Working for the City When Everyone Else Is Leaving

A daily mix of stories about cities, city life, and our always evolving neighborhoods and skylines. [Curbed]( MONDAY, JANUARY 23 STATE OF THE CITY [Working for the City When Everyone Else Is Leaving]( Empty cubicles, giant caseloads that leave low-income tenants without rent aid, and “no end in sight.” Photo-Illustration: Curbed; Photo: Getty Mayor Eric Adams strode into Cipriani Wall Street, packed with the city’s civic and business elites, to[tout a highly ambitious, thinly sketched plan]( to reinvigorate New York’s commercial districts. “We’re going to show the country why we are New York, and this new New York conversation is going to show how together we get all cylinders operating on the same engine to regain our economy, regain our city, and we leave no one behind,” he said. That plan would include more bus lanes, electric-vehicle charging stations, and converting official buildings to residential use. In recent weeks, he announced an even more aspirational goal: to build [500,000 housing units]( over the next decade. This would be a signature achievement for an administration that has, one year in, yet to find a legacy-defining policy to pursue, the equivalent of Bill de Blasio’s universal prekindergarten. Yet a worsening crisis threatens these bold plans: There just aren’t enough people at the public agencies charged with running the city. The city comptroller’s office released a report in December that found the [overall vacancy rate]( at municipal agencies is 8 percent, quadruple the 2 percent rate before COVID. Certain pivotal agencies are struggling much more. The Department of Buildings has nearly 23 percent of its positions vacant. City Planning is at 22 percent. Housing Preservation and Development (HPD) and Finance are each at 18 percent. Cyber Command, charged with protecting the city’s cybersecurity, is at 36 percent. Perhaps the most extreme case is the Department of Social Services’ Child Support Services division, which is almost half-empty. “There are empty desks and cubicles everywhere,” said one Department of Buildings employee who wished not to be named. “The morale is very low.” It doesn’t help the remaining employees that the mayor [announced]( in November he’d be slashing some unfilled positions by as much as 50 percent. [Continue reading »]( Want more on city life, real estate, and design? [Subscribe now]( for unlimited access to Curbed and everything New York. [Learn more about RevenueStripe...]( The Latest [U.S. Department of State Cuts Diplomatic Ties With Serifs For memos, Times New Roman is out, Calibri is in.]( By Christopher Bonanos [The Problem With Boston’s MLK Memorial Isn’t That It Looks Like a Penis It’s that it reminds us of how little Boston — and other cities — has advanced the civil-rights leader’s racial-justice agenda.]( By Diana Budds [There Are Dolphins in the Bronx River Maybe you don’t want to swim there, but the Parks Department says it’s good news.]( By Zach Schiffman [Learn more about RevenueStripe...]( [Read More From Curbed]( If you enjoyed reading Curbed’s daily newsletter, forward it to a friend. Or [sign up for our Design Hunting newsletter]( for a visual diary from design editor Wendy Goodman. [logo]( [facebook logo]( [instagram logo]( [twitter logo]( [unsubscribe](param=curbed) | [privacy notice]( | [update preferences]( This email was sent to {EMAIL}. Was this email forwarded to you? [Sign up now]( to get this newsletter in your inbox. [View this email in your browser.]( You received this email because you have a subscription to New York. Reach the right online audience with us For advertising information on email newsletters, please contact AdOps@nymag.com Vox Media, LLC 1201 Connecticut Ave. NW, 12th Floor Washington, DC 20036 Copyright © 2023, All rights reserved