Public-Private Impact Initiative RFEI: Strategic Priorities
NYCEDC is maintaining and sharing a list of strategic priorities, highlighting where it is particularly interested in exploring partnership opportunities through the Public-Private Impact Initiative RFEI. This list can help potential respondents better understand if and how their ideas relate to NYCEDC’s priorities. Ultimately, the goal is to encourage submissions from Respondents with a clear vision of how partnership with NYCEDC can amplify their proposal’s impact in the listed strategic priority areas.
These impact areas, listed below, constitute a “living list” of current priorities that will likely evolve over time. While NYCEDC is primarily focused on partnership ideas that align with its strategic priorities, proposals are not required to fall neatly into the categories described below. In addition to sourcing ideas that address current organizational goals, the Public-Private Impact Initiative RFEI is also designed to identify highly impactful proposals that illuminate unfamiliar but important challenges facing NYCEDC and the City.
General Considerations
Similar to other NYCEDC projects, proposals across various focus areas should seek to:
- Address a market failure or a policy goal
- Promote equity and inclusion by benefiting under-represented groups and people with lower incomes
- Catalyze private sector investment when possible
- Work to establish models that can be self-sustaining or scaled over time
- Be done in coordination with other City agencies or government entities where appropriate
Impact Areas
NYCEDC is particularly interested in exploring partnership opportunities in the following areas:
Climate Change
Climate change imperils the long-term viability of the city’s economy, jobs, critical infrastructure, and the health of its residents. However, the investments required to address climate change create significant economic and employment opportunities for our city and its residents.
NYCEDC works on projects that relate to climate change in three areas: sustainability (mitigating climate change through reducing greenhouse gas emissions), resiliency (adapting to and preparing for the impacts of climate change, such as sea-level rise, flooding, extreme precipitation, and extreme heat), and environment (preserving, improving, and remediating our surroundings, including natural spaces, air quality, and water quality).
Proposal focus areas include, but are not limited to:
- Making buildings and our city more energy efficient and achieving emissions targets (e.g., Local Law 97)
- Developing renewable energy and grid infrastructure
- Supporting the training of workers in the 'green economy' (including but not limited to solar, wind, geothermal, energy storage, low-carbon transportation, and energy efficiency building retrofits)
- Supporting new technologies and innovation in the 'green economy' (including but not limited to solar, wind, geothermal, energy storage, low-carbon transportation, and energy efficiency building retrofits)
- Improving NYC’s resilience to the impacts of climate change
Public Health
The COVID-19 pandemic continues to illuminate the connections between our public health, economic development, and environmental infrastructures. Projects that strengthen these systems to make New York City more resilient in the face of future—and chronic—public health emergencies are critical to making the city stronger, healthier, and fairer.
Proposal focus areas include, but are not limited to:
- Addressing the root causes of health inequities that existed prior to, and were exacerbated by, the COVID-19 pandemic (e.g., housing, environment, childcare/family supports, social services, broadband, transportation, job opportunities, etc.)
- Integrating public health efforts with local economic development efforts and the creation of new, stable, and good-paying jobs
New Industry Development for Good
NYCEDC wants to encourage the development of industries and innovations that address some the biggest societal challenges facing our city. In doing so, NYCEDC and its partners demonstrate that valuing people is both good business and good for the economy. We aim to have NYC be a leading urban center in policy that uplifts workers and benefits all residents and consumers.
Proposal focus areas include, but are not limited to:
- Supporting industries that are well-poised for expansion in NYC where thoughtful growth could lead to more equitable outcomes (e.g., responsible artificial intelligence and data ethics, mobility-as-a-service, legal cannabis, blockchain)
- Empowering workers through targeted workforce development strategies
- Promoting worker ownership business models
- Improving diversity in high growth/high paying fields
- Developing new financial tools for people who are disconnected from traditional financial systems
- Developing tools and ideas that improve efficiency and lower costs of government delivering services to New Yorkers
Big Ideas in Urbanism
NYCEDC is committed to making the city an even more exciting place to live and do business. As part of this ongoing mission, NYCEDC supports the development of projects and technologies that address the unique challenges and opportunities associated with our urban environment.
Proposal focus areas include, but are not limited to:
- Unlocking public space that is otherwise hard to interact with such as the city waterfront
- Lowering construction costs with new technologies, innovative materials, and modular construction techniques
- Inviting private real estate owners and managers to use their assets in partnerships with NYCEDC
- Creating iconic urban destinations with a hyperlocal neighborhood connection
- Advancing tools and business models that accelerate the shift toward a circular economy
- Placemaking that incorporates innovation that is scalable and transferable to multiple neighborhoods
