New York City should be a place where everyone can grow, build a life, raise a family if they choose, and live with dignity – in the city we all love, regardless of your identity, zip code, or income. For generations, New York City has been the place where dreams are made possible, and we are committed to ensuring that this remains true for all New Yorkers. A recent study from the Urban Institute highlights the challenges posed by the high cost of living across the country, but it also serves as a reminder of the important work we are doing to address these issues head-on.
We believe it should be easier for all New Yorkers to thrive, and we are focused on making that vision a reality.
Our administration is committed to ensuring that New York remains a vibrant place for everyone to grow. Government can and must play a role in fulfilling the promise and activating the endless potential within our city. Since day one, our administration has worked to use the full power of government to deliver on affordability in every corner of the five boroughs and build a better city. We have remained laser focused on confronting two of the greatest cost drivers for New Yorkers: housing and childcare –proposing bold, once-in-a-generation plan to deliver immediate support and long-term sustainable solutions.
For decades, we have fueled a housing crisis by refusing to build the critically needed affordable housing that is essential to our city. Our administration believes we can build our way out of this crisis by saying yes. Yes to more housing on our blocks, in our neighborhoods, and throughout each and every community with our City of Yes rezoning proposal. The most pro-housing plan in city history, City of Yes aims to build up to 108,500 new units of housing in 15 years. For childcare, we have worked hand-in-hand with our partners in the City Council to invest $100 million in childcare and reducing the cost of subsidized childcare from $55 to $5 a week. These are real investments and policies that have a real impact on bringing down the cost of living in our city.
But we know we must continue pushing forward, and we’re committed to going even further. In 2022, more than 80 percent of voters called for a True Cost of Living measure, an instrument that will help us better understand what it takes for New Yorkers to live with economic dignity. We are excited to be working on this groundbreaking measure, which will move us beyond a simple poverty threshold and provide a more accurate picture of the real costs of living in our city. This measure will be a powerful tool to help us refine our policies and continue advocating for New Yorkers on the state and federal level.
Our city’s strength lies in its people – the hardworking individuals and families who have built New York City into the dynamic, diverse place it is today.They deserve to know their city is working to ensure they can afford to live, work and enjoy everything this great city has to offer.
As discussions on advancing economic security pick up steam at the national level, we reaffirm our commitment to prioritize affordability in our city and we are proud that this has remained our focus with historic investments made in several areas critical to economic security, including: recovering the loss of private sector jobs, adding nearly 300,000 new jobs; eliminating $2 billion in medical debt for half a million people; investing $741 million in Cost of Living Adjustment (COLA) for the non-profit workforce; and establishing the first-ever minimum pay rate for delivery app workers. We also invested $20 million to expand fair fares, helping working families get around the city more affordably.
This is just the beginning. The Urban Institute’s True Cost of Economic Security study and other measures will help inform our work to set a new standard in New York City as we move towards creating our own True Cost of Living — one that better reflects the true cost of living here and ensures that all residents can build a life with economic security, dignity and freedom.
This is the greatest city on earth, and together, we’re committed to making it the most affordable city, too.
