New York City, New York — New York City Comptroller Mark Levine warned Thursday that artificial intelligence could eliminate thousands of jobs and reduce city tax revenue, prompting calls to significantly expand the city’s financial reserves before potential economic disruption accelerates.
In a new report, Levine’s office recommended increasing New York City’s rainy-day fund to 16% of annual tax revenue, arguing current reserves may be insufficient if AI-driven economic changes trigger a downturn. The comptroller’s office estimated the city would need roughly $13.5 billion in reserves to weather a typical recession, compared with the projected $7.2 billion currently expected by the end of fiscal year 2026.
Levine said New York faces unique risks because of its large concentration of office workers and white-collar industries that may be vulnerable to automation and AI-driven restructuring. The report noted that roughly one million office workers in the city could eventually face disruption.
The comptroller’s office assigned a combined 50% probability to several negative scenarios, including mass job displacement and slowing economic growth if the labor market struggles to adapt to rapid technological change.
The report also highlighted rising unemployment among younger college-educated workers in New York City, suggesting AI-related uncertainty may already be affecting parts of the labor market.
Levine described the current period as “uncharted territory” and urged city leaders to prepare for potential long-term economic instability tied to artificial intelligence.
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