Innovative Ideas. Independent Policy.

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  Impact - August 2025

  “The think tank quietly influencing NY’s top officials”

  Crain's New York Business recently published this in-depth profile of the Center for an Urban Future (CUF), titled “The think tank quietly influencing New York’s top officials.” The article noted that “CUF has hit its stride in recent years, managing to catch the attention of powerful city officials with its brand of pragmatic, hyper-specific ideas for improving economic mobility.”
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  Report - August 2025

  The Park Queens Deserves

  Flushing Meadows Corona Park is arguably New York City’s most underappreciated important park, even though it is the city's fourth most visited park and the only available expansive green space for hundreds of thousands of Queens residents. The Center for an Urban Future shares 20 ideas for realizing the park's full potential.
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  Report - August 2025

  Closing New York State’s Computing Education Gaps

  New York is making big bets on AI and the tech economy, but the state is falling well behind other states in preparing students with the foundational computing skills needed to thrive in these industries. This report outlines three key actions for state leaders to accelerate computing education across public K–12 schools.
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  Report - July 2025

  5 Ideas to Advance Economic Mobility in NYC Amid Harmful Federal Policies

  The first half of 2025 has brought an unprecedented wave of federal attacks on anti-poverty programs—threatening the safety net that millions of New Yorkers rely on and undercutting the city’s efforts to expand economic mobility. This report offers five actionable policy ideas for how New York City can lead in this environment, as a part of CUF's second annual NYC Economic Opportunity Summit.
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  Report - July 2025

  Understanding and Overcoming the Bronx Digital Divide

  Consistent access to a computer and high-speed internet are essential to everyday life in New York, and in the Bronx, tens of thousands of residents remain cut off from these basic tools of modern life. Despite important investments in broadband infrastructure and digital skills programs, the gap has only grown wider between the Bronx and other boroughs in the areas of broadband affordability and adoption, device access, and digital literacy.
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  Report - May 2025

  Sustaining NYC’s Tech Edge

  New York City's tech sector used to be celebrated for adding a bit of much-needed diversification to the city’s finance-heavy economy. Now tech is the engine driving the city’s economy forward, and is New York’s largest and most dependable source of new middle- and high-wage jobs.