Many nights, after a long day of home-schooling two of her children, Tamykah Anthony is standing over the stove, cooking up natural beauty products in her kitchen at Queensbridge Houses, the biggest public housing complex in New York City.
Fueled by a lifelong interest in science, she began formally selling the products in 2017, hoping to provide financial stability for her family. Now, after her business, Xanthines All Natural Products, survived the roller coaster of the past two years, Ms. Anthony, 36, is considering looking for factory space.
“I know people who sell food that should be in five-star restaurants,” Ms. Anthony said, referring to her neighbors at Queensbridge, in Long Island City. “I know people who can put tiles down. I know hairstylists. But that transition from being really great at something to having a business, there’s a huge gap there.”
As New York City officials grapple with how to ensure an equitable economic recovery from the pandemic, a new report this week from the Center for an Urban Future, a nonprofit organization, highlights what the group has described as an urgent need to support the hundreds of entrepreneurs like Ms. Anthony who live in public housing.
Buildings managed by the New York City Housing Authority, which operates the country’s largest public housing system, are home to more than 266,000 adults, many of whom are increasingly making money from homegrown businesses.
These informal and unregistered businesses are often either a main source of income for them or a supplement to a full-time job. In the lobby of the Mitchel Houses in the South Bronx, fliers posted by residents advertise side hustles like eyelash extensions and hair braiding.
In New York City, the economic fallout of the pandemic has spurred a turn to entrepreneurship as an alternative to jobs that may not return for years, the new report said.
Nearly one quarter of NYCHA residents worked in industries that have been among the slowest to recover, including hotels, retail stores and restaurants. And advocates estimate the unemployment rate among residents is around 25 to 35 percent, compared with 7 percent citywide.
But the report revealed that New York City’s small business assistance programs have been unsuccessful at reaching a large swath of residents living in NYCHA housing, where the average family income is around $25,000.
“This may be the biggest untapped entrepreneurial opportunity in the city,” said Jonathan Bowles, executive director of …….
Source: https://www.nytimes.com/2022/03/29/nyregion/nyc-public-housing-business.html
