New York’s Recovery Needs Bold Leadership from Our Business Community

New York City was one of the early epicenters of both the COVID-19 pandemic and its public health and economic impacts. As the nation’s commercial center and an international business and tourism hub, New York City has been particularly vulnerable to the pandemic’s economic disruptions, and its turmoil has been felt not only regionally, but nationally and globally. Facing a resurgence in the virus, but with the widespread distribution of vaccines likely only months away, it is critical that New York’s business leaders step forward, as they have in past crises, to help aid and guide its swift recovery and recommit to being a part of the city’s civic fabric—and the nation’s economic engine—for the long haul. 

Having already experienced an estimated 25,000 excess deaths—or one out of every 350 residents—over an eight-week period in the spring, New York City cannot take lightly the risks of the current COVID-19 spike and the consequent enormous and ongoing economic toll on the region’s workers and employers.

An employment recovery that started in the spring and accelerated over the summer appeared to stall out in the fall. In mid-December, roughly nine months on from the start of the crisis, the unemployment rate in the New York City metropolitan statistical area (MSA)—at 8.4 percent—ranked 353 out of 389 MSAs nationwide. That rate was five percentage points higher than a year earlier, and a little more than one percentage point lower than the highest level experienced at any point in prior recessions over the past 30 years. Within the five boroughs, the December unemployment rate remained even higher, at 11.4 percent.

While there is little doubting its resilience and continuing vitality as a unique gathering place for the nation’s and the world’s top talent and a magnet for opportunity, the region must now move to lessen suffering and hardship and position itself to reclaim its place in the post-COVID global economy. The business community needs to play a leading role in this effort and can do so by taking four steps.

First, they can join with other civic actors in rallying New Yorkers to adhere to public health practices and undertake necessary sacrifices that will constrain the virus prior to widespread vaccine deployment. New Yorkers are facing the pandemic together, so cooperation for the common good is essential. Employers can strongly encourage their employees and their customers to maintain compliance with health and safety recommendations or requirements—such as wearing masks or avoiding large gatherings, and can provide information and leadership to address reluctance to get vaccinated.

Second, business leaders can create safe work environments that draw employees back to in-person work, providing an economic boost to surrounding businesses. Though some individuals will be unable to return in-person until the pandemic is over—because of their own health vulnerabilities or those of household members—others will want to return earlier if it can be done safely. Taking safety measures and clearly communicating with employees as risks change will help workers make sound decisions and provide an acceptable alternative to working from home among those who have the option.

Third, business leaders in New York should be vocal about the regulatory changes or flexibility they need to take advantage of innovations or changes in business practices that would allow them to operate successfully and safely amid COVID-19, including those that could be durable improvements post-pandemic. Even allowing for business leaders’ self-interest, policymakers and regulators should be eager to tap the creativity of the region’s entrepreneurs in setting and updating rules to safeguard public health while also helping spur economic recovery.

Finally, business leaders can advocate for prioritizing public investment in economic opportunity—including reliable school and child care services, universal broadband access, and safe public transportation options—that will aid the New Yorkers most economically at-risk in the pandemic.

The New York region’s business leaders have long been one of its sources of strength—particularly in the face of adversity. New York must fully leverage that strength if it hopes to make a rapid and broad-based recovery.

Phil Friedman is the President and CEO of CGS (Computer Generated Solutions). Ed Cox is a Retired Partner at Patterson Belknap Webb & Tyler LLP. Both are Trustees of the Committee for Economic Development of The Conference Board and co-chairs of the Reopening NYC Task Force.