KEYS TO THE CITY 64 Ideas to Keep New York the Capital of the Middle Class

Keys City
TO THE

64 Ideas to Keep New York

the Capital of the Middle Class
BY ANTHONY D. WEINER

1
 Keys City

TO THE
64 Ideas to Keep New York
the Capital of the Middle Class

CONTENTS

Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3

Education . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6

Hunger . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8

Transportation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9

Small Business . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10

New York City / Albany / Washington . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11

Health Care ........................................ 12

Safety and Crime Prevention . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14

Reform and Transparency . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15

Housing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16

Environment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18

Job Retention and Creation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19

Tax Reform . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20
 KEYS TO THE CITY 64 Ideas to Keep New York the Capital of the Middle Class
INTRODUCTION
New York City staked its claim as the capital of the middle
class generations ago. Here, people with nothing more than
tenacity and perseverance can emerge from a hard-scrabble
start with an opportunity for a life in the middle class.
But the fact is, New Yorkers who work every day to
make a living are struggling. Housing prices are through the
roof. Health coverage is exorbitant — and for over 1.2 mil-
lion New Yorkers, it’s literally unattainable. Manufacturing
jobs that once buttered the bread of thousands of families
have all but disappeared.
To maintain New York’s place as the capital of the mid-
dle class — and to keep the promise of prosperity for genera-
tions to come — we must meet today’s challenges with fresh
ideas. Bold ideas. Substantive and practical ideas.
In these pages, I offer 64 ideas linked with a common
purpose: to keep our city the capital of the middle class.
This goes to my core philosophy that what’s good for the
middle class is good for the city, and vice versa. These ideas
are diverse, but what binds them is the help they offer the
middle class and those struggling to make it there. Part of
being a New Yorker is looking at problems and figuring out
a better way. I put these ideas on the table to start the dialog
for a better way for our great city.
A VIEW FROM THE STOOP
There is a unifying American ideal by which we mea-
sure success as a nation, a city and even a family: has one
generation done better than the one before? The answer has
always been “yes.” But for the first time, that’s in jeopardy in
New York. The middle class — and those struggling to make
it into the middle class — face a looming crisis. More New
Yorkers are getting caught between powerful forces beyond
their control. At the same time that our cost of living con-
tinues to climb, an economic slowdown is limiting growth
and opportunity. Trapped in this tightening vise, the middle
class needs our policymakers to face the challenges head-on
and discuss practical ideas to propel our city forward.
The plight of the middle class is not an academic issue
for me. It’s personal. I grew up in Brooklyn, the son of a
public school teacher and a lawyer who, after earning his
degree through the G.I. Bill, literally hung a shingle near
3
our stoop. My mom and dad raised me and my brothers like
millions of other middle class parents did: we went to public
school — I graduated from P.S. 39, my neighborhood ele-
mentary school, Junior High School 51, and Brooklyn Tech.
We played stickball in the streets and rooted wildly for the
Mets whenever Dad could take us to Shea for a game.
My parents ingrained in me a belief in the city’s basic
bargain — that hard-working New Yorkers have a real
chance to raise their children into a better life. That has com-
pelled me to advocate for the middle class for 27 years: as an
aide to then-Congressman Chuck Schumer, as a City Coun-
cilman, and as a 7-term member of the House of Represen-
tatives. I have always approached my endeavors from that
angle — asking what can be done differently, smarter, and
more efficiently to help the city’s great middle class thrive.
In 2011, my concern for New York’s middle class took
on even greater personal meaning; my wife and I welcomed
our son into the world. I believe Jordan deserves to grow up
with the same, if not better, opportunities than I had. But
in just one generation, the promise of our city has faded.
Incomes are flat and poverty is up. The fear of too many resi-
dents of the five boroughs is that they might not have real
opportunity here or that they might do better elsewhere.
Below, I trace the history of how the middle class has
succeeded in New York City, describe some long term obsta-
cles to its future success, then offer a catalogue of ideas that
we should pursue to tackle big issues like housing, educa-
tion, health care, hunger, and economic growth. It is time
that we take a hard look at the problems facing New York’s
middle class and begin to outline an approach and mindset
we can all share.
I remain optimistic about the future of the city that
gave me my every opportunity, because the smarts, grit, and
determination that built the Big Apple into the world’s great-
est metropolis endure as our greatest assets.
NEW YORK CITY: CAPITAL
OF THE MIDDLE CLASS
New York has changed dramatically through the
years. Before Manhattan was entirely developed, a patch-
work of farmland dotted the outer-boroughs. The rapid
 KEYS TO THE CITY 64 Ideas to Keep New York the Capital of the Middle Class
influx of immigrants before and after the turn of the 20th
century spurred the rapid expansion of tenement hous-
ing. The development of Tammany Hall — the notorious
political machine whose corruption fed off the vitality of
the growing city — begat Robert Moses’s emergence as the
region’s foremost master-builder. The city sank into turmoil
through the dark days of a municipal fiscal crisis, an out-
moded police force, and a crack epidemic. After a rebound
for some following the financial crisis of 2008, New York
enjoyed a period of growth, the resurgence of the city’s
transit system, and a turnaround in crime.
Public perceptions of New York have evolved. A teeming,
chaotic den of immigrants just through Ellis Island turned to
a staid, post-war corporate haven after World War II. A crum-
bling, drug-ravaged slum in the 1970s became the safest big
city in the country by the turn of the new millennium.
Turn-of-the-century immigrants came to New York
looking for a better life — and the same dream draws peo-
ple today. College grads gravitate to the city. People of all
races, genders, ethnicities, and religions come to New York,
because it offers them the opportunities they might lose if
they lived elsewhere.
This brief summary does not capture the full complex-
ity. Certainly there were well-to-do families residing in the
five boroughs even during the periods of greatest challenge.
And today, a full fifth of the city lives below the poverty line
in a metropolis that nevertheless glimmers with optimism
(and practically speaking, the poverty rate is more like 50%).
But present throughout all of modern history — through
boom and bust — New York has maintained a unique qual-
ity. The can-do attitude, competitive spirit and aggressive
nature rooted in New Yorkers have made the city a machine
of innovation and growth. There’s no doubt that privilege
can provide an advantage, but what makes New York unique
is the chance it affords to anyone willing to sacrifice and pull
themselves up by their bootstraps.
For all the talk about glitz and glamour, wealth and privi-
lege, the corporate headquarters and skyrocketing real estate
prices, New York is less defined by its luxury than its com-
mitment to opportunity. At closer inspection, it is a city built
for the middle class, and those aspiring to get there. More
than any other measure, its star rises and falls on the chances
it affords those willing to sacrifice in their drive to climb the
economic ladder. New York gives anyone willing to work
hard the chance to succeed, an opportunity that might not be
as available anywhere outside the city’s five boroughs.
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A NEW SET OF CHALLENGES
For all the city’s successes over recent decades — and
there have been plenty — there are now signs that life has
become more difficult for middle class New Yorkers and
those aspiring to get there. Affordable housing is harder to
find, and quality health care is harder to afford. The schools
which have educated generations of middle class children
no longer offer the same promise. While our infrastructure
calls out for investment and modernization, employers are
being tempted overseas — or at least across the river.
We live in world that is faster-paced and more sophis-
ticated than the one in which I grew up. New Yorkers now
face a new set of challenges from the specter of terrorism to
the complexities of global finance to competition from busi-
nesses around the world. The five boroughs are intertwined
like never before with the global economy.
For every private equity firm that made a fortune, there’s a
neighborhood pharmacist who has been put out of business by
a big chain. For every developer who has seen an investment
turn into a real estate bonanza, there’s a family in a neighbor-
hood like Sunnyside trying desperately to keep up with a rising
property tax bill. For every strip of stores that celebrated the
opening of a more convenient Starbucks, there’s a hardwork-
ing middle class family struggling to put their kids through
college on the profits earned by a family-run business.
That’s not to say that the city does not benefit when Wall
Street is bullish or that anyone hopes a real estate slump will
envelop the five boroughs, or that New Yorkers in search
of a pick-me-up should be deprived of a venti iced double
shot skim latte. But those with an interest in seeing the city
continue to grow should not be blind to the effects recent
decades have had on the New Yorkers who have never man-
aged to swing a “signing bonus,” who struggle to cover their
tax burden, and who are just as happy to wake up with a
regular cup of Joe.
Neighborhoods like Bay Ridge, Throgs Neck, Wash-
ington Heights, Jamaica, and West Brighton continue to be
“neighborhoods.” They house middle class families who are
raising their kids in the great tradition of the Big Apple. But
ask around, and most will tell you, it is much more difficult
to carve out a comfortable living than it was a few years ago,
and those who aspire to steward the city through the coming
years ought to be listening.
New York’s mantle as the great gateway to the middle
class is in peril. But it need not be this way.
 KEYS TO THE CITY 64 Ideas to Keep New York the Capital of the Middle Class
Many New Yorkers remember President Ford’s decision
to wash his hands of the city’s problems during the depths
of our brush with municipal bankruptcy in the 1970s. In the
aftermath, many fled the city. But those who remained — like
my parents — managed to dig the city out of that hole and
usher in a new era of municipal pride and growth.
A TIME OF GREAT
OPPORTUNITY AND PROMISE
Of course, we ought not lose sight of the progress we
have made in past decades. Things are better than they
were. The subways are cleaner. The streets are safer. And
New York reversed the exodus that characterized the 1970s
and 1980s. Today, there is no such thing as a “bad neigh-
borhood.”
The elements, which made New York a mecca for mid-
dle class Americans, remain in our DNA. Our teachers are
the best in the world — we simply need to give them the
structure and resources our children deserve. We have
the best doctors, nurses, and hospitals on the globe — but
the way we provide care leaves too many out in the cold.
New York’s Finest have stepped up to the task of defend-
ing the city against the threat of terrorism after 9/11, but
they cannot be asked to keep us safe without adequate
support. And the demand for housing calls out for new
partnerships to make sure every family has an affordable,
safe place to live.
For decades, New York has benefited from an often
strong economy, the commitment of devoted members of
the business community, the grit of millions of working
people (many of whom are in trade unions), incredible con-
tributions from neighborhood activists around the city, and
a series of good decisions made by our elected leaders.
But our challenges are real and we need fresh ideas to con-
front them. Failure to act may imperil the fundamental ele-
ments that have driven us to be the globe’s middle class capital.
My philosophy is what’s good for middle class New
Yorkers is good for the city as a whole. Those aspiring to
join the middle class — not to mention the many families
who live in poverty despite holding full time jobs — need an
economic engine to harness the energy of those willing to
work hard. And those lucky enough to enjoy wealth need a
local workforce that’s both energized and creative enough to
keep the city dynamic.
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It’s not that those living at the top and bottom of New
York’s economic ladder should suffer at the expense of the
middle class. It’s that maintaining the city’s claim as the capi-
tal of the middle class is an investment that will benefit New
Yorkers at all points on the spectrum.
No doubt, a series of challenges face New York. But if we
lean into the tough decisions — dedicated to reform — we
can recommit ourselves to the spirit that has driven New
Yorkers for generations, ensuring that families willing to
work hard and play by the rules, will enjoy success and secu-
rity in the greatest city the world has ever known.
A NEW WAY OF GOVERNING
New York City has never been able to operate in a vac-
uum. And now, more than ever, tackling the city’s challenges
requires a coordinated response. Much as each branch of
government might hope to make progress single-handedly,
in too many cases, the depth of our challenge is too great.
The complexity of governing New York comes at a cost.
Too often, labyrinths of bureaucracy obscure accountability.
Too frequently, we have watched good intentions run head-
long into dysfunction. Too many players leave whole proj-
ects paralyzed. Think, for example, how long it took to begin
the redevelopment of Ground Zero.
Even as we accept that the new reality demands addi-
tional coordination, New Yorkers want to know who will
take responsibility for getting results. In the end, we still
demand to know where the buck truly stops.
Maintaining accountability while synchronizing the
oars of public service will require New York to embrace a
new way of governing. The depth of the issues demands that
we set aside the old, stale arguments that have, for decades,
defined the debate in New York, Albany, and Washington.
Our problems are too profound to let politics get in the way
of the public’s business.
Around the nation and in New York in particular, we
need to join in common cause across agencies, jurisdictions,
and sectors of service. Government officials, nonprofits,
associations, businesses and individuals need to collabo-
rate. Good ideas can no longer take a backseat to ideologi-
cal paralysis. Today’s challenges demand that we remain
constructive even when we disagree. For that reason, I hope
we join in embracing an agenda that ensures that New York
remains the capital of the middle class.
 KEYS TO THE CITY 64 Ideas to Keep New York the Capital of the Middle Class
EDUCATION
Our school system is a city unto itself; 1.1 million kids
in well over a thousand schools being cared for (dur-
ing most of their young lives) by an army of teachers,
supervisors and support staff. But as any educator
will tell you, teaching a child is often a painstaking,
complex and personal challenge that no one test or
single curriculum can tackle. Education is as much art
as it is science.
When it comes to educating our kids, we’ve got to
get back to basics. That means training and paying
teachers well. That means holding the system’s lead-
ership accountable to the public. It means taking seri-
ously the discipline problems that diminish the learn-
ing experience of well-behaved students. It means
engaging parents in a meaningful and productive way.
And it means focusing more on early education and
elementary school, so that high schools are not bur-
dened by the responsibility of teaching older students
what they should have learned earlier.
1 Streamline the Process for Removing Trouble-
some Kids from the Classroom. The process that
must be followed by a principal to suspend a disruptive stu-
dent can take months. Due process must be preserved, but
the current multi-tiered, trial-like process must give way to
a clear benefit of the doubt for school leaders and teachers.
Keep in mind that a long drawn out process harms the child
in question as well.
2 Pay Master Teachers More for Taking Tough
Assignments. The seniority system has many bene-
fits, but it often serves to attract the most tenured and skilled
teachers to the most comfortable assignments. Incentives
for top teachers to choose challenging schools and needy
students should be part of all teacher contracts.
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3 Create a Master Teacher Academy. We are suf-
fering through a brain drain in the public schools.
Thousands of our smartest and most skilled teachers are
retiring. This generation of teachers — like my mother — has
left before their time, because of the frustration with current
policies. Let’s get them back in the game with the creation of
training and mentoring academies featuring the best of the
best. This is a much needed opportunity for the city and
teachers’ union to work together.
4
Eliminate Paid Parent Coordinators. Parent
involvement is important and participation in the Par-
ents Association should be a rite of every school mom and
dad. But the current policy of having paid parent coordina-
tors is a waste of money and misunderstands the importance
of parents being part of the oversight of a school — not the
staff.
5 Make Catholic School Preservation a Tweed
Mission. Between 2000 and 2011 the city lost 63 Cath-
olic Schools with another 24 eliminated in 2012. The Parish
school is not only an asset in the teaching of values that
underpins our society, but it’s also an important practical
circuit breaker on another major problem — overcrowding
in our public schools. Considering how much attention we
pay to the debate over charter schools, the lack of conversa-
tion about disappearing Catholic Schools is disheartening.
6 Help Private Schools Access Security Grants.
Homeland security grants are available to religious
schools and nonprofit institutions, but the application pro-
cess is complicated. The NYPD should take an active lead in
helping these often cashed-strapped organizations get things
like security cameras and emergency locking doors.
 KEYS TO THE CITY 64 Ideas to Keep New York the Capital of the Middle Class

7 Reinvent Teacher Contracts for the New Work-

force Realities. Today’s labor force is more transient
than at any time in our nation’s history. The old model of
heavy back-loaded incentives like pensions is not appealing
to many talented people considering teaching. New York
should explore the Denver model which permits teachers to
trade the defined benefit future for a higher pay today.
10 Let Empty Schools Bustle After Hours —
Even for Churches. Given how much we ask of
our schools, it makes sense to keep them open as commu-
nity centers as much as possible. Civic groups should not be
charged to hold neighborhood meetings and local churches
that need space should be able to use empty auditoriums for
a fee.

8 Put a Kindle in Every Backpack. Kids today walk

around weighed down by backpacks full of outdated
books that cost taxpayers nearly $100 million per year and will
rise with new standards. EBooks would cost less, give teachers
access to millions of titles, and are never out-of-date. I wrote
more about this idea in 2010 here: http://tinyurl.com/af6lsoj.
11 Expand Civic Service with Gotham Corps.
Using the Peace Corps and AmeriCorps models,
New York should make “Where are you going to do your
service year?” a commonly asked question among today’s
young citizens. By capturing AmeriCorps funding and
matching with a year of free tuition at a CUNY or SUNY
college, the Gotham Corps would allow the city to harness

9 Use Federal Standards for New York’s Kids.

The argument over the troubling trend towards “teach-
ing to the test” is on the minds of many teachers and parents.
an army of volunteers to tackle our large urban challenges.

To make matters worse, we are comparing our schools to the

wrong standards. We should be using the national bench-
marks so we compare ourselves to Seattle and Cincinnati,
not just to Syracuse.

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 KEYS TO THE CITY 64 Ideas to Keep New York the Capital of the Middle Class

HUNGER
More than 1.5 million New York City residents face
hunger every day and a quarter of them are children.
It is a moral failing that our kids are going hungry
year after year. We need to expand awareness and
access to the programs like Supplemental Nutrition
Assistance Program (SNAP, formerly known as Food
Stamps) and make them more nutritious and benefi-
cial. And we need to create a coalition of the business,
charitable, and government sectors to get them work-
ing in unison on this crisis. We must reduce hunger in
our city and ensure that no child goes to bed hungry.
14 Double the Meals Served in City Schools
Over the Summer. Teachers often observe that
the summer months off from school are when kids forget
much of what they learned in class. But when kids leave the
structure of the school, they often also lose access to free
breakfast and lunch. We need to dramatically increase the
number of meals that kids return to school for in July and
August.
15 Create a Nonprofit Czar. For too long, govern-
ment, business and the nonprofit sector have
worked on common goals in their own silos. The city should

12 Eliminate Barriers to SNAP (Food Stamps).

The rise in the number of New Yorkers who are eli-
gible — to 1.8 million — is a sign of how dire the need is in
our city, but it is also an opportunity for more to take advan-
tage of the single most successful program in reducing hun-
ger. Now we have to change city policies that put obstacles in
the way of parents getting food for their hungry kids. Treat-
ing the needy like criminals is not just inhumane, it’s bad
economics. Food stamps are a federal benefit that cost city
taxpayers nothing additional.
have a cabinet level liaison to/facilitator of, the charitable
organizations that serve our city. Whether it be a church
basement soup kitchen or the Red Cross, we need to get civil
servants and servants of the city helping each other serve us.
16 Give Food Stamps 50% More Value When
Used for Fresh Produce. The sad truth is that
the least expensive foods are the ones with the least nutri-
tional value. Rather than punish the hungry by banning the
use of food stamps for “bad” foods, we should give a bonus
to families who buy fresh fruits and vegetables.

13 Enlist our Kids to Teach their Parents about

Food Stamps. The best place to attack child hun-
ger is in the schools. It’s the place kids spend much of their
day. It’s a place where they get two hot meals. And it’s a place
where they get an understanding about good nutrition. It’s
also the ideal place to transmit information to their parents.
The Department of Education should be stuffing the back-
packs of kids with information and using school offices and
lobbies to help parents apply for SNAP. The federal govern-
ment has successfully used this strategy to increase partici-
pation in the Census.

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 KEYS TO THE CITY 64 Ideas to Keep New York the Capital of the Middle Class

TRANSPORTATION
For much of New York — with important exceptions in
the outer boroughs — the Metropolitan Transit Author-
ity (MTA) is the great equalizer, used by New Yorkers at
every point on the economic spectrum. An estimated
7.5 million times a day, New Yorkers swipe their Me-
troCard to ride on a subway system that is 108 years
old and to commute on a giant fleet of busses. Mod-
ernizing our infrastructure and transportation systems
needs to be a high priority. In the most densely popu-
lated region in the country, we need to look at alterna-
tive modes of moving people from Point A to Point B.
19 Give Breaks to Employers to Promote
Biking to Work. The IRS offers tax breaks to
employers who offer up to $20 a month to workers to buy, fix
or store their bike. For the employee, this is tax free compen-
sation and a strong incentive to pedal to work. The city
should offer a similar deal.
20 Replace Access-A-Ride with 2000 New
Accessible Cab Medallions. The Access-A-
Ride program is a more than $600 million boondoggle. Tax-
payers and the disabled alike are being taken for a ride (if the
car ever shows up, that is) at a cost of nearly $66 per ride.

17 Launch Ferries in All Five Boroughs. No

water-bound city is as far behind the curve on ferry
service as New York City. The Department of Transporta-
The city should issue 2000 new medallions only for handi-
capped accessible yellow cabs that can be dispatched in all 5
boroughs. We would raise revenue for the city and raise
tion is invested 100% for service to Staten Island, as they expectations for the disabled.
should be. But what about Rockaway, Sheepshead Bay,
Riverdale and Harlem? Ferries are good for the environ-
ment, reduce congestion and are vital lifelines in an emer-
gency.

18 Install Cell Service on Every Subway Plat-

form. What is commonplace in systems in other
cities has been a distant dream in the Big Apple. Going down
to catch the train should not mean you lose the ability to
check on a meeting, run an app, or report a crime.

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 KEYS TO THE CITY 64 Ideas to Keep New York the Capital of the Middle Class

SMALL BUSINESS
Starting a business anywhere is hard. Launching one
in New York City can be extra difficult because of the
myriad of forms, regulations and applications. Once
23 Create www.shopnyc.com. The city has vast
amounts of data on businesses in all five boroughs.
We should put this data to good use promoting neighbor-
launched, life doesn’t get easier in the face of ticketing, hood businesses in every conceivable field. A website and an
surprise inspections, and a relentless bureaucracy. app should be created that allows people to shop in the digi-
tal world but spend their dollars locally. Insert your location
Small businesses are the pulse of the city. They com-
and the goods or service you want to purchase, and the web-
prise 98% of all business here and employ more than
site points you to businesses that may have no web presence
50% of the workforce in the private sector. We need
of their own.
to stop making life harder for small business owners

24
and start encouraging them by streamlining the start- Streamline the Business Improvement Dis-
up and BID process, by setting up mobile offices to trict Process. The BID program, which permits
facilitate communication with the city agencies, and businesses to tax themselves to invest in shopping strip
by promoting neighborhood businesses on the web improvements, is a good program but getting it up and run-
so that New Yorkers can shop locally. ning is way too hard — especially for struggling shopkeepers
in the outer boroughs. The Department of Business Services
21 Roll out Small Business Adjudication Vans.
Small businesses get hammered by tickets, surprise
inspections and demands for information from city agencies
should shorten the process and designate personnel to help
understaffed businesses access the program.
all the time. The engines of our economy often have sand
thrown in the gears by an overbearing bureaucracy. To make
life easier the city should visit shopping strips with mobile
offices that let shopkeepers argue fines, settle tickets and file
papers without having to shutter their stores for the day.

22 Make Big Box and Chains Play by the

Rules. Lost in the fight over Walmart is the cost
that is passed along by these big box stores to taxpayers
when workers are underinsured and underpaid. There
should be more transparency about the number of employ-
ees who need to use emergency rooms for their medical care
or food stamps for their meals. Only then will we know if
cheap goods really are such a good deal.

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 KEYS TO THE CITY 64 Ideas to Keep New York the Capital of the Middle Class

NEW YORK CITY / ALBANY / WASHINGTON

It was a huge victory for New York City to gain control
over our own school system. But it is remarkable that
being governed by our own local government is seen
as extraordinary. It should be the rule that New York
City citizens control the fate of New York City, not the
exception.
27 Turn Rent Regulations Over to New York
City. We casually accept the Urstadt Laws, because
too many elected city officials have been perfectly happy let-
ting the responsibility for the thorny issue of rent regulation
rest with the obscure “Rent Guidelines Board.” But that
doesn’t make it right that a state agency is in charge of the
most costly decision to so many New Yorkers — their annual

25 Give New York City the Control over Fees,

Fines and Taxes. Perhaps most galling to resi-
dents of the Big Apple is the notion that to raise or lower
rent. Just as we made it a priority to get mayoral control of
schools, we should fight for mayoral control of rents.

most taxes, fees and fines, the City Council and the Mayor
have to get the permission of Albany. Giving legislators from
Western New York the authority to veto a tax cut for the
West Side or letting lawmakers from Kingston decide how
much to charge in parking tickets on Kings Highway is ludi-
crous and should be challenged constantly.
28 Put Local Liquor Licenses in the Hands of
Local Citizens and Local Representatives.
Often the decision of government that impacts a block or an
entrepreneur the most is the issuance of a license to serve
liquor at a bar or restaurant. Yet this most local of concerns
is in the hands of an Albany bureaucracy. It makes no sense.

26 Require State Properties to Pay City Prop-

erty Taxes. In the category of adding insult to
injury, the state of New York refuses to pay property taxes on
the many state-owned buildings that are in the Big Apple. We
welcome state workers, as we do all workers to New York, but
the services that local government provides inures to the
benefit of the state. The state should pay like any other entity.

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 KEYS TO THE CITY 64 Ideas to Keep New York the Capital of the Middle Class
HEALTH CARE
More than 1.2 million New Yorkers are uninsured.
That’s 16% of city residents under age 65, who can-
not afford health insurance and do not qualify for pro-
grams like Medicare or Medicaid. Yet Big Apple tax-
payers spend $12 billion each year (17% of our total
budget) on providing health care for its citizens. For
too long this has all fallen under the rubric of “non-
controllable” costs to our city. Well it’s too big a chal-
lenge and too costly a status quo to keep doing things
the same way.
29 Create a Single Payer Laboratory in New
York City. Perhaps more than any other big prob-
lem, the need to provide affordable, accessible and quality
health care is within the reach of all New Yorkers. In this
laboratory, New Yorkers own and control the Health and
Hospitals Corporation which in turn runs 11 acute care hos-
pitals, 70 community clinics, 6 diagnostic treatment labs, 4
long term care facilities, and employs 3,300 doctors and
8,000 nurses. In addition, there is a buzzing economy of
pharmacists, laboratories and senior centers. In short, every-
thing you need to structure a comprehensive universal health
care system is right here — including the money. New York
passes along a large portion of the state cost of the Medicaid
program for the uninsured to localities like New York City.
For a city of 8 million with over a fifth of its residents living
below the poverty line — this cost can be massive. In 2012,
New York City taxpayers spent $6.2 billion or 8.5% of our
budget on this cost.
The cost of Medicaid is only part of the health care
expense. We also spend $4.9 billion on health insurance
policies for over 280,000 active and 290,000 retired city
employees. Then there is the amount that taxpayers foot in
health care for the uninsured who are cared for in New York
City hospitals that is never reimbursed.
So the proposition is this: we ask the federal and state
governments to continue to fund our Medicaid beneficiaries
at the level they are today and give us the flexibility to set up
a system that we know works, we know patients like, and we
know is less costly — a single payer program like Medicare
for all the uninsured and underinsured in our city.
12
If that sounds too ambitious, take a hard look at how
Local 6, the hotel workers union does it. For $411, which is
about ⅓ the price of the cheapest city HMO, the union has
salaried doctors at comprehensive health centers across the
city and includes coverage of dental and eye care, with no
co-pays or deductibles and minimal costs for prescriptions.
There is no reason why we can’t use our communal buying
power and wealth of health care resources to improve health
care outcomes, while cutting out the health insurance mid-
dle man and save a lot of money in the process.
30 End the City/County Medicaid Burden. New
York is one of very few states that passes a portion of
the cost of providing health care to the localities. This is a
massive regressive tax. The more poor residents, the more the
Medicaid expense. The cost for Big Apple taxpayers is a stag-
gering $6.2 billon. The time has never been better for reform.
The state has undertaken a redesign of the Medicaid system
and the recent federal infusion of help under the stimulus bill
has helped create a “soft landing” for the state budget.
31 Let Local Prosecutors and Auditors Claim
100% in Fraud Bounty. The split responsibility
for funding Medicaid has made efforts to weed out waste
inefficient. Since local authorities get only a fraction of the
savings from prosecuting waste, the investigations are fre-
quently half-hearted. The solution is a bounty program that
puts incentives in the right place by giving 100% of the pro-
ceeds of found fraud to the locality that roots it out.
32 Subsidize New Yorkers who are Caregivers
at Home. Most aging and frail seniors would pre-
fer not to spend extended periods in an institution. Bill pay-
ers — and taxpayers — would prefer to find cheaper options
than nursing homes. So often, family members wind up tak-
ing care of parents and grandparents at home. This humane
option often leaves families with a crushing burden emo-
tionally and financially — especially if the other side of the
vice is the cost of taking care of children. All levels of gov-
ernment should offer a “caregivers tax credit” to lighten the
load of these families.
 KEYS TO THE CITY 64 Ideas to Keep New York the Capital of the Middle Class
33 Organize Community Pharmacists to Com-
pete with the Chains. New York City has pri-
mary health care providers on virtually every shopping strip
in all five boroughs. They are called community pharmacies.
Policy-makers have recently seen the benefit of giving these
health care professionals more leeway to do things like
administer flu shots. But the steady pressure from mail-
order drug distributors and chain pharmacies has caused
many neighborhood drug stores to close up. The city should
organize these mom and pops stores to let them compete for
business and reduce costs as a group.
34 Permit Gay Men to Donate Blood. It’s a relic
from a time of fear and misinformation, but it’s a
dangerous one. Men who declare that they are gay on appli-
cations to donate blood are routinely denied, even though
all blood donors are screened for HIV. This not only stigma-
tizes a whole class of well-intentioned citizens, but it is fool-
ish in an era when blood shortages are routine.
13
35 Ask City Workers to Pay a Small Portion of
their Health Premiums. The employer-based
health care model with insurance company middle-men
taking a piece of the action is flawed and should be replaced
with a single-payer model like Medicare (see above). But our
present policy of having employees pay none of their pre-
mium costs should change. It is a driver of an unsustainable
fiscal liability. It is out of line with virtually every other
municipal workforce in the nation. And it dilutes true
accountability, since beneficiaries don’t feel the pinch of pre-
mium costs and demand efficiencies.
36 Require Higher Premiums from City
Employees who Smoke. The cost to taxpayers
of providing health insurance to city workers is higher
because of the cost of treating those who choose to smoke.
The smoker should shoulder a portion of this cost and be
incentivized to give up the habit.
 KEYS TO THE CITY 64 Ideas to Keep New York the Capital of the Middle Class
SAFETY AND CRIME PREVENTION
In 2012, New York City had its lowest number of ho-
micides in over half-a-century — 414. Thanks to strat-
egies implemented by Mayors Dinkins, Giuliani, and
Bloomberg, and the day-to-day efforts of cops, vio-
lent crime is way down in recent decades.
The city needs to stay at the forefront of efforts to re-
duce crime by expanding its use of DNA technology,
growing our COPs program, and improving efforts to
track and neutralize sexual predators. 9/11 added a
new challenge to keeping our city safe — combating
terrorism. More than a decade later, there are fewer
officers in the employ of One Police Plaza than there
were the day of that tragedy. We need to be smart
when protecting our city by taking measures like up-
ping the headcount of police officers and giving them
the training and tools to succeed.
37 Expand the COPs Program. Doing more with
less is a laudable mantra that has been a way of life
and One Police Plaza in recent years. But the fact that we
have 6,000 fewer cops on the streets than we had on 9/11,
combined with a demographic cliff that has many officers
retiring in the coming years, argues for an aggressive effort
to get the federal government off the sidelines with a new
COPs program than hires local cops with federal dollars.
14
38 Track Sex Offenders Using GPS Technol-
ogy. Most sex offenders are strictly limited on
where they can travel and who they may contact after they
leave custody. Women with Orders of Protection against
abusers are safeguarded in their space by court order. But all
too often sex offenders ignore the law and live and loiter
around schools and their victims. Now that GPS technology
is less expensive and less intrusive, all movement-limited
sex offenders and abusers should be required to keep a GPS
tag on their person that alerts the local precinct if they go
into restricted areas or near protected people.
39
Take DNA from More Arrestees. As a matter of
course, the NYPD takes fingerprints from all people
they arrest. They should also take a DNA swab from as many
of those under arrest as practicable. This common sense step
would help solve cold cases and clear the innocent.
40 Use the PACT Act to Stop Tobacco Smug-
gling. Congress has given local law enforcement a
powerful tool in the fight to stop black market cigarettes
from flooding New York City. “The PACT Act” empowers
local authorities to make arrests and prosecutions of indi-
viduals and crime syndicates that buy tobacco in bulk from
low and no tax jurisdictions and then sell them here in a city
that has the highest taxes in the nation. Stopping tobacco
smuggling not only plugs the leak in New York’s tax stream,
but it takes a profit center away from criminals who often
use the ill-gotten gains for other bigger crimes.
 KEYS TO THE CITY 64 Ideas to Keep New York the Capital of the Middle Class

REFORM AND TRANSPARENCY

The old saw “run government like a business” is as
tired is as it is nonsensical. After all, by definition,
nearly all of what government does is not profitable or
a business would be doing it already. But the private
sector could teach government a thing or two about
eliminating waste. Technology gives us new tools to
open government to increased scrutiny and an infu-
sion of new ideas. New Yorkers need to be reengaged
in civic discourse by making agencies more acces-
sible to questions and dissenting views. The human
capital that exists here in the capital of the world has
not been fully brought to bear on our common chal-
lenges. That should change.
44 Institute Instant Run-Off Elections. Primary
elections for citywide offices require a plurality of at
least 40%. If no candidate achieves that percentage, then a
run-off between the top two candidates occurs two weeks
later. This process is expensive. New York City spent $15
million on a run-off election in 2009, where only 228,602
voters came out. That cost the city $72 a voter. It’s taxing on
voters and unnecessarily divisive. A better idea is to have an
instant run-off system that lets voters rank their choices. The
tally of second choices would determine the winner of the
run-off. This system would encourage a more civil and less
costly campaign for both candidates and taxpayers.

41 Eliminate 5% In Waste Every Year. We are too

slow to recognize programs that are not working or
have outlived their mandate. Every city government depart-
ment head should be forced to list the things they were
doing from best to worst. Then the least effective should be
targeted for elimination or merger. City commissioners
should set the modest goal of eliminating 5% in waste each
year. Sometimes that will mean reducing the budget accord-
ingly and sometimes it will mean moving funding to the
programs at the top of the efficiency list.
45 Make New York the Home of an Annual
Urban Ideas Festival. Just as Davos and Aspen
have been magnets for gatherings of business and intellec-
tual heavyweights, New York City should be the home of an
annual ideas festival focusing on the challenges facing cities.
We already have a network of thought leaders in the tech
sector, healthcare and higher educational spaces. We should
be a destination for ideas and a laboratory for the best ones.
46 Bring “Mayor’s Question Time” to the Pro-
ceedings of the City Council. Reengaging the
public in civic affairs means looking for new ways to spark

42 Digitize the City Budget. Simply making reams

of city documents available to download or view
may increase the number of people who see the material,
but it doesn’t maximize the benefit. The city should digitize
the City Budget and other documents which would make it
possible to mark up the material to allow crowd-sourcing of
questions, answers and structural changes.
interest in the debates of the day. Modeled on the British
House of Commons custom of having the Prime Minister
field questions from legislators, a similar challenge for the
Mayor may be enlightening and would give rank-and-file
City Council members an unfiltered way to bring issues to
the executive branch.

43 Publish All Contracts. The slogan “If You See

Something, Say Something” could be just as easily
used as an encouragement to citizens to fight government
waste as it is to be on the lookout for potential criminals. If
government contracts where readily available, we would
empower citizen audits to shine light on inside deals and call
attention to missed deadlines.

15
 KEYS TO THE CITY 64 Ideas to Keep New York the Capital of the Middle Class

HOUSING
In a boon for homeowner and real estate developers,
property values have risen for the better part of two
decades. But there is an underside to the dramatic
appreciation: rising values put mortgage payments
beyond the grasp of too many middle class families.
Roughly 136,000 city homeowners entered into fore-
closure since 2009. With the average apartment sell-
ing for $1.5 million in Manhattan this year, the notion
of home ownership is no longer part of the American
Dream for the overwhelming majority of New Yorkers.
New programs — successors to the Mitchell-Lama
program in the 1970s and the Nehemiah program in
the 1980s — need to be developed to sustain a grow-
ing middle class. That means revisiting our 80-20 de-
velopments which provide housing for the wealthy
and low-income, but ignore the middle class. It means
revising our view of brown fields. And we need to find
creative ways to transfer air rights over municipal as-
sets like public schools and recommit ourselves, not
only to improving public housing, but to making the
best use of every parcel of land in the public domain.
48 Move Affordable Builders to the Front of
the Bureaucratic Line. The Department of
Buildings is so famously arbitrary and wrapped in red tape
that it is said that paid expediters have to hire expediters to
get anything done. Putting aside for a moment the need to
make city agencies more efficient and transparent, builders
of affordable housing should have access to the fast lane at
the choke points of the city bureaucracy.
49 Leverage Air Rights over City Properties.
The biggest property owner in the Big Apple is the
City of New York itself. Schools, libraries, office buildings,
the city owns and controls thousands of properties. These
assets should not be seen as static things. Opportunities for
development, especially for housing and schools, should be
the subject of a full air rights audit. Private developers should
be invited to propose the use of the development rights in
exchange for public benefits.
50 Help Prevent New Flood Insurance Rules
from Drowning Neighborhoods. It is hard to
imagine a more devastating one-two punch for waterfront
New York: the damage of Sandy has been followed by a new

47 Make all Tax Supported Housing 60-20-20.

“Eighty–Twenty” is shorthand that every housing
developer in the city knows. Tax benefits and zoning changes
regime of flood maps and requirements that will mean a
$10,000 or more increase in flood insurance rates. This spike
will cause a drag on home prices that are already under pres-
are frequently tied to the idea that 20% of new housing cre- sure. Funds earmarked to buyout property owners should
ated should be set aside for those of low income. This for- also be made available to subsidize flood insurance premi-
mulation ignores the challenge facing those in the middle ums to keep people in their homes and the market stable.
class who typically have too much income to qualify for gov-
ernment benefits like subsidized housing. A more appropri-
ate mix in this era of increasingly valuable market rate real
estate and the vanishing middle class is 60-20-20 with a new
middle class carve out.

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 KEYS TO THE CITY 64 Ideas to Keep New York the Capital of the Middle Class

51 Turn Brown Fields into Golden Opportuni-

ties. When it comes to finding sites for developing
new housing, the easy stuff is done. Open spaces are scarce.
Broken down buildings and “in-rem” housing have been
fixed up. So now is the time to revisit lands that have been
seen as off-limits. Lands that are contaminated or even just
feared to have been, are often left in a legal and environmen-
tal limbo. Only the muscle of the city can make the follow-
ing deal: if property owners will clean up the sites and put
the lands to use for good things like middle class housing or
schools, the city will supervise the clean up and indemnify
the owner from lawsuits in the future.
53 Build Section 202 Housing on Hospital Park-
ing Lots. Our housing supply fails to consider the
needs of seniors. They often live in apartments too big for
their needs, because their spouse has passed away and their
children have moved out. They also are frequently too far
from the needs of late-in-life living, such as doctors or thera-
pists. The Section 202 program recognized the need by creat-
ing special housing for seniors and the disabled. The problem
is the scarcity of lands to build these special apartment build-
ings. We should use the footprints of HHS hospitals and exist-
ing public housing. The city may lose some employee parking,
but the gain is a domino effect of open apartments for larger
families and smart residences for seniors.

52 Reform NYCHA with Performance Con-

tracting. The Housing Authority in New York has
remained the best in the nation despite virtual abandon-
ment by the federal government. Budget cuts in recent years
have left NYCHA with $13 billion in unfunded liabilities for
repairs and day-to-day maintenance. But the agency has
been uncreative in pursuing performance contracting that
pays for energy efficient improvements like lights, boilers
and windows paid for with advance cash and repaid with the
month-to-month savings that are guaranteed to result. It
costs NYCHA nothing upfront but gets vital repairs done
quickly and makes the 343 projects more energy efficient.

17
 KEYS TO THE CITY 64 Ideas to Keep New York the Capital of the Middle Class

ENVIRONMENT
Cities are good for the environment. By concentrating
where we live and using mass transit and shoe leather
to help us get around, we actually contribute less to
environmental degradation than our suburban and ru-
ral neighbors. But we should always be leaning into
the challenge of keeping our air, water and wildlife as
safe as possible for our kids and grandkids. This is
more than a moral imperative. As we have seen, New
Yorkers are vulnerable to the vicissitudes of a chang-
ing world climate.
56 Restore and Protect our Beaches. As we
learned in Superstorm Sandy, the beaches of New
York are not just areas for recreation, they are important
ecological barriers that protect properties and infrastruc-
ture. The shoreline should be renourished and jetties or
groins should be built to keep the sand in place and the tide
at bay.
57 Conquer Congestion. Or at Least Try. The
dust has settled on the plan to tax outer borough
drivers who drive into Midtown. “Congestion Pricing” with

54 End Prohibition on Hybrid Cabs. The so-called

“Taxi of Tomorrow” will soon become the only cab
that a hack can drive in New York City. It is not a hybrid or
electric or any other forward-looking technology. This would
have the effect of forcing many hybrid cabs off the road at a
time when we should be using more. The push for a “one size
fits all” approach should be scrapped in favor of incentives
for driving the most environmentally sound cabs.
its giant government approach of hundreds of cameras and
huge overhead is dead. But the conversation about conges-
tion should not be. “Smart” parking meters that raise costs
based on demand and location, and a renewed focus on
stemming the more than 30% increase in truck traffic should
be getting civic attention.

55 Remove Police Cars and Sanitation Trucks

from our National Park. The most visited urban
National Park is right in our backyard in southern Brooklyn
and Queens. But the many bird watchers, fishermen and
sightseers share their experience with fleets of garbage
trucks and racing police cars. For decades, the city and fed-
eral government have agreed to allow the open spaces of his-
toric Floyd Bennett Field for training drivers and parking
vehicles. This is simply an inappropriate use of a park and
should end.

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 KEYS TO THE CITY 64 Ideas to Keep New York the Capital of the Middle Class

JOB RETENTION AND CREATION

When the administration endeavored to identify the
challenges that will face New York City in the future,
they didn’t look six months or even six years down the
60 Be Automatic and Predictable in Job
Retention and Growth. Every so often a big
company will rattle their sabers about leaving the city and all
road. They created something called PlaNYC-2030. It too often it succeeds in getting big incentives to keep them
was a laudable rebuke to the short term planning that from leaving — something they were not really planning on
often makes for unwise and costly decisions. doing. It’s a well known axiom among real estate leaders: the
companies that talk about leaving usually aren’t going any-
Despite the fact that the document envisioned a pop-
where. It’s the quiet decisions that we need to preempt with
ulation growth of more than 1 million by 2030, it was
a less bureaucratic, predictable incentive regime. The TV
silent on where the jobs for those people would come
and Film tax credit is a good model.
from. The challenge is steep. Since 1970, we have

only gained 110,000 salary and wage jobs. While
some jobs have gone up and some down, the overall
amount has been flat.
58 Compete More Effectively against Regional
Foes. While some displacement of jobs is inevita-
ble, simply writing off the losses to “globalization” misses the
true story. There is no doubt that some employers may see
Hyderabad or Manila as attractive venues to find low-cost
workers, but most of our losses have been to less exotic
places like Jersey City and Westchester. We should watch
them like hawks and pay less attention to the distraction of
distant lands.
61
Take Advantage of Social Entrepreneur-
ship. “R&D/NYC” would use the venture capital
model of investment, in which the city would review the
ideas and track record of proven nonprofit organizations.
“R&D/NYC” would be based on four principles, which were
initially developed by the nonprofit America Forward:
impact-based results; cross-sector strategies; leverage; and a
long-term focus. If the city determined the idea could help
promote growth and opportunity for the middle class, the
fund could leverage more private sector resources, facilitate
learning among the network, help to pilot and spread inno-
vations, and advance the field’s knowledge faster. Together,
these steps would break down the often parallel tracks of

59 Lower the Tax Burden for Outer Borough private entrepreneurs, foundation researchers, and govern-
Job Creation. New York City is in a good position ment entities.
to win the corporate headquarters of a big company. Man-
hattan is a pretty compelling draw at any price for a CEO. But
the second-tier jobs at those companies are great middle
62 Make New York the Capital of “Insourcing”
of Call Center Jobs. To cut costs, virtually all
big consumer companies have outsourced their telephone
class jobs, and they are slipping away because the tax burden
customer service jobs to companies who have turned to for-
in a place like Jersey City is so much lower than in Long
eign countries to find inexpensive multi-lingual labor. Now
Island City. Both neighborhoods are one stop away on the
the backlash has led more companies to look for domestic
train, but Long Island City has eight business taxes that Jer-
options. New York City is the home to citizens from literally
sey City doesn’t have, and a business that brings workers to
every place in the world. This wealth of language skills
the Garden State gets $1000 per employee for education and
should be harnessed into a growth industry for middle class
training; no sales tax on work related purchases; $50,000 in
jobs. We should create an industry/education initiative via
moving costs; and a 7-year tax abatement on building leases.
CUNY to give the corporate giants of the Big Apple a local
New York City may not have to match these benefits dollar-
option for their call center jobs.
for-dollar but our REAP programs has to at least try harder.

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 KEYS TO THE CITY 64 Ideas to Keep New York the Capital of the Middle Class

TAX REFORM
Taxes in New York City are too high and not progres-
sive enough. It’s time to lower taxes on the middle
class and those struggling to make it and make the
tax structure more progressive. We can’t entirely fix
the problem without help from Washington and Al-
bany, but that is no excuse for not taking steps in the
right direction. New York’s tax regime is 90% higher
than the average of other large cities. That is in part
because of the high demands of our large and diverse
city and our ambitions. But stasis has set in around
the issue of taxes, and it should be broken.
64 Adjust NYC Tax Brackets for Inflation. Being
short-changed in Washington is hardly the only
way that middle class New Yorkers find themselves getting
the short end of the stick. While federal tax brackets are
indexed to inflation — ensuring that wage increases that
track the cost of living do not bump taxpayers into higher
tax brackets — those in the state and city are not. That means
that a middle class family in Sunnyside whose breadwinner
gets a cost-of-living adjustment (to help offset the burden of
raised rents, higher water bills, more expensive groceries
and the like), is frequently forced to play a higher marginal
tax rate despite having no discernible jump in income. The

63 Make City Tax Rates More Progressive.

Efforts to ensure that our wealthiest residents pay
their fair share should be coupled with relief for the middle
city’s income tax brackets should be tied to inflation, ensur-
ing that the tax code works to ameliorate that extra burden,
and not to exacerbate the problem.
class — and not be used as an excuse not to tackle the waste
that can be found in the budgets of government at all levels.
Tax relief for the middle class should aspire to be budget
neutral or better. And this is demonstrably possible. A 10%
tax cut for every family making $150,000 or less could have
been paid for entirely by a reasonable new tax rate for the
wealthiest 1% of New Yorkers.
At the same time, a surcharge should be imposed on
those who work in New York and enjoy a much more robust
income. Among the very wealthy, those who work in the five
boroughs, but live outside, should be asked to pay their fair
share of the city’s expenses, diminishing the current incen-
tive to avoid New York City income tax by living in the sub-
urbs and commuting into the office.

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KEYS TO THE CITY 64 Ideas to Keep New York the Capital of the Middle Class

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
I’d like to thank Jessica Provenz for assisting with the words and the numbers.
She helped a lot but the remaining mistakes are solely my own. I also want to
express my deep appreciation for the legions of city think tankers, academics,
editorial board wise men and women, and the many New Yorkers who planted
the seeds for these ideas and in some cases let me borrow the whole tree.

This document, which was paid for by “Weiner for Mayor,”

may be reproduced. For more information or to submit your
own ideas, contact me at anthonyweiner@aol.com.

— Anthony Weiner