On Nov. 19, Jordan J.G. Wright, Assemblyman for New York’s 70th District in Harlem, came to the NYCPA office at 200 Madison Avenue and discussed a myriad of topics including financial literacy and the future of New York City under the new leadership of Mayor-Elect Zohran Mamdani.
Wright spoke about the New York State Board of Regents recently approving a regulation where beginning next year, students will have to take classes on personal finance before they graduate from high school.
Wright praised the efforts of the NYCPA to promote financial literacy. "For many years, I have seen lot of kids who have no idea, and they just take their parents' credit card and swipe. They had no idea what it meant. ... This is going to be quite impactful for young people for years to come. My grandmother taught me a lot about financial literacy from day one."
Beyond financial literacy, Wright has been working hard to inspire young New Yorkers. "In terms of politics and government, it's about being seen and being active. I'm 31 years old; I think it's cool for folks to see a young person like me out there wearing a sweat suit talking to people and going to the gym to talk with young folks in city schools. My grandmother was the principal at P.S. 197 in Harlem, and I go there at least once or twice a month to say hello."
A lot of the kids, Wright noted, have said that they want to come to his office and get to know him more, and he thinks this is key to getting them more involved.
Wright also talked about the future of New York City under the upcoming administration of Mamdani and with Governor Kathy Hochul up for reelection. "I think that we are going to be in a real water-testing phase this year. We are going to have a new mayor coming in; we have a governor who is in the midst of an election year, and everyone in the state legislature is also up for reelection."
According to Wright, this phase will likely show New Yorkers what the next two to four years are going to look like and make them see what the electorate really wants. "We are going to see exactly where we stand from January-June when the governor's budget proposal comes out. We are going to see how that aligns with the city proposal and we are going to see how we are going to make that work for New Yorkers," he said.
In terms of New York City and a new mayor incoming, Wright says that everyone is in a wait-and-see mode. "I think from where we are and where we are going will be very different from January to February, through April when the budget is due. I think we are going to learn a lot in the coming months and we need to have an open mind to what that's going to look like."
He added that he trusts the state's current leadership from the legislature to the governor to ensure the city "is not going to be on fire. We are going to make sure that the city is taken cared of, and the state wouldn't have to come in just to maintain sanity in the city."