In this episode of The NYC Workforce Drop, NYCETC CEO Gregory J. Morris sits down with Councilmember Carmen De La Rosa (District 10) for a powerful and deeply personal conversation about care, courage, and the fight to make New York City work better for working people.
From her early years growing up in Upper Manhattan as the daughter of Dominican immigrants to chairing the Council’s Committee on Civil Service and Labor, De La Rosa traces her journey through Catholic church basements, a history-making Assembly win, and the pandemic-era decision to run for City Council while raising her daughter.
With Greg, she explores imposter syndrome, how lived experience fuels public service, and what it means to “occupy every room for the people back home.” Together, they dig into the realities facing New York’s workforce, from municipal hiring bottlenecks and nine-month onboarding delays to the two-for-one hiring policy and why frontline city workers are carrying the load of three.
CM De La Rosa also spotlights the fights she’s taken on, from SAG-AFTRA and WGA strikes to Amazon and Teamsters organizing, from nurses to newsroom workers, using her committee as a platform to demand dignity, safety, and a real seat at the table.
Looking ahead, the conversation turns to what’s next: grading the outgoing administration, calling for bold, not whispered, governance on Day One of a new mayoralty, and defining the Council’s role in aligning budgets, plugging federal holes, and centering families, stability, and mobility in the future of New York City.
Published by: New York City Employment and Training Coalition (NYCETC)
Produced by: Manhattan Neighborhood Network
Topics: care and courage in public service; immigrant leadership and representation; workforce systems as civic infrastructure; labor solidarity and worker dignity; civil service reform and hiring equity; wage justice and the Construction Justice Act; family, caregiving, and resilience in leadership; City Hall transitions and future council leadership
