Queens lawmaker urges city to salvage youth jobs program

Assemblymember Stacey Pheffer Amato urged Mayor Bill de Blasio not to eliminate the Summer Youth Employment Program in a letter Wednesday. Photo courtesy of Amato’s office

By Rachel Vick

A Queens lawmaker is urging Mayor Bill de Blasio to salvage a summer jobs program that serves 75,000 young New Yorkers, but is on the chopping block this budget season.

South Queens Assemblymember Stacey Pheffer Amato sent a letter to de Blasio Wednesday criticizing the elimination of the Summer Youth Employment Program, an annual program that provides work experience and a minimum wage salary to New Yorkers aged 14 to 24.

“This program should be treated as an essential program in the city budget,” Pheffer Amato said. “We should not penalize students who are trying to gain life skills, develop as professionals, and put a little money in their pockets.“

De Blasio’s executive budget, released April 16, proposes the suspension of SYEP in order to save $124 million next fiscal year. City officials say the decision was motivated by the uncertain impact of the coronavirus in the months ahead.

Instead of a complete cut, which would leave 75,000 young New Yorkers in a lurch, Pheffer Amato suggested adapting the program to a remote format.

“There are businesses in this city still operating, and could employ workers that are subsidized by the city and state government now more than ever,” Pheffer Amato added. “If regular employees are able to work from home and remotely, we should allow SYEP students to as well.”

Her letter echoes suggestions from program partners across Queens, including Rockaway Youth Task Force and Queens Community House, who have called on the city to find a compromise.

“There’s different ways the city could have approached this,” Rockaway Youth Task Force organizer Andrea Colon told the Eagle. “It's disgraceful to put young people in this position of not having any jobs.”