Crains New York - June 24, 2013 - (Page 10)

OPINION CRAIN’S And now, the easy part I f fixing the upstate economy is like climbing a mountain, state lawmakers won’t get much beyond base camp with their June deals to open four casinos and implement tax-free zones at school campuses. Upstate has been struggling for years since its manufacturing base departed for Asia and other cheap-labor locales. The transportation advantages it once enjoyed, such as canals and rivers, are vestiges of an industrial age that won’t return. Hundreds of thousands of middle-class jobs have gone, leaving in their wake lowwage service-sector positions. And, of course, those bitterly cold winters. Gov. Andrew Cuomo has centered his upstate economic strategy on tax reform, universities, tourism and even the newly subsidized Buffalo Bills. All can play a role in the recovery of western New York, the North Country, the Southern Tier, the Hudson Valley and other struggling regions. But they will not be enough. Casinos, if approved by voters in a November referendum, will kick-start sections of the upstate economy but will never be its foundation, especially with gambling venues proliferating in surrounding states. Mr. Cuomo has won measures to cap the growth of upstate’s infamously high property taxes, but little has been done to actually cut them. And it’s unclear whether the tax-free zones on vacant college and university land will draw the high-tech businesses of the future or just companies with political connections—as CRAIN’S ONLINE POLL NEW YORK BUSINESS editor in chief Rance Crain publisher, vp Jill R. Kaplan occurred with the state’s Empire Zones, a Pataki-era economic-development strategy that Mr. Cuomo has wisely abandoned. Even if businesses are lured to New York by the tax-free program, which the governor rebranded as “Start-Up NY,” the effort is gimmicky, unsustainable and limited by its very design. After all, somebody has to pay for public services. In the absence of spending cuts, zeroing out taxes for select companies requires raising them on others. Government’s primary role in fostering business is not to dole out tax breaks and casino franchises but to provide the human capital and infrastructure that entrepreneurs need to flourish. Good public education, starting with early childhood, is essential. So is a modern transportation network, which in upstate’s case means fast trains linking population centers to each other and New York City. Nanotech investments at SUNY campuses are starting to bear fruit, air travel to upstate cities has improved, and the electric grid is being upgraded. Those are the kinds of tools it takes to climb a mountain. Casinos and subsidy deals are like energy bars eaten on the way. Casinos and tax-free zones won’t take upstate very far COMMENTS Minority report istockphoto PREVAILING WAGE SHOULD FOOD COMPOSTING BE MANDATORY IN NEW YORK CITY? Yes. Other cities do it, and early tests have been promising. It’s a green, money-saving idea. No. Ew, it smells! And it would require extra trucks and be impossible to enforce. Date of poll: June 17 215 votes 60% Yes 40% No FOR THIS WEEK’S QUESTIONS: Go to www.crainsnewyork.com/poll to have your say. 10 | Crain’s New York Business | June 24, 2013 Your June 17 editorial (“A house of cards, this idea”) says prevailing-wage requirements shift jobs to union members who tend to be white and live outside the city. That just isn’t true. Of the more than 8,000 union apprentices in New York City’s building trades, 72% reside in the city, and 65% of these local residents are minorities. The unionized construction industry pays tens of millions of dollars out of its own pocket to train them and put them on track for careers earning good wages with health insurance and pensions. It also supports programs like ours, which has placed 1,400 recent high-school graduates and other local residents into apprenticeships. Of these placements, 80% remain in the industry, and hundreds have gone on to become skilled mechanics and hold even higher positions. Equal opportunity is about both the number and quality of opportunities. The unionized construction industry provides a far greater number of opportunities to local residents and minorities than anything being done on the nonunion side. And when we consider the quality of the opportunities, it isn’t even a contest. —nicole bertran Vice president The Edward J. Malloy Initiative for Construction Skills ‘F’ FOR REFORM GROUPS Greg David nailed it: Charterschool advocates are AWOL from the mayor’s race (“Education reformers are MIA in campaign,” June 10). Despite hyped political muscle, both StudentsFirstNY and Democrats for Education Reform got no game. This mirrors the rhetoric-versusreality of the mythical Bloomberg education miracle. Three-quarters of Michael Bloomberg’s graduates who enroll at CUNY need remediation, only one-third of ninth-graders read and do math at grade level, and the racial achievement gap remains a gulf. To turn the schools around, the next mayor must focus on teaching and learning, not testing and charter schools. That means full-day pre-K, more learning time and a highquality curriculum, from college prep to arts and music. It means aggressively supporting school improvement instead of grading and closing schools. Mr. David bemoans the absence of charter supporters, but advocating more of the same is a political loser, a fact DFER gets. Its leaked memo advises “de-escalating” its own agenda and promotes the idea of a candidate who runs away from the charter agenda in the primary, then pivots back. Sounds like hopeful spin. —billy easton Executive director Alliance for Quality Education CRAIN’S WELCOMES SUBMISSIONS to its opinion pages. Send letters to letters@crainsnewyork.com. Send columns of 475 words or fewer to opinion@crainsnewyork.com. Please include the writer’s name, company, address and telephone number. EDITORIAL editor Glenn Coleman managing editor Jeremy Smerd deputy managing editors Valerie Block, Erik Ipsen assistant managing editor Erik Engquist senior producer, news Elisabeth Butler Cordova news producer Amanda Fung contributing editor Elaine Pofeldt columnists Greg David, Steve Hindy, Alair Townsend crain’s health pulse editor Barbara Benson senior reporters Theresa Agovino, Aaron Elstein, Lisa Fickenscher, Matthew Flamm reporters Chris Bragg, Matt Chaban, Daniel Geiger, Andrew J. Hawkins, Annie Karni, Adrianne Pasquarelli web reporters/producers Ken M. 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All rights reserved. ®CityBusiness is a registered trademark of MCP Inc., used under license agreement. CRAIN COMMUNICATIONS INC. BOARD OF DIRECTORS chairman Keith E. Crain president Rance Crain treasurer Mary Kay Crain Cindi Crain executive vp, operations William Morrow senior vp, group publisher Gloria Scoby vp/production, manufacturing David Kamis chief information officer Paul Dalpiaz founder G.D. Crain Jr. (1885-1973) chairman Mrs. G.D. Crain Jr. (1911-1996) secretary Merrilee Crain (1942-2012) http://www.crainsnewyork.com/subscribe http://www.crainsnewyork.com/advertise http://www.crainsnewyork.com/events http://www.crainsnewyork.com/poll

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Crains New York - June 24, 2013

Crains New York - June 24, 2013
IN THE BOROUGHS
IN THE MARKETS
THE INSIDER
SMALL BUSINESS
BUSINESS PEOPLE
OPINION
ALAIR TOWNSEND
GREG DAVID
REAL ESTATE DEALS
REPORT: 50 MOST POWERFUL WOMEN IN NEW YORK
CLASSIFIEDS
DIGITAL NY
NEW YORK, NEW YORK
SOURCE LUNCH
OUT AND ABOUT
SNAPS

Crains New York - June 24, 2013