#Experts weigh in on how to save New York City post-coronavirus

New York City is in crisis. Nearly a third of the city is unemployed, according to a New School analysis, businesses are shuttering, residents are fleeing.

Things won’t magically “go back to normal,” at least not without help. Government cannot casually wait for a COVID-19 vaccine while the quality of life plummets. Mayor de Blasio and the City Council must act now, to revitalize Gotham and lay the groundwork for a full recovery.

The Post asked experts what politicians can — must — do to save the city.

REDUCE THE SIZE OF CITY GOVERNMENT

E.J. McMahon, senior fellow, Empire Center for Public Policy

With massive budget deficits looming, Mayor de Blasio’s post-pandemic plan boils down to hoping for a stopgap federal bailout and asking Albany for permission to issue billions in deficit bonds.

This won’t solve the problem. New York needed a much leaner, more efficient public sector even before the novel coronavirus blew a hole in its tax base.

De Blasio has added more than 33,000 employees to the city payroll since 2013, the Citizens Budget Commission notes. Cutting even half those positions — bringing city employment back to its 2008 peak under Michael Bloomberg — would save well over $1 billion a year in salary and benefits. Seeking better deals on health insurance and requiring city workers to contribute at least minimally to health insurance and Medicare premiums (like virtually everyone paying their salaries) could save roughly $800 million a year, the Independent Budget Office has estimated.

But municipal unions don’t have a track record of simply volunteering givebacks, even to save jobs. History suggests they will fight tooth and nail to protect everything they have, even in a fiscal crisis.

To win real concessions, the mayor needs leverage — and he can get it from the state Financial Control Board (FCB), created in the mid-1970s to deal with the city fiscal crisis and still in existence as a background watchdog.

The city should adopt a more (justifiably) pessimistic revenue forecast and declare to the FCB that its budget gaps can’t be fully closed without deficit bond financing. The board then will have grounds for asking the Legislature to reinstate a control period and authorize an across-the-board wage freeze.

As the late former Mayor Ed Koch recognized, the FCB can be a mayor’s best friend, by ordering bigger budget cuts than politicians have the nerve to suggest in public.

That might — just might — lead to serious labor bargaining over more palatable alternatives.

This scenario would require a strong partnership between the mayor and the FCB’s chairman, Gov. Cuomo — who until recently showed little interest in the control board. Recently, however, he appointed three close and trusted advisers to the panel. The mayor shouldn’t see this as threat but an opportunity.

SAFE TIMES SQUARE — AND EVERYWHERE

Tim Tompkins, president of the Times Square Alliance

The city must make its public spaces feel safe for everyone — from the residents walking down the street to the tourist hopping on the subway for the first time.

Absent this, the city dies, period.

This will require radical reformations of both policing and public-space management.

Get cops out of cars, quit paramilitary models of management and lengthen neighborhood rotations so that the overwhelming majority of cops who honorably serve the city can build relationships and trust with the residents who overwhelmingly want order and safety.

Create a new Office of Public Space Management — modeled in part on unarmed parks enforcement patrols and interagency special enforcement teams pioneered in Times Square decades ago — to finally take on the incredible complexity of holistically managing streets, sidewalks and plazas in a data-driven, nuanced, thoughtful and compassionate way.

LAUNCH A LOCAL WPA PUBLIC-WORKS PROGRAM

Randy M. Mastro, former deputy mayor of New York City, Chair of Citizens Union, and a partner at Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher LLP

We are in a period as challenging as the mid-1930s, and, as such, we need to look to FDR’s New Deal for inspiration.

Central to the New Deal’s success was the Works Progress Administration. Through the WPA, the federal government invested billions of dollars to employ millions of job seekers to carry out public-works projects, including the construction of public buildings, bridges and roads.

We should launch our own version of a modern-day WPA here in New York, committing billions of dollars to expand our city and state’s capital budgets (funded through long-term debt and municipal bonds) to do a major public-infrastructure program, the likes of which we have not seen in New York since the days of Mayor LaGuardia.

There are public buildings to be built, bridges to be reconstructed, roads to be rehabilitated and public-transportation platforms to be upgraded.

There are public-project proposals, like the new Penn Station, that have languished for too many years.

Such a public-works program would serve multiple worthy objectives: getting people back to work in this period of unprecedented unemployment, improving and rehabilitating our long-neglected infrastructure, contributing to our local economy in the near term and doing something very positive for the long-term future of our city and state.

ENCOURAGE MORE HOUSING

Jay Martin is the executive director of the Community Housing Improvement Program (CHIP)

There are a lot of vacant apartments in New York City because of COVID-19, so it may seem odd to some that we are suggesting the building of more housing. But there has never been a better opportunity to increase the number of affordable homes in the city than now.

Before COVID-19 we had a housing affordability crisis because of 50-plus years of government regulation that made it unprofitable to build affordable apartments.

Over time, the situation got worse as property taxes rose dramatically, leading to even higher rents.

Now is the time to flip the switch.

We need to ease some of the oppressive regulations on developing new apartment buildings and fixing up vacant rent-stabilized units.

Provide property-tax relief for buildings that can be passed on to renters.

Encourage development near transit hubs — such as outlined in the YIMBY Act, a bipartisan bill now before Congress and that CHIP supports.

If we don’t build more housing, the existing stock will become continuously obsolete. Luxury apartments will continue to sit empty. Low-income renters will continue to fight to live in overcrowded settings.

The city’s property-tax base, which is the major funder of the social safety net, will decline. And the overall economy will continue to stagnate.

But, if we commit to building more housing, billions of dollars in private equity will flow into the city. Thousands of people will have jobs, even during the COVID-19 pandemic.

And for decades to come, working- class people will be able to afford to live in New York City, paving the way to a brighter future.

BRING BACK PRO-ACTIVE POLICING

Bill Bratton, former NYPD Commissioner

The first obligation of government is public safety — a focus on crime and disorder. We have basically given up on disorder completely in terms of enforcing social norms of behavior, providing fertile ground for the surge in violent crime that we are witnessing.

In NYC, we are experiencing an “Etch-a-Sketch Moment” where many are attempting to erase nearly three decades of the success, progress and reform of the NYPD.

First, we need to hear the protesters, but we also must decide what kind of policing our society is demanding. Would New Yorkers tolerate this level of violence just for a more passive version of policing? Doubtful, particularly in communities of color where recent shooting victims were 97 percent black and Hispanic.

Second, the NYPD’s overtime budget must be restored. You cannot reduce the number of cops by 1,000 and also cut overtime during a major crime wave.

Third, the courts need to clear the backlog of cases due to closures. Only half of the 2,000 people arrested for shootings have been indicted, resulting in hundreds of alleged shooters still on the street.

Fourth, New York’s political leaders rushed to pass too many reforms too quickly where prosecutorial and judicial leniency outweighs concern for victims of crime.

With a few reasonable adjustments, these laws could foster reform without putting police at risk of becoming a “perpetrator” every time a suspect resists arrest.

Fifth, police need to be supported by those they proudly serve and those we elect. Cops need to be reminded of what New Yorkers already believe — that we have trust and confidence in them because they earned it.

The NYPD can move this city forward. They have done it before, but they cannot do it alone. As I often say, we collaborate or perish. If we do not come together, the latter shall be our fate.

LAUNCH A MARKETING CAMPAIGN FOR NYC

Mitchell Moss, Henry Hart Rice Professor of Urban Policy & Planning, Director of Rudin Center for Transportation Policy & Management, New York University

New York City is collapsing. We cannot count on the federal government to save the city — no matter what the mayor dreams. New York City has always been more connected to the globe than to the rest of the nation. In 1609, the Dutch created a trading post in Manhattan to get beaver pelts, used to make felt hats, then popular in Amsterdam. Today, more than 36 percent of the city’s residents are foreign born; more than half of the city’s small businesses are owned by people born in other nations.

Foreign tourists are especially important to our economy since they spend four times more than domestic tourists — even though they account for just 20 percent of all visitors to NYC. The decline in international air travel to the local airports is destroying our city. International flights to New York airports are down by more than 90 percent and the major airlines do not expect international air travel to NYC to recover for at least three years.

The city’s higher-education industry depends on students born in other nations. Currently, more than 40 percent of CUNY students are immigrants. At NYU’s Tandon School of Engineering, almost half of the total student body is foreign born.

• First, we should tell the world that NYC is no longer the epicenter of the coronavirus. In fact, Florida, California and Texas are now the states to avoid. The world needs to know that it’s OK to spend time in New York City: to shop, study, eat, or take the subway.
• *Colleges and universities should launch a campaign to promote NYC as the “global college town.” No other city can match New York for the more than 200 colleges, professional schools and universities spread across all five boroughs.
•  Our congressional delegation should press for legislation to expedite green cards for immigrants and refugees from nations threatening human rights such as Hong Kong, Myanmar, Xinjiang and Russia.
• Foreign visitors who spend more than $1,000 in five days should get a sales-tax exemption for all purchases above that amount.
• NYC should sponsor an “Eat NY Marathon” to attract top chefs who could compete in a Times Square Cook-a-Thon for $250,000 in prize money.
• Hotels should offer foreign visitors a “global NY” deal: Four days for $500 through July, 2021.

DON’T BORROW

Richard Ravitch, former Lieutenant Governor of New York

Borrowing money to fix New York’s fiscal crisis adds interest cost to an already unbalanced budget and would mature just when the city is recovering and will need the dollars to rebuild its economy.

The only realistic option is federal grants. The House of Representatives has passed a bill with money to cover revenue shortfalls that cities and states are going through.

Republicans are not yet ready to match the House bill; what New York needs to recover is for the business leaders who have supported President Trump and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell to organize a major lobbying effort. The city can’t afford to wait till after the election.

EXPAND SCHOOL CHOICE

Ian Rowe, resident fellow at the American Enterprise Institute

To bring our metropolis back and create a better future for our children, New York should immediately lift the cap that restricts the ability to open new, innovative public charter schools.

Over the last few months, hundreds of thousands of students experienced major academic losses. Particularly for those who were already behind, the lack of effective remote learning only made things worse. The public-school system should allow new innovations in schooling to flourish.

For example: This spring, a small group of experienced district and charter leaders set out to design, offer and implement an innovative summer remote learning program in collaboration with local education partners across the country. A short eight weeks after launch, 12,000 primarily low-income students in 17 states, including NYC, are engaged in a high-quality five-week summer distance-learning experience.

Award-winning Mentor Teachers, chosen from around the country for their record of outstanding academic results, teach (1:1,000 students), working alongside partner teachers (1:20 students) in every locality to provide exceptionally engaging and effective lessons in English, math, science, yoga and dance.

This kind of innovation could be accelerated if the cap on public charter schools were to be lifted. Nearly 50,000 children are on charter wait lists, many of whom live in areas like the South Bronx and Brooklyn, communities hard hit by the pandemic. Give them a shot at a great education. Lift the cap.

GET ON TOP OF 311 COMPLAINTS

Nicole Gelinas, contributing editor to the Manhattan Institute’s City Journal

In 1978, New York City had 1,504 murders and an 8.9 percent unemployment rate. But the new mayor, Ed Koch, had something else on his mind: dog poop.

“Koch vows stern policy on dogs,” the Times reported. He wanted five separate city departments to go after dog owners for the maximum $100 fine, to “make examples” of scofflaws. In the next few years, Koch would prod the MTA to clean up graffiti.

Koch’s crackdown on New Yorkers who didn’t pick up after their pets was a sign that he knew that in keeping people committed to New York, the little things matter. More than a decade before, he had chaired something called the “Committee to Keep New York City Habitable,” focused on decent sidewalks.

Now, the little things are again driving New Yorkers nuts. Apartmentguide.com notes that noise complaints to 311 have skyrocketed. In May, complaints were up 92 percent, compared to the previous May; June, 79 percent. It’s not just fireworks: People are complaining about parties and loud traffic.

The most complaints came from The Bronx.

It’s good that people are complaining: It means that they haven’t lost faith in the city.

People don’t need one more reason to leave the city, or to give up on assuring quality of life for their families.

A quality-of-life task force should do follow-up interviews with 311 complainers, to see if their problems were resolved. It should also fan out to the hardest-hit neighborhoods during peak complaint hours to assess progress.

PROPERTY-TAX REFORM

Douglas Durst, real-estate investor and developer

Let’s fix the regressive and racist property tax system that taxes higher-value homes at lower rates than less valuable ones. Homeowners in Brownsville pay more than homeowners in Brooklyn Heights.

A fair, more equitable property tax would encourage more housing and likely increase revenue.

These problems will not take care of themselves. We require the boldness and risk-taking that has driven generations of immigrants to succeed and improve our City. The talent, innovation, and will to succeed are already here. What we need is leadership.

SET UP AN AUTHORITY

Kathryn Wylde, president and CEO, Partnership for New York City

Government bears the responsibility for managing New York’s response to the COVID-19 health crisis and the resulting fiscal challenges facing the city and state. These tasks are daunting and leave little capacity for the public sector to handle the far-reaching economic consequences of the pandemic. To address the complex layers of loss that have plunged the city into Great Depression-era unemployment, we must draw upon nongovernmental sectors for resources and expertise.

Economic recovery requires a dedicated city-state authority responsible for unified direction-setting and coordination of multi-sector investment.

After 9/11, the federal government provided funding for planning and rebuilding through a new state authority, the Lower Manhattan Development Corporation. Its original leadership, appointed by state and local government, was broadly representative of the private and nonprofit sectors and — because it controlled funding decisions — it had meaningful power. It also ensured public input and a transparent decision-making process, which proved essential to restoring confidence after a major disaster.

Today, New York City needs such a dedicated authority to effectively leverage private and federal resources over several years when state and local government will be broke. We need an entity that can bring consistency to recovery efforts and depoliticize the rebuilding process through divisive national and local elections.

CLEAN UP THE STREETS

Dan Biederman, president, 34th Street Partnership/Bryant Park Management Corp.

I’m usually a wild-eyed optimist about Midtown Manhattan’s fortunes, but not as easily this time.

The combination of COVID-19, brick-and-mortar retail’s decline, the effect of the first looting in Midtown in many decades, the effect of COVID restrictions on the thinly capitalized food and beverage places, the closing of Broadway and the museums, and the travel quarantine rules that keep tourists who would patronize those features out of New York, make a comeback harder to envision.

What has to happen:

• Some of the 139 hotels that are hosting shelter residents have to opt out of extending those deals with the Department of Homeless Services beyond October. And the city should distribute the former shelter population beyond Midtown.
• We must lobby corporate tenants who are saying they won’t return to their New York City offices until 2021 to rethink that. The subways and buses and commuter trains are eminently usable. It’s time for some Manhattan “patriotism.”
• I haven’t met anybody who is happy about the open drug use and harassment of pedestrians now prevalent on our sidewalks. We’ve tried to keep the lid on this near Penn Station, but simply can’t without backup from the NYPD. They need to be authorized to help us.
• If the Police Department arrests those committing assault, robbery and gun crimes, the prosecutors and judges have to return to the level of enforcement they used to pursue. Those who are making our streets unsafe need to find that thoughtful and responsible police forces are protecting the public and the courts are following through.