Massive inequity found in distribution of
PPP loans across New York: report
BY ROBERT POZARYCKI
Loans provided through the Payroll
Protection Program (PPP) saved
nearly 1.4 million jobs across New
York City. But an analysis of federal government
data shows great disparities in where
the fi nancial aid was distributed.
Renthop released on Tuesday a report
analyzing the latest loan-level data set on
the PPP that the federal Small Business
Administration released on July 6 regarding
the 4.9 million PPP loans provided through
the program across the U.S.
PPP was enacted in April to curb massive
job losses among businesses with 500
or fewer employees during the economic
downturn connected to the COVID-19
pandemic. In New York City alone, companies
received more than 147,000 loans
to secure their payroll and retain their
employees.
But Renthop’s review of the SBA data on
PPP showed that “PPP funds did not assist
all neighborhoods equally.” Higher income
neighborhoods such as Greenpoint, Brooklyn
and Manhattan’s Financial District received
a disproportionately higher number
A worker unloads boxes of merchandise at a UNIQLO store in lower Manhattan
on the first day of the phase two re-opening of businesses following the
outbreak of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) in New York City, New York,
U.S., June 22, 2020.
of PPP loans than middle- or working-class
neighborhoods such as Flushing, Queens or
Bath Beach, Brooklyn.
Of the 1,782 businesses in Greenpoint
that qualifi ed for PPP loans, the report
found that 78.2% of them (1,394) received
the fi nancial help they sought. Meanwhile,
in Flushing, just 38.3% (913) of the 2,381
PHOTO BY REUTERS/MIKE SEGAR
qualifi ed businesses were provided with
PPP help.
The bulk of all PPP loans distributed in
New York went to businesses in seven Midtown
Manhattan neighborhoods — home to
many businesses serving the professional,
scientifi c and technical services fi elds that
employ hundreds of thousands of people.
Businesses located in the 10001, 10016,
10017, 10018, 10019, 10022 and 10036
ZIP codes received a combined 24,901 PPP
loans, protecting approximately 320,467
workers in the process.
Those seven Manhattan ZIP codes
received nearly three times as many loans,
which protected four times as many workers,
than the entire Bronx, which received a combined
9,576 PPP loans for 79,346 workers.
Quantity of the loans in a geographic
area did not diminish their overall quality,
according to Renthop.
Midtown Manhattan’s 10001 ZIP code
received the most PPP loans in New York
City, and nearly a third of applicants (31%)
received loans in excess of $150,000.
Likewise, in downtown Bowling Green,
more than 40% of all PPP loans were also
$150,000 or higher.
The business fi elds in New York City that
received the most PPP help included professional,
scientifi c and technological services;
retail trade; health care; construction; and
other miscellaneous services not provided
by public administration.
Read the full report online at renthop.
com.
Safety first, with plenty of costs, in Stringer’s
plan to reopen NYC public schools
BY ROBERT POZARYCKI
With little clarity from City Hall or
Albany as to whether New York
City public schools will reopen
in September, City Comptroller Scott
Stringer unveiled on Tuesday a roadmap
for getting the city’s children back into the
classroom during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Stringer’s report, “Strong Schools for
All: A Plan Forward for New York City,”
envisions a quickly revamped public school
system that includes regular COVID-19
testing for students and staff; much smaller
class sizes; realigned schedules for remote
learning; and restricted movement within
each school to help avoid infection.
“It’s imperative that the DOE (Department
of Education) act with urgency to
provide a strategic roadmap to reopen city
schools,” Stringer said in a July 7 statement.
“As we approach the next academic year,
new York City should be leading the nation
in fi guring out how to safely reopen our
schools with a high standard of instruction
that maintains academic excellence.”
But a quality education can’t be achieved
if the students and teachers aren’t healthy.
Stringer’s plan calls on the DOE to establish
safety standards to prevent members of
each school community from contracting
COVID-19.
The plan calls for the universal use of
masks or face coverings for all teachers and
students in second grade and higher.
Social distancing is also paramount in
the comptroller’s education plan. Stringer
called upon the DOE to institute staggered
schedules and limit in-class instruction to
control each school’s population. Class
sizes would also be reduced to “smaller
cohorts” of 10-12 students.
While at school, Stringer said, the cohorts
would remain in the same classroom
or designated area the entire day — rather
than travel through hallways to different
classrooms throughout the day, as they
normally would. Instead, the teachers
themselves would switch from classroom
to classroom, thereby limiting movement
and interaction in the halls.
The smaller class size requirements
would impel the DOE to expand its teacher
and paraprofessional staffs. Along with
making additional hires, Stringer recommended
that the agency reach out to local
colleges and reassign central offi cer personnel
to provide classroom support.
Moreover, the comptroller said, the
DOE will need to repurpose each school
building’s space to accommodate smaller
classes and invest in additional space outside
school facilities, such as vacated offi ces
and underused shared work spaces.
Stringer also called on the DOE to
fi nally provide at least one full-time nurse
on staff at every school in New York City.
Presently, up to 70,000 students attend a
public school that does not have a nurse.
Most of the recommendations fi gure to
cost the city big — from hiring new staff
members, to securing additional classroom
space, to investing in new technology to
supplement remote learning, to purchasing
equipment needed to clean schools and test
students. Just last week, the city approved
a vastly reduced budget signifi cantly impacted
by the economic challenges resulting
from COVID-19.
Again, Stringer appealed for federal
assistance from Washington that would
“provide robust, swift federal aid to support
parents, students, educators and school
staff in the largest educational enterprise
in the country.”
When asked at his July 7 press conference
about the status of public schools
PHOTO BY REUTERS/CAITLIN OCHS
Every New York City public school
student and staff member would
need to wear masks in the 2020-21
school year under a school reopening
plan that City Comptroller Scott
Stringer announced on July 7, 2020.
reopening, de Blasio said that the city
would have additional information on the
reopening later this week “and every week
leading up” to the start of the new school
year.
“We’ve been planning for reopening
of schools since the day we closed buildings,
and we have already begun sharing
our plans with educators and families,”
said Jane Meyer, a spokesperson for the
Mayor’s offi ce. “Health and safety guides
everything we do, and we will be releasing
more information in the coming days.”
With reporting by Alejandra
O’Connell-Domenech
14 July 9, 2020 Schneps Media