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Mayor's Job One: Strengthen the Labor Force

NEW YORK CITY-After narrowly winning a third term, Michael Bloomberg needs to focus on jobs creation and the city's tax structure, industry figures say.

By Cody Lyon | Updated on November 04, 2009

NEW YORK CITY-The next four years promise serious challenges to the city’s already recession-bruised economy and Mayor Michael Bloomberg, who narrowly won his bid for a third term Tuesday. Not only does the writing on the wall show billions of dollars in commercial mortgages coming home to roost, but there are indications that the financial services industry, long the main economic driver of New York City’s economy and perhaps the largest customer of the city’s commercial real estate market, will continue to downsize.

At 10.3%, the city’s unemployment rate is at a 16-year high. Driving the numbers further home for the commercial real estate community, the New York State Department of Labor estimates that since 2008, New York’s financial sector has shed 32,000 jobs.

Increasing job loss and further signs of fundamental changes to the industry that the city has always seen as its biggest cash cow now create an even greater sense of urgency for the mayor, as he seeks to do what he can to grow the city’s economy and further diversify its job market. Among the few real estate figures that agreed to speak on record about the election, there was general agreement that Bloomberg is the most steady-handed to shepherd the city, its business and the commercial real estate community through to a recovery. Still, in the face of increased economic uncertainty, there were calls for change in city policy, including its tax structure, and perhaps more importantly, job creation.

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