Name | Selina Grey |
District | 49 |
Email Address | info@selinagreyfornyc.com |
What is your plan for getting the city back to work, particularly in its hardest hit sectors? What kind of workforce development programs do you envision that would provide access to communities of color and people with disabilities? | Many COVID restrictions are set to be lifted in just a few weeks. We cannot assume that the city’s economy will simply recover as we resume business as usual. Many of the hardest hit sectors and workers will need monetary assistance temporarily to facilitate recovery. Some workers will need retraining in order to reenter the workforce, because COVID has so fundamentally altered the nature of work and the job market. COVID has highlighted how the digital divide prevents people from accessing the educational or professional programs which are necessary to success. We have to invest in sector specific hard skills training as well as a variety of training programs so that the workforce can become more flexible. In order to do this we will need to work with CBOs, helping them build capacity and providing greater funding. We must also ensure that every worker is making a living wage. The unpaid internships which are common in creative fields are a barrier to BIPOC entering the workforce. The city can provide funding or create programs which will make entry level positions in the creative sector more accessible. We can also incentivize business owners to hire people with disabilities, provide training, and integrate them into the workforce. We can assist businesses in making the adaptations necessary to accommodate PWDs. |
What is your plan for creating healthy stable communities? How do you envision enlivening vacant commercial and city owned spaces? | Smaller cultural institutions that serve underserved neighborhoods and underrepresented groups often lack the large endowments or large donor bases that larger cultural institutions rely upon. City Council can do more to provide funding to these cultural groups/institutions. The process to apply for grants from the city needs to be more accessible and transparent. We can support subsidizing the cost of renting vacant commercial and city owned spaces. The city can also partner with organizations like ChaShaMa which connects artists to vacant spaces and vice versa. The city is currently doing a great job at converting vacant commercial spaces into early childhood education centers, we can adapt a program like this to serve artists and entertainers. |
What do you foresee is the role of creative economies in supporting economic recovery in New York City particularly for communities most affected by environmental, housing, and health instability due to COVID including our aging, immigrant, and working class communities of color? | Creative industries are essential to New York City’s economy. They provide income for many residents, particularly by drawing in tourists. So the decline in the creative sector impacts hotels, restaurants, cab drivers, and many other industries and professions. Our world renowned creative sector also draws new residents to settle in the city, leading to further economic growth. Creative economies must return to enable the successful recovery of New York City’s economy. We can help support recovery in creative economies by providing capital funding to cultural institutions and programs as well as independent artists. Supporting the arts will support overall economic recovery in the city as it will lead to the expansion of our local economy which shrank during the COVID crisis. We can retrain people to take jobs in art galleries, museums, publishing, film and television production in positions such as administrative and other supportive positions in the creative economy. We can partner with CBOs to funnel underserved communities into these positions. We must guarantee that these workers are being paid a living wage so that they can support themselves, their families, and engage in economic activity that will lead to further growth. |
What is your plan for the city’s school system and what is your vision of the role that arts in education plays? | Our public schools suffer from a lack of adequate funding especially schools that serve primarily black and brown populations. Students whose families lack the means to pay for enrichment outside of school are disadvantaged by a system which puts the onus on parents to provide an essential part of education which was at one time provided to all public school students, regardless of race or socio-economic background. Sufficient funding for the arts in schools needs to be considered and is something I will advocate for. The DOE needs to expand their arts programs and employ artists. The DOE also needs to revisit how they pay contracts. We know that there is a delay in payment and it is unfair for artists to face financial hardship due to a bureaucratic delay in the DOE. |
What is your plan to address the health care needs of the city's many communities? | Access to affordable healthcare is a basic human right. On Staten Island, we are underserved, residents are often forced to travel to Brooklyn or Manhattan to receive the care they require. I propose that our existing hospitals partner with H+H. It was done as a response to the pandemic for a short period of time and could be done on a permanent basis to ensure residents get the care they deserve. I also support healthcare staffing ratios that will ensure that patients receive quality care, as well as universal single payer healthcare on the state level. |
What are your plans for supporting incarcerated and formerly incarcerated New Yorkers? | Our carceral system is in need of a revamp. Not only am I in favor of programs and legislation which seek to reduce prison populations. I am also in favor of programs which help formerly incarcerated people transition back into society. These include GED programs, Higher Educations programs, and hard skills training. This is aligned with the goal of moving away from punitive justice to transformative and restorative justice models. |
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