By The newspaper
Jun 20, 2024, 2:43 PM EDT
Mayor Eric Adams announced Thursday the city’s community contracting initiative that will leverage more than $1.2 billion in contracts to create job opportunities for New Yorkers most in need.
Community employment positions allow the city to use its purchasing power to build on the success of existing project labor agreements and agency-specific hiring programs.
This Thursday, the New York City Department of City Administrative Services (DCAS) released the city’s first request for proposal (RFP) subject to community contracting, which will result in an estimated $1.2 billion in contracts for jobs of security guards and fire safety personnel throughout the five boroughs.
Contracts awarded under this RFP contain a community contracting goal for 40% of work hours to be performed by people living in New York City Housing Authority (NYCHA) housing or in a zip code where At least 15% of the population lives below the federal poverty line.
With the state’s community contracting legislation introduced May 15 taking effect in just over a month, the Adams administration is already harnessing the potential of the Office of Community Contracting (OCH) to create more equitable pathways for New Yorkers participate in the city’s economy.
“Today we sent a clear message: if you want to work with the City of New York, you must put the community first,” Mayor Adams said in a statement. “From day one, our administration set out to lead by example and show the nation that we could make smarter, more inclusive and equitable contracts that engage the communities most in need. With this historic RFP, we are bringing real, good-paying jobs to our neighbors in NYCHA and to zip codes in our city that have been forgotten for too long. Together, we are building the economy of the future in a city where opportunities reach every block, neighborhood and district,” the official said.
Job opportunities include security guards, security guard supervisors, field inspectors, field managers and emergency action plan and fire safety director. New employees will receive 40 hours of training at no cost as part of their employment.
Five years contract
Once the RFP is approved, the resulting contracts will provide approximately 10 million hours of prevailing wage employment opportunities for NYCHA residents and residents of low-income communities over the five-year term of the contract.
“This historic legislation delivers on the priorities the Adams administration has been promoting since day one: putting money back into the pockets of everyday New Yorkers,” said First Deputy Mayor Sheena Wright.
“Less than 40 days after the community contracting legislation went into effect, the Adams administration has taken swift action to make its benefits real for New Yorkers,” said Deputy Mayor for Housing, Economic Development and Workforce María Torres-Springer. .
In an effort to retain talent in the human services sector, Mayor Adams earlier this year announced a $741 million investment for approximately 80,000 human services workers employed by nonprofit organizations contracted with the city as part of a new adjustment to life.
Finally, in FY 2023, the first full fiscal year of the Adams administration, the city set a new record for spending on city-certified M/WBEs, awarding more than $6 billion in total to M/WBE companies in the fiscal year through OneNYC. contracting, with a record of 1,903 certified supplier companies.