RAY MCGUIRE CALLS ON MAYOR DE BLASIO TO IMPLEMENT WAGE SUBSIDY PROGRAM

 

McGuire Says Implementing Wage Subsidy Now Would Create 25,000 Jobs & that City Can’t Wait for January As Unemployment Stays High  Following today’s release of the New York State Department of Labor unemployment data, which showed that 11.4 percent of city residents are still out of work, Democratic mayoral candidate Ray McGuire called on Mayor Bill de Blasio to take immediate action by implementing a city-funded wage subsidy program.   This effort would get 25,000 New Yorkers back to work and lay the groundwork for McGuire’s economic recovery plan, which would start by creating a city-funded subsidy to cover 50 percent of a worker’s salary for one year. The plan would get 50,000 New Yorkers back to into the workforce and could be extended as needed, based on the rate of recovery.   “Far too many New Yorkers are still struggling to find work, even as the city reopens and many elected officials are looking beyond the pandemic,” McGuire said in Chinatown today. “These individuals cannot afford to wait until I am elected mayor and take office in January; they need help now.”   “Those out of work are predominantly New Yorkers of color, who paid a disproportionate price – both financial and physical – during the COVID crisis. The city needs to step up and deliver real results now,” McGuire continued. “A robust wage subsidy program would help tens of thousands get back to work as quickly as possible.”   McGuire made his call for a wage subsidy against the backdrop of the iconic and now permanently closed Chinatown restaurant Jing Fong, where he also embarked on a neighborhood tour with representatives of local workers.   Chinatown’s struggles are representative of the devastation facing residents and businesses in neighborhoods across the five boroughs. Minority-owned businesses like Jing Fong received just 30 percent of the funding from the Paycheck Protection Program despite their location in some of the hardest-hit communities in New York and across the country. Worse, 70 percent of all jobs lost once belonged to workers of color.   McGuire’s plan would pay for the program using American Rescue Plan funding and would continue into 2023 depending on the rate of recovery. The subsidy is part of McGuire’s overarching economic recovery plan, which is focused on a three-pronged approach to: 1) Provide a stimulus for struggling small businesses;  2) Transform the city’s approach to business; and,  3) Create jobs and address urgent infrastructure priorities through robust capital spending.