Support A Democratic & Just New York
Democratize Access to the Internet:
The descendant legacy communication companies (Ma Bell) have an outsized influence on the state and local public policies that regulate the internet. This corporate power sustains monopolistic control over the internet service, distorting healthy competition and authentic free markets. A 1911 franchise agreement that the city signed on behalf of Ma Bell to wire New York City for telephone service is sustained even though most city residents rely on internet cables to communicate in the 21st century.
The Coalition for a Just and Democratic New York proposes the following:
The Mayor and the City Council should enact a home rule message to support a proposed law authored by State Senator Kevin Parker that confirms telephone wires and internet cables are a different typology of communications technology than the legacy companies.
The City Technology Office (CTO) should enact a new request for proposals (RFPs) to companies (MWBEs) and community-led nonprofits, offering the opportunity to place advanced mesh network technologies on roofs and poles to reduce the cost of internet service in distressed areas.
This work should incorporate the Community Hiring Law.
Democratize Capital and Wealth:
Most working-class, working-poor, and poor residents of New York City lack access to start-up, venture, and working capital needed for economic self-sufficiency. This inequitable standard results, in part, from a banking and finance sector that intentionally transmits intergenerational racialized economic inequality (see: Red Lining). Our coalition declares that the repression of generational wealth contributes to an unaffordable city. Therefore, we offer the following solutions to democratize capital:
New York City Economic Democracy Bank should model itself on the Bank of North Dakota. This public bank should partner with local, commercial, and community banks by accruing Community Reinvestment Act credits and Corporate Social Responsibility investments. Moreover, the NYC Economic Democracy Bank will hold city deposits, including targeted investments from the New York City pension fund, to provide liquidity and capital to support local lending to unionized worker-cooperatives, minority businesses, and women-owned businesses. The Economic Democracy Bank will administer impact investments (Patient and/or forgivable loans) by merging city pension funds with philanthropic investments designed to reduce risk and create a flexible timeline for a return on investment (ROI).