-traditional farming methods.

3. A JOB TO FIND A JOB

PROBLEM: New York City’s unemployment rate for people of color is far higher than
it is for white New Yorkers and the national average. But the biggest problem is not
slack of jobs; it's the lack of access to jobs. It takes an average of nine weeks to find
a job in the City, largely due to finding openings, sending out applications and
navigating city agencies to apply.
SOLUTION: I will simplify filing for jobs with a single digital portal for all city
agencies that could include one-stop shopping by identifying all available city jobs
and making it easier to apply. We also should expand the summer youth
employment program and make it year-around.

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4. FOSTERING FAILURE
PROBLEM: City youth age-out of foster care at age 18 and can only continue to
receive support from the system until they are 21, often leaving them unprepared
to live on their own due to limited work experience, little formal education, and a
lack of access to health care. Nearly 90 percent of these young people are Black or
Latino. One study found that 20 percent of former foster care youth experience
homelessness; another study of 100 former foster care youth found that within six
months, 41 percent had been arrested and spent time in jail.
SOLUTION: I will develop and encourage a strong mentorship program for foster
care youth as well as invest in programs like Fair Futures. Research suggests that
youth with strong mentors have improved young adult outcomes anf are less likely
to to take part in unhealthy behavior, such as unprotected sex and substance. We
also need to expand youth employment programs and make them year-around
as well as provide housing for young people as soon as they leave the foster
care system.

5. FINDING FINES, BILKING BUSINESSES

PROBLEM: Small businesses, which are overwhelmingly owned by people of color
in this city, pay huge fees to open and operate, routinely facing thousands of
dollars in fines from overzealous inspectors for relatively small violations like using
the wrong type size on a sign or accidentally listing the wrong phone number —
fines that can run to over $5,000.
SOLUTION: My new online portal will slash the red tape and make the permitting
process easier and cheaper. We will augment that with a warning system for
violations unrelated to health or safety issues, giving first-time offenders an
education instead of a fine and a color-coded system laying out a timeline for fixing
the violations.

6. SENDING OUR MONEY OUT

OF STATE
PROBLEM: New York City spends $20 billion a year to procure goods and services
from thousands of outside contractors. But much of that money goes out of state
— or out of the country — instead of to local businesses. For example, in 2016 the
city hired a relatively inexperienced French company and its well-connected
partner firm to build procurement software rather than find a vendor closer to
home. The initial price tag was $63 million, but it ballooned to some $700 million.
And even when contracts go to local businesses, not nearly enough go to black and
brown businesses.

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SOLUTION: We need to put all contracts over $10 million under immediate review,
and move those we can to contract instead through an expanded M/WBE program
to use more local minority and women-owned businesses.I will also install a Chief
Diversity Officer to ensure equity. And I will boost the local economy by prioritizing
locally provided services, start a “Loyal to NY” marketing campaign to educate
the public.

7. THE NYCHA MONEY PIT

PROBLEM: NYCHA pours some $450 million into fixing up its housing complexes
and made the city’s worst landlord list in 2018 and 2019. But the agency is opaque
about where the money goes and the progress of much-needed repairs. This has
led to deplorable conditions, leaks, gaping holes and non-working elevators for
months on end—and nine-out-of-ten NYCHA tenants are Black and Latino. For
example, NYCHA residents filed some 200,000 bug and rodent complaints in 2018
and 2019, and NYCHA elevator outages reportedly hit an average of 121 per day
in 2018.
SOLUTION: We will apply crystal clear transparency through constant reporting on
progress of repairs and real time assessments of spending that can be tracked
online. We will conduct regular audits to see how much has actually been spent
and can use drones for building inspections to cut costs and increase efficiency.

8. WE CAN LITERALLY PULL $8B

OUT OF THE AIR FOR NYCHA
PROBLEM: NYCHA has air rights to some 80 million square feet over its properties
that could generate income for capital repairs to more than 300 buildings, where
badly needed repairs are chronically slow, often dragging out for months or longer.
SOLUTION: Requiring NYCHA to sell air rights over its properties to local builders —
especially non-profits — will raise up to $8 billion for repairs and quality of life
improvements for its more than 500,000 NYCHA tenants, roughly 90 percent of
whom are people of color.

9. TELEHEALTH PREVENTS
HOSPITAL VISITS

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PROBLEM: Hospital costs are on the rise across the country and New York City is no
exception. A national study from 2018 found the average cost of an emergency
room visit was over $1,700. The study said the average costs of a traditional on-site
doctor visit was $146, compared to $79 for a telehealth visit. In New York CIty, about
12 percent of white residents are uninsured while about 20 percent of Blacks and
30 percent of Latinos do not have health coverage.
SOLUTION: We must expand telemedicine to reduce emergency room
overcrowding like we experienced at the height of the pandemic, cut costs —
especially for uninsured or underinsured people — and empower patients to take
control of their health care. This would overwhelmingly help people of color and
lower-income New Yorkers.

10. IDENTIFY LEARNING DISABILITIES

TO END THE PRISON PIPELINE
PROBLEM: Students diagnosed with a disability are more likely to be suspended or
expelled, often a first stop en route to prison. One study found that disabled
students were suspended twice as often and 75 percent more likely to be expelled
as those without a disability — and that 1 in 7 students suspended or expelled
students later had “contact” with the juvenile justice system. Other studies found
that up to 40 percent of prison inmates are dyslexic. More than 90 percent of city
inmates are Black and Latino.
SOLUTION: Schools must find better alternatives to suspensions and expulsions,
increase job training programs and make dyslexia screening universal to identify
these challenges early and ensure better student success.

11. PRENATAL-TO-CAREER, NOT

CRADLE-TO-CAREER
PROBLEM: While early childhood education is critical to development, we don’t pay
enough attention to prenatal care. Studies show women without prenatal care are
seven times more likely to give birth prematurely and five times more likely to have
babies that die—especially black women. The consequences of poor health means
a higher cost to taxpayers, and women of color are disproportionately affected.
SOLUTION: I will invest in services and develop more comprehensive programs for
expectant moms and families, linking them to vital resources such as healthy
foods, prenatal classes and doulas for every firstborn.

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12. MORE RENTAL SUBSIDY COSTS
LESS THAN MORE HOMLESSNES
PROBLEM: More than 18,000 families, consisting of about 37,000 people, sleep in
city shelters each night at an average daily cost of $196 per family. Many were
evicted from their homes because they couldn't afford the rent due to a loss of
income — and even more are on the brink ofhomelessness. Keeping these families
in their homes costs taxpayers much less than putting them on the streets or in
shelters.
SOLUTION: Our administration will work to increase the value of FHEPS housing
vouchers to reflect the actual cost of available housing. The days of $1,600 for a
two-bedroom apartment are long gone and we must increase rental vouchers
while streamlining the process through a common application available at a
digital portal.

13. PAPERWORK IS COSTING THE

NYPD HALF-A-BILLION A YEAR,
REDUCING PUBLIC SAFETY
PROBLEM: About 500 police officers reportedly work in full time clerical jobs or
spend their days driving trucks or removing barricades instead of conducting
investigations or preventing crime. Those dollars and officers could be much better
used fighting serious crime and improving public safety.
SOLUTION: The city can save $500 million a year through strategic civilization of
the force and by lowering overtime costs related to paperwork. A starting police
officer earns $42,500 a year, which goes up to about $85,000 in less than six years.
Police administrative aides make just $33,875 a year. The total savings could go into
programs proven to reduce crime, like the Crisis Management System.

14. TREAT REPEAT CASES WITH

BETTER SERVICES
PROBLEM: There are tens-of-thousands of New Yorkers who cycle in and out of
jails and mental hospitals in New York City: In 2019, about 20 percent of the city’s
approximately 60,000 homeless people had a serious mental illness; and hospital
stays for patients with serious mental illness add up to more than 1 million days
each year.

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SOLUTION: We have to stop jailing the mentally ill for non-violent crimes and we
need to expand citywide the highly successful Fountain House model of care,
providing structured therapeutic social settings to help people transition from
therapeutic settings to non-therapeutic settings.

15. NEVER MISS A CHANCE TO

DELIVER SERVICES
PROBLEM: The problem with City services isn't just the lack of them — it is also
about providing easy access to them for those in need, who are overwhelmingly
people of color who do not have the time or money to take off work to register
for benefits.
SOLUTION: I will increase service delivery by equipping City workers with tablets
connected to that platform to send them into areas with the greatest need for
services. This will also help us get back some of the $20 billion a year taxpayers
send to Washington that we do not get back.

16. WE DON’T PUT SUBSTANCE ABUSE

SERVICES WHERE THEY ARE NEEDED
PROBLEM: The city has scores of free or low-costs drug and alcohol abuse clinics
and treatment centers, but many are not located in areas where they are most
needed, and they tend to be clustered around places like 125th Street in Harlem.
SOLUTION: I will launch a citywide program to evaluate the location of substance
abuse clinics and to make sure they are adequately spread out to support people in
all parts of New York City.

17. CITY AGENCIES DON’T KNOW

WHAT EACH OTHER ARE DOING
PROBLEM: Instead of working together and communicating with one another,
many city agencies work in their own silos, often duplicating efforts or
contradicting each other. The result is waste, inefficiency and poor delivery
of services.

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SOLUTION: We will build a single data platform for the entire city government. By
combining agencies onto a platform similar to the NYPD's CompStat system —
under the direction of an Efficiency Czar — and using analytics to track
performance in real time, we can become more proactive and predictive, saving
the city billions of dollars and delivering better services.

18. WE DON’T RENEGOTIATE

OUR CONTRACTS
PROBLEM: The city spends $20 billion a year buying goods and services from
thousands of outside contractors, but far too many contacts keep getting renewed
or extended despite poor performance. For example, the CityTime timekeeping and
payroll project, which was supposed to cost $63 million ran up to some $700
million largely as result of contract manipulation and a massive kickback scheme
SOLUTION: We need to find better deals, and strengthen oversight on all contracts
to save money that can be reinvested in reversing inequality. At the start of my
administration, I will put all contracts over $10 million under immediate review.
Those that are ineffective or can be done better by the city or another vendor will
be eliminated.

19. NEW YORKERS DON’T HAVE

ACCESS TO PREVENTATIVE CARE
PROBLEM: New Yorkers are contracting deadly or debilitating diseases associated
with poor diets and lack of basic healthcare. This includes about 987,000 New York
City residents—and 20 percent of them don’t even know it. And the vast majority of
those New Yorkers are Black and Latino. More than half of all New York City
residents are overweight or obese—especially Black and brown New Yorkers.
SOLUTION: Our healthcare system must include far more education and resources
to promote healthy eating and self-care so we can better prevent illnesses and
allow people to live longer. An Adams administration will open more clinics, like
the Lifestyle Medicine Program that we established at Bellevue Hospital to teach
healthy habits, to prevent and reverse chronic disease and promote
preventive care.

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20. OUR ANTI-HUNGER PROGRAMS
ARE NOT COORDINATED
PROBLEM: More than 1.5 million low-income New Yorkers live in households that
cannot afford enough food—and Black and Latino households are twice as likely to
suffer from hunger. Although there are 1,100 soup kitchens and food pantries
across the five boroughs, poor communication hurts efforts to connect these
needy households to SNAP benefits, food pantries and other food resources.
SOLUTION: I will form an integrated and community-engaged structure to
coordinate food policy in New York City across public and private providers. The
goal is to create and maintain easily accessible databases to help food-poor New
Yorkers to the services they need and to ensure our collective resources are being
used efficiently.

21. PERMIT FEES ARE A BARRIER TO

EXPANDING ESSENTIAL
AFTER-SCHOOL PROGRAMS
PROBLEM: The City Department of Education has tripled the cost of extended-use
fees for after-school program providers to about $40,000 during the COVID-19
pandemic. That has made it difficult for community-based organizations — many
of which are small, nonprofit organizations with small budgets which represent
communities of color — to run after-school programs, especially in
underserved neighborhoods.
SOLUTION: I recently launched a $2 million pilot program to give CBO’s greater
access to dormant school building spaces. I will significantly expand this effort to
allow more CBOs to provide cultural, sports and enrichment programs for youth in
lower-income communities when I am mayor.

22. WE CAN PROVIDE FREE SPACE FOR

CHILDCARE AND COMMUNITY
SERVICES, BUT WE DON’T

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PROBLEM: Childcare costs in New York City can run from $200 to $400 a week — a
figure beyond the reach of many working parents. That affects their ability to work
and a child’s ability to learn. Kids without adequate childcare — especially in the
first three years of life — are less likely to succeed and they are more likely to be
from Black and Latino households. More than half of African American mothers, and
48 percent of Latino mothers reported that they would look for a higher-paying job
if they had better childcare access.
SOLUTION: It is morally imperative that we provide childcare to all parents who
cannot afford it. I will do this by prioritizing space in city-owned buildings and
offering density bonuses and tax breaks to developers who guarantee free or
low rent to providers. We also need federal help, which will be a priority in the
Adams administration.

23. OUR EARLY INTERVENTION

PROGRAM DOES NOT CONNECT
NEW YORKERS TO SERVICES
PROBLEM: Tens of thousands of babies born in New York prematurely or with
physical or developmental issues like Down Syndrome require early intervention to
meet their needs and eventually live productive lives, but the City does not connect
enough families to these programs—especially Black and brown families. In fact, in
the Neighborhoods where higher percentages of children eligible for early
intervention are Black or Latino, the rates of service to families are lower than in
others, according to Advocates for Children.
SOLUTION: I will expand the programs to provide enough speech and physical
therapy assistance to children from 0 to 3 years old, a time when intervention
is crucial.

24. WE HAVE VACANT AFFORDABLE

APARTMENTS—AND THOUSANDS OF
HOMELESS WHO QUALIFY
PROBLEM: The City does not disclose how many vacant affordable apartments
there are available at any given time—but we know from developers and
community organizations that there are many ready to be filled, yet red tape is
keeping New Yorkers out. This is happening during a homeless crisis, including
more than 17,000 children without a home. Approximately 90 percent of City
homeless are Black or Latino.

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SOLUTION: I will instruct HPD to constantly update the number and location of
vacant affordable units and force them to fill each apartment within 60 days,
reducing the unnecessarily complicated process to qualify. If a unit sits vacant for
90 days, I will instruct HPD to reduce the income threshold to apply for that unit
and add new subsidy in order to fill it quickly.

25. HELP FOR HOMELESS NO

MATTER WHAT “DOOR” THEY
COME THROUGH
PROBLEM: The shelter “door” a New Yorker enters the shelter system through —
whether it is a regular DHS shelter or a shelter for domestic violence survivors,
young people aging out of foster care or those struggling with addiction —
determines what support they get later from the City. For instance, if they are
eligible for a housing subsidy or other City benefit. Nine-out-of-ten of these New
Yorkers are Black or brown.
SOLUTION: I will end this practice once and for all, offering all homeless New
Yorkers our full range of services to treat the whole person and support them in
their time of need.

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