New York City Plans to launch Job-Training Facilities in every Borough, to develop a Pipeline of Talent for the City’s burgeoning Green Economy by 2030, according to an Action Plan Mayor Eric Adams’ (D) Administration unveiled Wednesday morning.
The Training Initiative is among 63 New and existing Commitments the City is embarking on, to support Climate-Conscious Industries, that are Key to reducing New York’s Carbon Emissions. Much of the Plan is focused on Workforce development for what the City Projects will be nearly 400,000 jobs, 7% of All Jobs in the City, and contribute $89 billion to the City’s GDP by 2040.
“This call to action will help unlock the full potential of New York City’s economy and human capital in the urgent work of slowing climate change and creating a more equitable and resilient city,” wrote Maria Torres-Springer, Deputy Mayor for Housing, Economic Development and Workforce, as part of the Action Plan.
Job Training will be led by the Mayor’s Office of Talent and Workforce Development, alongside the Economic Development Corp. The Agencies aim to Partner with Companies, Schools, and other Training Organizations.
One site will launch at Governors Island, called the “Green Building and Construction Workforce,” which will train more than 100 Workers Annually for at least Two years. Some of the Industries the City says it intends to focus on include: the Installation of New Heating, Ventilation, and Air Conditioning Technology, such as Heat Pumps, in Buildings.
“Space is an advantage when you're training folks on that new equipment,” Tim Currier, with the Mayor's Office of Talent and Workforce Development, said. “We’re definitely trying to work with companies that can take apprentices, have them doing real work on the job, but then also this classroom piece [is] critical.”
Over Three quarters of the City’s existing Green Economy Jobs, some 133,000, are in the Core Sectors of Buildings, Resilience Infrastructure, Financing, and Consulting, according to the Action Plan. Currier said another potential Site to advance these Industries is the Climate Innovation Hub planned for the Brooklyn Army Terminal in Sunset Park.
Some Environmental Justice and Labor Groups say they’re skeptical the Administration can turn its Plans into Action. City Officials committed to creating the Green Economy Action Plan (PlaNYC): Getting Sustainability Done, which was Published in April 2023. Yet another Climate-oriented City Plan, Power Up NYC, was released in September 2023.
“I almost would say that we don't need another plan, we just really need to work on the implementation of the previous plans,” said Theodore Moore, Executive Director of the Alliance for a Greater New York, a Coalition of Community and Labor Organizations.
“We see plan after plan after plan but we don't actually see the shovels in the ground. We don't see the jobs created,” said Moore. “We don't see the infrastructure being upgraded, and quite frankly, we don’t really see the transition to turn this city into a sustainable city.”
Eunice Ko, Deputy Director of the New York City Environmental Justice Alliance, said She was frustrated that the 12 Grassroots Community and Labor Groups in Her Alliance weren’t among the Dozens of entities the City consulted in creating the Action Plan.
“I think we all know that we need a paradigm shift to renewable energy that is rooted in racial and social justice,” said Ko. “That requires shifting the economy to new types of jobs and skills, and part of cultivating that workforce needs to be consulting with communities on what they need and what they have been asking for.”
Within the Renewable Energy sector, the Adams Administration said it is Working to add 16,000 New Jobs by 2030, both through Direct Investment and by making it easier for the Private Sector to Invest in Clean-Energy Infrastructure. This includes New Tax Incentives for Battery Storage.
Economic Development Corporation (EDC) Officials Plan to use NYC Industrial Development Agency Tax Incentives to activate 500 megawatts of Battery Storage system across the City. Nse Esema, Senior Vice President of EDC’s Green Economy Team, said such Incentives are Key to ensuring the City and State can reach its Renewable Energy Targets.
“Throughout the renewable landscape whether, we’re talking about battery storage or even with offshore wind, we’re seeing that there’s some major financing challenges,” Esema said. "Why the [tax] incentives are so crucial is that it's literally impacting what has become such a bottleneck issue … to make sure that these are projects that can actually get deployed."
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