Prometheus 6

Emphasizing the need to show progress using the limited money and authority available to city government, the approach outlined in the memo is more business- and results-oriented than broader strategies used in the past, which relied on federal subsidies and entitlement programs to fight poverty at all levels.

“We must take what we have learned and fashion a realistic set of recommendations that will give more New Yorkers a chance to lift themselves out of poverty,” reads the memo, from Mr. Parsons, Mr. Canada and Deputy Mayor Linda I. Gibbs, who is overseeing the commission. “To have a more powerful impact, rather than spread efforts across the entire population,” the memo suggests focusing on children younger than 6, people 16 to 24, and the working poor.

To Cut Poverty, Panel Advises a Narrow Focus
By DIANE CARDWELL

Leaders of a mayoral commission charged with working to eradicate poverty in New York City are scaling back wider ambitions to instead focus on helping three distinct populations: young children, young adults and the working poor.