He wants YOU to New York!
Mayor Eric Adams takes a page from Uncle Sam’s book and takes to the streets to personally recruit New Yorkers to apply for jobs in the city.
The mayor was spotted by The Post, who was handing out flyers promoting York College’s city job fair during an unannounced stopover together with his staff at Jamaica’s Long Island Rail Road station in Queens last Thursday.
December evaluation City Comptroller Brad Lander’s office estimated there have been 23,000 vacancies in the 35 Big Apple city agencies last fall – although budget tightening has reduced that number to around 20,000.
According to the report, the Department of Social Welfare’s Childcare branch had a emptiness rate of as high as 46%, with 415 employees in 775 positions.
Town’s Cyber Command, accountable for protecting New York City’s cybersecurity, had a emptiness rate of 36%.
Nearly a 3rd of the positions were vacant in the Department of Small Business Services, while the emptiness rate was 23% in the Department of Construction, 21% in the Department of Urban Planning, 20% in the Department of Human Services and 17% in each Health and Mental Health and Environmental Protection departments.
Adams acknowledged that there are literally thousands of vacancies that need to be filled to run the government – and said it’s up to him and his administration to aggressively inform New Yorkers that there are many good jobs available.
![ERIC ADAMUS](https://nypost.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/04/adams-1-1.jpg?w=768)
![ERIC ADAMUS](https://nypost.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/04/adams-2-1.jpg?w=760)
“We regularly discuss vacancies in municipal offices. But should you ask people in government who discuss vacations… you ask them, “but what are you doing to fill them?” They haven’t any answers,” said the mayor and recruiter for the latest job.
Adams has also shown more flexibility in allowing more employees to work remotely after initially opposing the idea.
Robert Chamon, a married father of two, thanked the mayor for spreading the word about working in the city during his visit to the LIRR stop.
“It’s good, good, really good. I’m just going to a job interview today, so if I do not make it, I can apply for this one,” Chamon said.
![Mayor Eric Adams handed out flyers for York College's city job fair at an unannounced stop at Queens Long Island Rail Station, Jamaica, April 30, 2023.](https://nypost.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/04/NYPICHPDPICT000010403802.jpg?w=1024)
![ERIC ADAMUS](https://nypost.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/04/adams-3-1.jpg?w=744)
Lander said the mayoral job freeze, coupled with massive shocks to the broader job market during the coronavirus outbreak, has dramatically increased the emptiness rate.
Last fall, the citywide rate was slightly below 8%, much higher than the pre-COVID rate of around 2%.
“While it is important to discover positions which might be not needed, current vacancies appear to be driven more by private sector competition for employees than by any assessment of needs or priorities,” Lander said. “The result’s a severe lack of capability to get things done in critical areas, from creating latest housing, to providing services for low-income children, to raising the revenue needed by the city to function.”