As a follow-up to the October 2017 Maritime Career Awareness Fair, Debi Rose, the Chairwoman of the NYC City Council Waterfront Committee held a hearing about Maritime Employment on December 14, 2017 at NYC City Hall.
The October 2017 Maritime Career Awareness Fair was organized by NYC Economic Development Corp and was held at the Brooklyn Cruise Terminal. It connected more than 150 high school students with two dozen organizations specializing in maritime-careers, including colleges, labor unions, ferry and excursion boat operators, major trade associations, plus the Coast Guard, FDNY, and NYPD. MAPONY/NJ was an organizing member of that fair, and served as the keynote speaker.
In his testimony at the NYC City Council hearing, Ed Kelly of MAPONY/NJ testified regarding the importance of incubating an educational system which would be aware of opportunities in the Maritime Sector, and which could help to develop skills necessary for employment. Kelly suggested increased spending on CTE schools such as the Harbor School, the Urban Assembly School of Global Commerce, and McKee Technical High School as well as a broader availability of traditional skills such as welding, electronics, machine operation, etc.
The following is an article distributed by NYC Councilwoman and Chair of the NYC City Council Waterfront Committee, Debi Rose:
Building our maritime industry
As Chair of the City Council’s Committee on Waterfronts, I convened a hearing last week on the state of our maritime industry. We heard testimony from the city’s Economic Development Corporation, the Maritime Association, the Waterfront Alliance, City University of New York, the Harbor School, the Tug and Barge Association and several other waterfront advocates.
The Port of New York and New Jersey is our region’s gateway to international commerce and is the largest maritime port on the eastern seaboard and the third largest in the United States, following Los Angeles and Long Beach. The maritime industry supports almost 36,000 jobs—with $3.5 billion generated in economic activity for the City.
If the City is to truly maintain its status as the economic capital of the nation and work to diversify its economy, it has to maintain and strengthen its investment in the maritime industry. This will continue to be the engine of the City’s economic growth and I want to make sure that New Yorkers are well equipped to take part in that growth as members of the industry’s workforce.
I remain committed to restarting the Waterfront Management Advisory Board. The City Council has made most of its appointments, and I call on the administration to make its appointments and set a meeting for the beginning of the new year.
In the new year, I also look forward to meeting with representatives of the maritime sector to talk about legislation and funding to move forward the city’s commitment to preparing our students for maritime careers.