--- title: "Andrew Yang Proposes Basic Income For New York City" description: "Andrew Yang is officially running for mayor of New York City on a campaign that promises to bring universal basic income to the city." date: "2021-01-14" modified: "2021-01-14" authors: - name: "Victor Tangermann" job_title: "Senior Editor" link: "https://futurism.com/authors/victor" url: "https://futurism.com/the-byte/andrew-yang-basic-income-new-york-city" categories: - "Finance" - "Future Society" - "Universal Basic Income" tags: - "andrew yang" - "the digest" - "universal basic income" --- # Andrew Yang Proposes Basic Income For New York City ![Andrew Yang is officially running for mayor of New York City on a campaign that promises to bring universal basic income to the city.]() *\Image: Andrew Yang\* ## Yang For NYC Former presidential candidate Andrew Yang is officially running for mayor of New York City, [*The Washington Post* reports](). At the front of his campaign's platform is a promise to bring universal basic income to the country's most populous city. "We need to realize Martin Luther King Jr.'s dream of a guaranteed minimum income and get cash into the hands of people who need it most," Yang said in a new [campaign video](). ## Universal Basic Income Yang has been an outspoken supporter of basic income in the past. When running for president in 2019, [Yang argued]() that regular payments to most citizens could be an effective response to growing job automation — and far more affordable than one might think. His proposed basic income project is called the "People's Bank" and is meant to "directly tackle poverty" according to the campaign's [official website](). Public funds "can be reinvested directly in our people and our communities" and could also "create a new start-up culture in NYC that will ensure the next big tech companies are homegrown." If Yang's campaign succeeds, it could turn the Big Apple into a testing ground for the idea. ## Promises Other than basic income, Yang promises to "bring New York City into the 21st century by getting everyone high-speed internet so our kids can learn," in the video. Yang would be taking over a city in tatters. New York City has been ravaged by the coronavirus pandemic. "Seeing my city the way it is now breaks my heart," Yang said in the clip. In March of last year, [Yang also argued]() that the pandemic proved that the country needs a stimulus in the form of a universal basic income. **READ MORE:** [Andrew Yang is running for New York mayor. He wants universal basic income — and TikTok Hype Houses.]() \[*The Washington Post*\] **More on Yang:** *[Andrew Yang: Coronavirus Outbreak Proves We Need Basic Income]()* ## Author I've been at Futurism since 2017, where my role has evolved to encompass design, writing, and increasingly editing. I've always been fascinated by space exploration and advanced transportation, which I've leaned into by interviewing luminaries in those fields while closely following the dimensions of policy and regulation that allow next-generation projects to succeed -- or, sometimes, to fail. I'm also keenly interested in the effects of generative AI on society, policies, and democratic institutions, as well as clean energy, physics and biology, and the vagaries of tech leadership. My work for Futurism has been cited by publications including Ars Technica, Gizmodo, PC Magazine, Jalopnik, Fox News, and the New York Post. I spent my childhood living in locations including Manila, the Philippines, and Geneva, Switzerland, attended McGill University, and now live in Toronto, Canada. Before Futurism I worked at AskMen and a small photography studio. In my free time, I'm an avid gardener, foodie, and craft beer lover, as well as a maker of artisanal hot pepper sauces. I have a magnificent dog named Freida. ### Author social links [Bluesky]()