Opportunity NYC
Opportunity NYC was an experimental Conditional Cash Transfer program (CCT) by the Mayor of New York City, Michael Bloomberg. Announced in April 2007, it was the first CCT program to be launched in the United States or any other developed nation. Its initial phases were funded by a number of private partners including The Rockefeller Foundation, Robin Hood Foundation, the Open Society Institute, Starr Foundation, AIG, and Mayor Bloomberg's own Bloomberg Family Foundation. The program is being evaluated by MDRC, a nonprofit research firm, using a random assignment research design. Opportunity NYC is administered by Seedco, a nonprofit community development organization. The program ended on August 31, 2010.
William Lynch Jr.
In New York City's 2009 citywide elections, BLA advised candidates for all three citywide offices: Bill Thompson for mayor, Eric Gioia for public advocate, and John Liu for comptroller. BLA also advised the campaign of Cyrus Vance Jr. for New York County (Manhattan) District Attorney, and Inez Dickens in her re-election bid for New York City Council. In the end, Vance, Liu, and Dickens won their respective races. Thompson won the Democratic mayoral primary but lost to incumbent Michael Bloomberg, while Gioia failed to win the public advocate Democratic primary.