Child care, rental assistance and other advice for NYC’s next mayor

Richard Buery, new CEO of the Robin Hood Foundation and a former deputy mayor who oversaw the implementation of the Blasio administration’s signature Pre-K for All initiative, advises elected mayor Eric Adams.

Larry Racioppo

Richard Buery, right, with former City Limits editor-in-chief Jarrett Murphy. Buery was honored at City Limits’ 2018 anniversary gala.

When newly elected mayor Eric Adams takes office in just over a month, he will preside over a city struggling to overcome deeper inequalities exposed by the COVID pandemic and will worsen as current eviction protections end.

Tens of thousands of children live in the city’s homeless shelters, the unemployment rate tops the national average, and food insecurity continues to affect nearly 2 million New Yorkers. As Adams prepares to address these issues, he will no doubt seek the guidance of leaders with experience in implementing strategies to alleviate poverty and uplift low-income New Yorkers.

Among those who fit that description: Richard Buery, the new CEO of the Robin Hood Foundation, a former deputy under Mayor Bill de Blasio and a recent incumbent in the City Limits’ Hall of Fame. In his role as deputy mayor for strategic policy initiatives, Buery oversaw the implementation of de Blasio’s signature Pre-K for All initiative, which gave families the right to preschool education. In his current role, he heads one of New York City’s largest foundations, which funds organizations that fight poverty.

Buery joined City Watch on WBAI 99.5 FM on Sunday to discuss its recommendations for the next mayor, including how to make childcare easier for all families to afford – through a credit or more directly a universal system of home-based care and others services. Such an obligation would relieve a disproportionate burden on women of color, limit the earning capacity of families, and force parents and guardians to make difficult work decisions.

“New York City is at a critical turning point as we return from what we hope was the worst of the pandemic, and it has affected families in so many ways,” Buery said Sunday. “And the challenge for us as a city is how to get an improvement that benefits all New Yorkers.”

“High-quality child care is a critical tool in helping New Yorkers get back to work,” he added, citing a statistic that every dollar invested in child care returns $ 7 or more to families. Strong childcare also improves academic and social performance for children, he said.

During the interview, Buery elaborated on some of the other proposals he outlined in an op-ed to the Daily News Sunday, including strengthening the city’s right to advise the law to cover more low-income tenants facing deferral and extending access to rental assistance programs.

Listen to Buery’s conversation with City Watch host and City Limits reporter David Brand below:

Later in the program, Green-Wood Cemetery historian Jeffrey Richman discussed his most recent book, Building the Brooklyn Bridge, 1869-1883: An Illustrated History with Images in 3D.

Richman’s book is packed with stereographic 3-D photos (groundbreaking technology of the 19th century) and hand-drawn schemes of what would become the world’s longest suspension bridge and NYC’s largest structure. Richman also describes the unprecedented and often extremely dangerous effort to build the iconic, revolutionary span.