Reports

The December unemployment rate in New York City remained higher than pre-pandemic levels for several demographic groups, particularly for youths and Blacks. This report also finds that non-college-educated unemployment is closer to pre-pandemic levels than college-educated unemployment, a major shift from earlier in the decade.

Wall Street’s securities industry bonus pool reached a record $49.2 billion in 2025, up 9% from the previous year, while the average bonus rose 6% to $246,900.The increases reflect a rise of more than 30% in Wall Street’s profits, which totaled $65.1 billion in 2025.

New York City’s $127 billion fiscal year 2027 preliminary budget (February Plan) provides more transparency for spending, addressing years of chronic underbudgeting and exposing an emerging structural budget gap that may require choices that threaten the city’s fiscal stability, competitiveness and affordability.

New York City’s Department for the Aging is facing rising demand for home care and case management services that help older residents remain independent, resulting in a growing waitlist for assistance. This report highlights challenges such as funding uncertainty that may affect the agency’s ability to meet increasing needs.

This report examines New York City’s expanded efforts to address the rise in its unsheltered (street homeless) population. The analysis recommends the City make better use of data collected through outreach, placement, and service programs to more clearly show where it has been most effective at helping people move into permanent housing. It also highlights the need to improve the efficiency of shelter placements as funding for street homeless programs is projected to remain largely flat after Fiscal Year 2026.

New York City’s Open Streets program, initiated in 2020 to transform streets into public spaces, partly to support local businesses during the COVID-19 pandemic, helped support the recovery of more than 67,000 retail and restaurant jobs between the first and most recent year of operation, though the gains were concentrated in areas of Manhattan and Brooklyn. This report analyzes labor force trends between 2020 and 2024 to understand the extent of how employment growth in Open Street corridors fared against non-Open Street corridors.

This analysis offers a snapshot of New York City’s existing child care and Early Childhood Education services, the program characteristics unique to each, and an estimate of their total overall cost to the City.

New York City’s budget gaps may reach as high as $10 billion in FY 2027 and grow to $13.6 billion by FY 2029, based on risks including slowing economic growth, rising costs and the restructuring of the funding relationship between the federal government, states and their localities. Mindful of the current economic trajectory and what is transpiring in Washington, the City must make balanced and sustainable fiscal choices this year to manage its substantial operational needs and encourage employment and business growth.

New York City Health + Hospitals will see pressure on key sources of revenue as Medicaid and low-income patients that rely on federal support lose health insurance, while reimbursement rates for health care programs are cut by Washington, making it harder for the largest public health system in the country to reach its financial goals.

New York City has cut fuel use and emissions across its municipal vehicle fleet of about 30,100 vehicles, but the average vehicle age is now the highest since 2012, and aging emergency and service vehicles are increasingly sidelined for repairs. In fiscal year 2025, the city spent $415 million on fuel and fleet repair, and over $400 million in capital funding for new vehicle acquisitions.

The securities industry earned $30.4 billion in the first half of 2025, a faster pace than last year, when full year profits totaled $49.9 billion, the fourth-highest level on record. Wall Street’s profits could top $60 billion in 2025 if current trends continue. Tax collections related to the industry continue to be strong, growing by over 35 percent in 2024 compared to 2023, and are likely to exceed forecasts given the strength in the industry in 2025.

The stability of the MTA's finances is increasingly reliant on its ability to find significant savings, grow ridership, and efficiently execute capital improvements. By prioritizing and delivering capital investments and continuing efforts to find ways to provide more cost-efficient service that remains safe, frequent and reliable, the MTA will ultimately improve the ridership experience. This will further strengthen farebox operating revenues and better prepare the MTA for uncertainty in the coming years.

The New York City metropolitan area is the second largest market for venture capital (VC) funding in the United States, with $28.5 billion in investments, or 13.3% of the national total in 2024. The amount invested in the region has more than doubled since 2015. Though overall VC activity remains stronger than before the pandemic, the second quarter of 2025 experienced a slowdown from the prior quarter that is reflective of federal economic policy that remains uncertain.

The neighborhoods of Long Island City (L.I.C.), Sunnyside and Woodside in northwest Queens are contributing to the borough’s business growth, share of the population employed, median household income and new housing. Even with its expansion, L.I.C./Sunnyside/Woodside faces some challenges such as air pollution, a level of crime higher than pre-pandemic rates despite recent declines, and income and housing pressures in parts of the area. Continued success depends on further monitoring of these factors, as well as supporting and managing housing, employment and infrastructure development.

New York City’s revenues from water and sewer charges, fines and forfeitures, licenses and permits, interest income, rental income and other “miscellaneous revenues” reached an estimated $6.7 billion in fiscal year (FY) 2025, just 11% higher than in FY 2019. The weaker growth was due, in part, to the COVID-19 pandemic. The City should assess the many fines, fees, and charges for services it collects and whether these revenue sources are permanently affected by the changes that occurred during the pandemic and what that means for anticipated revenues.

Subway on-time performance (OTP) last year and in the first half of 2025 remained better than in 2019, but the causes of delays have changed as riders have returned. A train is considered late, or delayed, only if it arrives at its destination more than five minutes after its scheduled arrival time, skips scheduled stops or is cancelled altogether. Of the 2.7 million scheduled trains in 2024, 486,614 trains did not reach their destination as scheduled, for an OTP of 82.2 percent.

New York City’s adopted $119.7 billion fiscal year 2026 budget is currently balanced (including pre-payments) but there are significant concerns over funding from Washington and slowing economic growth that could jeopardize its financial position and discretionary programs if greater preparation is not taken. The City must make balanced and prudent fiscal choices in the coming year while managing its substantial operational needs and encouraging employment and business growth to enhance its economic and tax revenue base.

Despite having the fourth-largest construction sector in the nation, New York State is one of five states that have not recovered from pandemic job losses and a full recovery may take some time as construction businesses in New York City continue to face a variety of challenges, including softer demand for office space. This report provides an update to the Office of the New York State Comptroller’s report that found the COVID-19 pandemic had an outsized impact on the construction sector in New York City. 

The MTA has made substantial progress funding its capital programs and has tried to limit the strain on its operating budget from debt service costs, but potential federal actions threaten its financial future and debt profile.

Stronger than anticipated revenues and lower costs for asylum seekers will help New York City balance its $118 billion fiscal year 2026 budget. However, potential fiscal challenges are emerging, including continued uncertainty regarding federal policy and economic conditions, and fiscal risks from anticipated federal budget cuts. These challenges could limit the City’s potential revenue upside and make it harder to continue to fund recent spending additions for discretionary programs and maintain services.