De Blasio Vows To Protect, Grow City's Industrial Jobs
NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) -- Standing in front of an old factory in Brooklyn being repurposed for cutting-edge manufacturing, Mayor Bill de Blasio vowed on Tuesday to save the city's industrial properties.
In an announcement along Newtown Creek in Greenpoint, de Blasio and City Council Speaker Melissa Mark-Viverito unveiled a 10-point plan to protect and grow the city's industrial and manufacturing jobs, WCBS 880's Rich Lamb reported.
"I want to send a clear message to the developers of this city: If you're buying land in an industrial area ... plan on creating an industrial business because that's our vision for these areas," he said.
The mayor noted industrial and manufacturing jobs account for more than 15 percent of the city's employment with median wages of just above $50,000 a year.
"The kinds of jobs we're talking about are jobs you can actually take care of a family on," de Blasio told WCBS 880's Pat Farnack on Wednesday. "I was out in Greenpoint, Brooklyn, for the announcement yesterday. ... We went and toured some of the businesses there, and what we heard is the people who work there, they come from Brooklyn, they come from Queens, they come from the five boroughs and typically make $50,000 or more and stay with those jobs for a long time."
He promised to add 20,000 new jobs to a sector that already employs a half-million New Yorkers. The city plans to offer more than $115 million in funding to the industry, launch a new state-of-the-art Advanced Manufacturing Center, provide loans and grants to new firms and train New Yorkers for manufacturing jobs.
"Here's what we found not only in this city, but all over the world: If you build the situation that a business can thrive in, it's a great payoff for the people of the city," the mayor said. "We have places like the Brooklyn Navy Yard, the Brooklyn Army Terminal, Hunts Point, lots of high-quality jobs, in fact all growing in terms of employment because the infrastructure works. We're investing further in that infrastructure so more and more businesses will come in."
De Blasio said on 1010 WINS Wednesday afternoon that the city plans to help companies gain access to the latest technology and create job centers to connect New Yorkers to industrial firms that are looking to hire.
"Companies that are investing in things like 3-D printing and other types of new manufacturing forms need particular spaces, so we're literally creating physical space to encourage those businesses to start up," de Blasio said.