Every day, New Yorkers work hard to build a better future for themselves and their families. They want a chance to get ahead, to buy a home, pay for college, and save for retirement. We know that in order to make New York City the best place on the globe to raise a family, we need the best jobs on the globe. And we need to keep money in the pockets of working-class New Yorkers.
That is why from day one of this administration, we have made it a priority to make sure opportunity reaches every borough, block, and neighborhood. We have gone to work to deliver for New Yorkers every day, everywhere — and our efforts are working. Unemployment is down across all demographic groups since we entered office. And in the last three years, we have done my favorite thing: break records. From a record number of new small businesses, to record amounts of affordable housing being created, to record investments in minority- and women-owned businesses, our economy is booming.
Just last week, we announced that we set another record: For the eighth time since we took office, this administration broke the all-time jobs record in our city. New data released by the New York State Department of Labor shows we have an all-time high of 4,770,981 total jobs in the five boroughs.
While these numbers show the strength of our economy, our shared prosperity must continue to hit every zip code. We know that a job is more than a paycheck, it’s the bedrock of the American Dream, and a chance to prosper here in the greatest city in the world. We are going to keep that dream going strong by building a pipeline to ensure our young people and disadvantaged communities are on pathways to training opportunities and sustainable, full-time jobs. We are closing the gap and bringing jobs directly to the communities still facing unemployment.
And New York City will continue to lead the way and win the race to unleash new jobs in emerging sectors, from life sciences and health care to tech and artificial intelligence. Last week, our administration announced a report that outlined a series of findings, recommendations, and actions to secure New York City’s position as the premier Applied Artificial Intelligence capital of the world. These smart, forward-looking investments will ensure New York City is at the forefront of an emerging sector and help create the jobs of tomorrow, starting today.
This week, we are kicking off our administration’s “Jobs Week” by launching our “Race for Space” plan, a comprehensive strategy to revitalize our commercial office sector, attract the best companies across the country and the globe, advance an ambitious goal of 50 million square feet of total leasing by 2025, and, most importantly, create thousands of jobs for hard-working New Yorkers.
And this tax season, we are working to ensure no dollar earned is left behind by working-class New Yorkers and their families. Qualified New Yorkers can file their taxes for free across the five boroughs through our “NYC Free Tax Prep” initiative. We want New Yorkers to get their fair share, because we know that every dollar counts for working-class people and their families. New Yorkers can visit nyc.gov/taxprep to schedule an appointment at a NYC Free Tax Prep location.
As someone raised by a single mother who worked several jobs to support our family, I know the struggle many are still unfortunately facing. That is what drives our administration to make sure that hard-working New Yorkers can get the chances I was given to get ahead.
Together, our administration is going to put New Yorkers back to work, continue to grow our economy, ensure that prosperity touches every zip code, and make New York City the best place to raise a family.
