Mayor Eric Adams was at the Ferrari Driving School training center in Astoria on Aug. 27 to announce the expansion of a program that provides job training and counseling to formerly incarcerated individuals as they reenter society.
The Commercial Driver’s License training program, which launched as a pilot initiative earlier this year, will expand to include 300 more New Yorkers with pathways to new careers in the high-demand trucking industry, where starting salaries range from $78,000 to $124,000, for a population that typically faces 60% unemployment post-incarceration.
“One mistake should not destroy a person’s life because a bend in the road should not be the end of the road,” Adams said. “Today, we are driving second chances in New York City by expanding our Commercial Driver’s License training program. This is a multi-million dollar investment that we’re making on each individual, who we would have been spending that money housing them in a correctional facility. The money we would have been spending by not having them contribute to society in a tax base, we are now allowing them to contribute to society, raise a family, and [have] good working-class jobs. We’re giving them life-changing training, personalized coaching, and job placement next year.”
After providing tuition-free training to 20 participants in the pilot program with reentry workforce development partner Emerge Career, the Mayor’s Office of Criminal Justice (MOCJ) will expand the program to 300 participants in 2026, with additional expansions planned in the future.
“Research has taught us that one of the easiest ways to improve community safety is to help New Yorkers find financial stability,” MOCJ Director Deanna Logan said. “The data is also showing us that our investments in Emerge Career are paying immense dividends, in real second chances and wealth creation for some of our city’s most disadvantaged communities.”
According to a 2018 Brookings study, more than 80% of incarcerated men were jobless and had no income in the year prior to their incarceration. After release, only 20% reported earning at least $15,000 in their first year back in the community. By contrast, newly employed graduates of the city’s CDL program have secured positions with starting salaries ranging from $78,000 to $124,800.
“What sets Emerge apart is our deep collaboration with the broader community,” Emerge Career Co-founder and Co-CEO Gabriel Saruhashi said. “Our all-in-one workforce development platform gives case workers, emergency shelters, transitional housing programs, and supervision agencies real-time visibility into participants’ journeys — which is how our participants succeed at rates 50% higher than national averages and earn nearly twice as much as the typical graduate. This expansion will bring in $24 million in new wealth for their communities and the city.”
Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz said that securing a job is key to avoiding recidivism.
“The city’s commercial driver’s license training program has proven to be a success in providing employment opportunities for formerly incarcerated individuals,” Katz said. “I thank Mayor Adams for expanding this valuable program that will provide gainful employment opportunities for those reentering the workforce.”
