Online applications remain open at press time for this year’s Summer Youth Employment Program (SYEP) after the NYC Department of Youth & Community Development (DYCD) extended the deadline to this Friday, March 14. 100,000 jobs and paid opportunities will be offered to young New Yorkers eligible to work in the United States between the ages 14 and 24 over a six-week span in July and August through a lottery system.
Those interested in applying should visit: application.nycsyep.com
Valerie Mulligan, deputy commissioner of DYCD’s Youth Workforce Connect, said those living in NYCHA can gain priority access to SYEP. Local community-based organizations partnering with some public housing developments can recruit young residents into the program, allowing them to surpass the lottery process. But even youth who go through the traditional application process will get a “leg up” to ensure they can participate in the program.
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“SYEP is really an opportunity to step out of your comfort zone,” said Mulligan over Zoom. “You can access the job that you wouldn’t have access to otherwise, and I think that’s especially true for young people who live in NYCHA: whether they [to work in] their community, or they want to go work completely outside of their community, there’s something in SYEP for them.
“We really want to make sure that young people who live in NYCHA understand that this is not just a program for folks in other parts of the city, that this is a program that really is for them.”
Employers in various fields, ranging from tech and government agencies to cultural institutions and local mom-and-pops, can provide paid hands-on experience in exchange for summer staff without cost; the city directly pays participants a minimum wage. Mulligan said there is also a need for more hosting small businesses, noting that SYEP can not only provide short-term labor but also a pipeline for prospective full-time employees.
Faith, a Queens high school senior, said she joined SYEP when she was 14 fresh out of the COVID-19 pandemic through the nonprofit provider Rockaway Development & Revitalization Corporation, where she learned about mental health care. She later worked behind a register at a retail store and she has since gone through Cisco and Google career development programming.
In the middle of college application acceptance season, the youngster said she plans on becoming a geological engineer and hopes to attend her dream school Stony Brook University. SYEP provided her a head start.
“I’ve learned versatility and being intentional about your job, because all the things that I’ve described, they’re totally different aspects,” she said. “For the Cisco IT Essential [Training certification] we did a presentation that [Queens Borough President] Donovan Richards was holding at the performing arts center. We were the youngest people there … we basically had to go up on stage and literally show everyone how to assemble and disassemble the computer. You learn public speaking as well. It was a really humbling experience. So it just really opens your eyes to how vast the working world is.”
A time-tested institution in the city, SYEP, the country’s largest youth employment program, dates back to 1963.. It offered many New Yorkers their first paycheck, including DYCD’s own commissioner Keith Howard.
“My first job was working with SYEP at a daycare center near River Park Tower in the Bronx,” said Howard over email. “SYEP taught me invaluable life skills such as time management, communication, and emotional intelligence. It is a full circle to have worked in the program and now as commissioner of DYCD running the largest Summer Youth Employment Program in the country. Thanks to Mayor Adams’ investment of 100,000 SYEP jobs, this major accomplishment makes NYC a more affordable place to live, while aligning with the blueprint to end gun violence.”
Mayor Eric Adams, who expanded SYEP in 2022, long extolled the program as a violence and crime prevention strategy. A 2021 study shows enrollment decreased the chance of felony arrest by 19% over the summer, when gun violence rates are traditionally the highest.
“The Summer Youth Employment Program plays a vital role in that mission by providing thousands of young New Yorkers with meaningful jobs and internships, offering both career exploration and a chance to earn money,” added a spokesperson for Adams. “We’ve invested record amounts to maintain and expand these programs, and, for the fourth year in a row, SYEP will reach 100,000 young New Yorkers — helping to build the next generation, improve public safety, and create stronger communities for all New Yorkers.”
Financial literacy training is also included in the SYEP curriculum. Faith sais she learned how to properly save her money over the past two years, particularly with recent emphasis by the Adams administration. But her first paycheck at age 14 was a different story.
“It was $100 a week for seven weeks [and] you get $150 [in] the last two weeks: I blew the money,” said Faith with a laugh.“There was no money left.”
Apply for SYEP: https://application.nycsyep.com/
Tandy Lau is a Report for America corps member who writes about public safety for the Amsterdam News. Your donation to match our RFA grant helps keep him writing stories like this one; please consider making a tax-deductible gift of any amount today by visiting https://bit.ly/amnews1.