18 THE QUEENS COURIER • DECEMBER 10, 2020 FOR BREAKING NEWS VISIT WWW.QNS.COM
editorial
Building a more equal NYC economy
On the surface, New York City’s economy
THE QUEENS
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PRESIDENT & CEO
VICE PRESIDENT
VICTORIA SCHNEPS-YUNIS
JOSHUA A. SCHNEPS
BOB BRENNAN
ZACHARY GEWELB
NIRMAL SINGH
JACOB KAYE
ANGELICA ACEVEDO, JENNA BAGCAL, KATRINA MEDOFF,
CARLOTTA MOHAMED, BILL PARRY
CLIFF KASDEN, SAMANTHA SOHMER, ELIZABETH ALONI
DEBORAH CUSICK
CELESTE ALAMIN
MARIA VALENCIA
VICTORIA SCHNEPS-YUNIS
JOSHUA A. SCHNEPS
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Story: Real estate fi rm puts Forest Hills Jewish
Center on the market for $50 million
Summary: The Forest Hills Jewish Center at 106-
06 Queens Blvd. is on the market for a price of $50
million.
Reach: 16,960 (as of 12/7/20)
was doing marvelously back in
February 2020 — with a record 4.1 million
private sector jobs, an all-time low
unemployment rate of 4.1 percent and a
booming tourism sector.
Th en the COVID-19 pandemic hit New
York hard — and tremendous economic
pain resulted. Millions lost their jobs.
Businesses closed. Th e tourism sector
dried up.
Th ese generalizations of New York’s
economic state are bad enough; a closer
inspection of the fi gures, however,
reveal that the levels of economic pain
the city currently suff ers diff er depending
on where you live, who you work for and
who you are.
A report that City Comptroller Scott
Stringer recently released shows just how
bad the inequality is. Nearly one in four
New Yorkers of color — Asian, Hispanic,
Black — lost their jobs during the pandemic.
Many lost work in the low-paying service
sectors of our economy — retail,
hotels, entertainment venues, restaurants
and bars, all of which were closed for
many long months.
Th e end of the pandemic is still months
away, but in plain sight now, thanks to
the advent of two reliable vaccines. In
weeks, the vaccination process will begin;
in months, most Americans will have the
protection needed to, in a sense, return to
some semblance of normalcy.
But in a larger sense, we can’t just
return to normalcy. Th e pandemic
exposed the massive social and economic
inequalities within our city like
never before, and we need to fi nd some
way to inoculate ourselves from repeating
the damage incurred whenever the
next crisis hits.
Aft er the Great Recession, New York
worked to diversify its economy beyond
just fi nance, and it worked. Now we have
to diversify the economy for the people
of this city.
Th at means pumping millions of dollars
toward new schools, hospitals and trade
in communities of color that have long
been ignored.
Th at means adopting the One Fair Wage
plan where restaurant and bar workers are
no longer reliant upon gratuities to earn a
decent living.
Th at means millions of dollars in economic
relief for the most impacted sectors
of our economy to get back on their
feet and rebuild.
Aft er Inauguration Day, the city, state
and federal governments must work
together toward this objective. A more
equal economy for everyone will lead to a
stronger New York for all.
File photo by Reuters/Nick Oxford
The pandemic has exposed the massive social and economic inequalities within our city like never
before.
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