Gothamist, July 10, 2023, What if NYC had its own public bank? There are billions of reasons to consider it, report says.
New York City is missing out on thousands of new affordable apartments and billions of dollars in local investments without a publicly owned bank to deposit its cash, according to an analysis by the city’s former chief economist and fellow researchers.
A $6.5 billion deposit in a city-owned bank over five years would quickly send most of that money to local credit unions and organizations focused on community development, according to the assessment by Dr. James Parrott and Michele Mattingly of the New School’s Center for New York City Affairs.
The researchers say the bank — a proposed alternative to the private institutions that now handle the city government’s cash — would provide financing for 17,000 new income-restricted housing units over five years, while making loans to small businesses, fueling more local jobs and saving the city millions on fees.
