Expanding Economic Opportunity

“When I think about my life—a kid from Woodside who goes to public schools, works his way through college and law school, goes on to work in the White House and gets to represent his neighborhood in the City Council—I realize I’m living the American Dream.  And anyone who is willing to work hard and do right should have access to the opportunities to make their dreams happen.  That’s the city I want to live in:  a true city of opportunity, a place where no child’s demographics are ever that child’s destiny, a place where everyone lives in a neighborhood they’re proud of, where the middle class can thrive, and where those working to get to the middle class can succeed.”
- Councilmember Eric Gioia

Providing people access to the opportunities to realize their dreams.

• Gioia co-founded with Pastor Mitchell G. Taylor the East River Development Alliance, a community-based organization that expands economic opportunity by providing people with the tools and knowledge to create wealth.
• He has started entrepreneurship classes, because small business ownership can be an entry to the middle class.
• He has offered financial literacy classes and homeownership courses.
• He has employed The Doe Fund, which offers formerly homeless men work in street sanitation services and a chance to rebuild their lives.

Crafting policies that reward hard work.

• Gioia found bureaucratic red tape preventing thousands of working mothers from accessing food stamps to help feed their children.  He wrote a package of legislation to increase access to food stamps and alleviate child hunger. 
• With ERDA, Gioia provides free tax preparation services for New Yorkers who qualify for the Earned Income Tax Credit, bringing in nearly $300,000 in tax refunds last year.