The 5BORO Institute on LinkedIn: Investing in 3-K helps New York City’s economy (2024)

A statement from The 5BORO Institute's executive director Grace Rauh on the future of congestion pricing in New York."New Yorkers can't wait any longer for the start of congestion pricing and the vital investments it will allow us to make for public transit riders. It is imperative that the state implement congestion pricing as soon as possible and give New Yorkers the safer streets, cleaner air and more reliable mass transportation we deserve. It is critical we not lose momentum." - Grace Rauh, The 5BORO Institute executive director.

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The generosity and unwavering support of so many New Yorkers is allowing us to build a lasting and independent organization pioneering innovative policy solutions for the most pressing issues confronting NYC. Our supporters enable us to fuel groundbreaking research, foster collaboration with policymakers, civic and business leaders, and drive forward bold initiatives to address the most complex challenges facing our city, from affordable housing to child care, sustainability, and beyond. Thank you to everyone who came out to celebrate our city and the tremendous impact of The 5BORO Institute at our first spring co*cktail party fundraiser last month. A heartfelt thank you to everyone who donated, volunteered, and helped us spread the word about our event. A huge thank you to Civic Hall, Andrew Rasiej and Jim Malatras for hosting us, to First Deputy Mayor Sheena Wright for delivering the keynote address, to event chairs Raj Goyle and Monica Arora, and to every one of our sponsors and hosts. And a very happy (now belated) birthday to our founder and board co-chair Tom Allon. Together, we are making a tangible difference, laying the groundwork for a brighter, more inclusive future for all New Yorkers. Let’s keep pushing boundaries, challenging the status quo, and building a city where opportunity knows no bounds. Join us and show your support. https://lnkd.in/ecKUdYFb

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We are so thrilled to announce that Raj Goyle will serve as the new co-chair of the The 5BORO Institute, an independent think tank dedicated to advancing equitable and creative solutions to New York City’s most challenging problems. Raj is an entrepreneur, tech reformer and former Kansas State House Representative who has lived in New York since 2011. He brings to 5BORO his deep experience and insights from the intersection of technology and data, civic engagement and government policy. We are grateful to have his support and leadership at 5BORO. Please join us in welcoming Raj to 5BORO!https://lnkd.in/eN4-3ebm

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The 5BORO Institute exists to advance innovative policy ideas to strengthen our city – and we are proud that we are already having a major impact!Ourwork on housing policyis drivingimportant conversationsboth locally andnationallyabout the future of cities, the importance of maximizing housing production and affordability, andhow to efficiently repurpose vacant office buildingsand boost commercial districts.We've advancedinnovative ideasto getnewly arrived migrants in NYC into the workforce quicklyand we've focused on makingNYC government more effective, advancing a set of strategies designed to help the public sector attract and retain top talent.Ourmajor report on child carelays out the crisis facing our child care system in NYC and calls for policy changes that will benefit families, providers, and our city at large. Did you know that NYC lost an estimated $23 billion in economic activity in 2022 alone from parents leaving the workforce? Our report put the issue back in the spotlight and was widely covered in the media, including by theNew York Times,Gothamist,CBS News,FOX 5,PIX 11,NY1 News,1010 WINS,Max Politics Podcast,Time Magazine,Politico, andChalkbeat.This important work is only possible with the generous support of New Yorkers like yourselves. So if you haven’t yet made acontributionor bought a ticket to ourMay 21 co*cktail party fundraiser, do so now (literally now, as we are quickly running out of tickets)! We need your help, your ideas, your contributions – and our city will thank you for it!

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Only by sharing innovative solutions and strategies can we make progress producing and preserving the affordable housing we need across NYC and beyond.The 5BORO Institute and our executive director Grace Rauh were thrilled and honored to meet with and learn from affordable housing leaders at TD's Housing Summit at Howard University this week. We presented our proposal for Flexible Co-Living during the summit's Innovative Solutions Showcase. 5BORO's housing model is designed to maximize affordability and housing production in office-to-residential conversions.Thank you to TD for supporting our work and for organizing this impactful gathering. And thank you to LISC Philadelphia and Washington Housing Conservancy for being part of the Innovative Solutions Showcase with The 5BORO Institute and thank you Paige Carlson-Heim for moderating!

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We are honored to welcome Neill Coleman to The 5BORO Institute's board. Neill is a leader in deploying philanthropy, partnerships, and persuasion to drive social change. As the Founder and Principal of Mission Magnified Consulting he has a track-record of creating strategies, building organizations, and inspiring people towards meaningful impact. Neill served for five years as the Executive Director of Trinity Church Wall Street Philanthropies, where he developed a strategic direction for an expansion of Trinity's grant-making from $10 million to $57 million a year focused on housing & homelessness and racial justice in New York City; and building leadership and financial capacity in the Anglican church globally. From 2012 to 2017 Neill was Vice President for Global Communications at The Rockefeller Foundation, where he created and managed a $10 million per annum grants portfolio that deployed the funding of journalism, film, storytelling and campaigns to shift narratives and influence decision-makers. Neill is also a board member and Chair of the Public Policy Committee of Philanthropy New York. He also serves on the boards of City Limits and Human Services Action. Neill served on the Civic Engagement Committee for NYC Mayor Eric Adams' transition. We are very excited to have him join 5BORO!

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It’s been an exciting few days at The 5BORO Institute! We issued our latest policy report, Investing in Families and Our Future: A Policy Roadmap to Address NYC Child Care Needs Now.Our city needs accessible, high-quality child care to build a thriving economy and encourage young families to live and work in New York. And yet, the child care sector in our city is at a crisis point, with licensed child care seats available for fewer than half of NYC children and more than 80% of New Yorkers unable to afford care for even one child.That is why we were proud to release a clear and actionable roadmap with steps the city and state can and must take today to improve care. Our recommendations will help lay the foundation for a future with universal free or low-cost child care and bring immediate benefits to families and child care providers. None of this work would be possible without the support of donors and friends like you. Please consider making a contribution to the 5BORO Institute to help us work to create a better and stronger NYC.To build support for our ideas, we have been taking our report on the road and sharing our findings and recommendations with New Yorkers. You can read about our report in The New York Times, TIME, Gothamist. You can watch the coverage and interviews we did with CBS News-NY, FOX 5 News, PIX 11 News, NY1 News, and NY1 Noticias. You can listen to overviews of our report on WNYC and 1010 WINS, or go deep on the issue and listen to our conversation about child care on the Max Politics Podcast.Our report and ideas are clearly resonating. We have heard from elected leaders, family advocates, business leaders, grassroots organizations, and — most importantly — families who helped amplify our recommendations.New Yorkers deserve immediate action. We will continue to fight for affordable and accessible child care for NYC families. But we can only do it with your support. Please consider making a contribution to the 5BORO Institute today to help us advance this work.https://lnkd.in/ecKUdYFb

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To have a thriving economy that encourages young families to live and work in New York, our city needs accessible, high-quality child care for children.And yet, quality child care is far too often inaccessible, as licensed child care seats exist for less than half of NYC children under the age of five. It is also unaffordable, with more than 80% of New Yorkers unable to afford care for even one child. Despite the high fees that families are paying, child care providers are struggling to raise enough revenue to survive; there are 1,400 fewer child care providers in the city now than in 2015.This is not just a problem for child care workers or families. Failing to address this crisis will have lasting ramifications for our city. In 2022 alone, the city is estimated to have lost $23 billion in economic activity as a result of parents leaving the workforce or downshifting careers to meet child care needs.This is leading to an exodus of young families, and especially young Black families, who can no longer afford to raise their children here. Losing families hurts our city’s future – there are economic impacts, like a decline in public school enrollment and funding and a decreased tax base – but also more fundamental challenges, as New York becomes a city for the wealthy and no longer one for the middle and working class.As outlined inThe 5BORO Institute's new sweeping child care report, there are steps the city can and must take today to lay the foundation for a future with universal child care; these are also steps within the city’s power to pursue that would immediately benefit families and child care providers. Fixing child care in New York City will take a broad coalition – 5BORO’s latest report aims to bring new allies to the table and give city leaders renewed inspiration to take action and do the following:-Shore up the city’s existing child care infrastructure with streamlined governance, focused efforts to fill vacancies in key city functions that support child care, and improvements in core operations-Connect more families to care with a reinvigorated outreach campaign and more accessible information about care options-Expand and simplify access to free and low-cost care in partnership with the state-Make it easier for child care providers to do business by making it easier for providers to obtain and maintain the necessary permits to operate, easing regulatory burdens, and providing more direct operational and business support-Bolster the child care workforce by supporting current child care workers and growing the pipeline for the future-Create more physical space for child care by supporting the development of new child care spaces and adaptation of existing spaces, including the potential to repurpose vacant public school space-Bring employers into the conversation and encourage them to take steps that would benefit their employees’ child care needsCheck out our report here: https://lnkd.in/eHMCmNmE

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Our city needs more housing – and more affordable housing – to meet the needs of New Yorkers and newcomers arriving to pursue their dreams. We believe office-to-residential conversions can play an important role in that effort, especially if we innovate and experiment with new housing models like the Flexible Co-Living approach we put forward in the fall.Our executive director Grace Rauh recently had the chance to talk about the benefits of Flexible Co-Living (more housing units produced and more affordable rents!) with Felix Salmon, the chief financial correspondent at Axios and the host of the Slate Money podcast. Listen to their conversation and let us know what you think! If we are going to meaningfully address our housing and affordability crisis, we need to be willing to think creatively and advance new ideas to help NYC. https://lnkd.in/dW5E_WnA