A 'good job' in Jessica Ramos’ book? It ain’t one at a casino.

What is a “good job” to New York City mayoral candidate Queens state Sen. Jessica Ramos? Any job that addresses the major issues plaguing society: climate change, mental health, failing infrastructure, housing instability and so on.

That’s the premise behind Ramos’ “One Good Job” proposal, a public employment plan she unveiled Wednesday as part of her mayoral campaign. 

Influenced by former New York City Mayor Fiorello LaGuardia’s collaboration with the federal Works Progress Administration, the proposal would be a “bold, coordinated effort to be led by City Hall, in partnership with Albany and the private sector,” Ramos said. 

The One Good Job proposal would entail the establishment of a New York City Climate Corps, an expansion of the Summer Youth Employment Program to be a year-round program along with requiring the creation of a chief revenue officer to manage finances of the initiative under the first deputy mayor’s oversight.

Ramos said she wants to bolster free tuition at CUNY institutions for programs with pathways to “high-demand careers” as well as creating career and technical school pipelines for high school students in the city. 

What doesn’t fall into Ramos’ definition of a good job? One at or building a casino. Ramos last year opted not to introduce legislation necessary for Mets owner Steve Cohen to build a Citi Field-adjacent casino and entertainment complex in her district (though her colleague, state Sen. John Liu, recently took up the mantle himself). Proponents of the project have criticized Ramos for her decision, noting it is estimated to create 23,000 jobs. When asked whether the casino providing jobs differs from her public employment proposal, she said, “New Yorkers need to be able to afford rent. New Yorkers do not need to gamble.” 

The senator added: “There is such a thing as good jobs. There is such a thing as bad jobs, and in this case, we're talking about a casino being placed in a community where the household income is $30,000 underneath minimum wage. Wherever the casinos get built – because remember that there's about a dozen bids, and it just doesn't necessarily need to be in our backyard – it's actually, nevertheless, my community in Queens that ends up doing the cooking and the cleaning, no matter where those casinos are going to go in the city of New York.”

Ramos’ plan is based on the idea that job-creating infrastructure projects ought to be chosen strategically and with community interests in mind – not simply for the sake of creating jobs. Speaking rhetorically, she said, “You don't think bad things can be built? You think that building bad things, even if they're done union, that makes it OK?”