Spanish Harlem’s unemployed population, hovering around 16 percent according to the Census Bureau, is tentatively hopeful that President Obama will get his jobs bill passed. The primary concern, however, is whether the bill can actually create more local small business jobs instead of just painting a brighter picture.

Guadalupe Castro owns Fierce Nail & Spa salon on 117th Street in East Harlem (Photo Credit: Sarah Kazadi)

– Will the incentives work?: The $447 billion American Jobs Act comes with incentives the president believes will get small businesses hiring again, including payroll tax cuts and a $4,000 tax credit to companies hiring the long-term unemployed. Guadalupe Castro, a small business owner in Spanish Harlem, said she wouldn’t mind hiring to “help out,” but that the incentives are not a guarantee that she’ll expand her staff. “They have to be professional, they have to know what they’re doing, it’s going to be a lot of things all together before I can say yes,” she said.

–How long will the incentives last?: There is skepticism that the bill’s incentives will create long term job opportunities. “I don’t think it’s going to work,” said Eladio Perez, an East Harlem resident who has been out of work since October 2009. “If they hire you just based on the incentives, a little after that you’ll be out again looking for work,” he said.

–How long before results?: Some unemployed East Harlem residents applaud the plan but believe that it may take too long to bear fruit. “What they’re doing may not come fast enough to help us. You still have to eat, you still need a roof over your head and hot water,” said Angelo Marquez, who has been unemployed for two years. President Obama added a measure to pay small businesses faster, “So that puts more money in their pockets quicker, which means they can hire folks quicker,” he said in an address at North Carolina State University. 

President Obama sent his job bill to Congress on Monday. There is currently no set date on when it will be voted on.