Less than 5 percent of NYC contracts go to minority-
and women-owned business enterprises: Stringer
BY MARK HALLUM
The city doled out more
than $20 billion in contracts to
private businesses this fiscal
year — but just 4.9 percent of
those deals went to minority- or
women-owned businesses, City
Comptroller Scott Stringer
announced Sunday.
Stringer revealed that figure
in an audit of 32 city agencies
that casts doubt on the de
Blasio administration’s commitment
to keeping the tax
dollars local.
According to the report,
the city had awarded $20.5 billion
in bids this year, but only
$1.007 billion of that went into
the hands of companies with
diversity at the core, or M/
WBEs.
Believe it or not, this accounts
for progress in city
government, Stringer noted.
Stringer’s office has been
keeping track of M/WBE
contracts in city government
for four years, offering letter
grades to classify the city’s
performance. In the 2019 fiscal
year, Stringer gave the city a C
grade for M/WBE contracts —
up from a D+ last year.
But this seemingly insignificant
improvement is sullied
by a figure that shows just
17 percent of certified M/WBEs
had been hired by the city when
the registry of these businesses
had expanded by more than
2,000 entities since last year.
“If we want a strong economy
with real, local community
wealth creation, we need an
inclusive economy,” Stringer
said. “Accountability leads to
improvement – and while today’s
report indicates modest
progress by the city, we cannot
rest on our laurels until all city
agencies make the grade. We
know that there is more work
to be done to dismantle the systemic
barriers M/WBEs face
when navigating city procurement
and contracting. We must
do more to ensure that the
M/WBE community has the
City Comptroller Scott Stringer. Photo by Mark Hallum
tools, resources, and capacity
to compete and thrive in our
economy.”
In June, Mayor Bill de Blasio
seemed to acknowledge
barriers to hiring M/WBEs
as the state legislature passed
S6418A/A8407, which allowed
the city to award discretionary
funds of up to $500,000.
“With the help of State lawmakers
and persistent advocacy
from our minority and women
entrepreneurs, we managed
to once again expand economic
opportunity for people who
have historically been left out
of our economy,” de Blasio said
at the time. “A $500,000 discretionary
award limit for minority
and women entrepreneurs
will strengthen our thriving
economy and entrepreneurial
backbone.”
But Stringer’s report surveyed
M/WBEs and found that
69 percent of them were unsuccessful
in obtaining contracts
from city agencies, and of those
companies that did receive
contracts, 80 percent were paid
over 30 days late for the work
they completed.
Another 38 percent of M/
WBEs were not even awarded
procurement opportunities, according
to the report.
Nevertheless, De Blasio
found encouragement at the
SOMOS Puerto Rico conference
on Nov. 7, when he announced
that the city was
$3.2 billion ahead of its goal of
awarding $20 billion to certified
M/WBEs between 2015
and 2025. The city raised it goal
to $25 billion by 2025.
Reach reporter Mark Hallum
by e-mail at mhallum@
schnepsmedia.com or by phone
at (718) 260–4564.
Ease Your Family’s
Worries During a
Difficult Time.
With a Sinai Chapels funeral pre-arrangement,
your family is relieved of making funeral
arrangements at a most difficult time.
For four generations, we have served New York’s
Jewish Community. Our experienced funeral
directors will personally guide you through the
options and help you organize a pre-need plan.
To learn more, contact us today:
718.445.0300 | 800.446.0406
TIMESLEDGER,QNS.COM NOV. 22-28, 2019 23
/schnepsmedia.com
/TIMESLEDGER,QNS.COM
