Less of this

Marte committed to fitness while in prison for dealing cocaine. When he moved back to the city 70 pounds lighter, he started training small groups in Forsyth Park.

“I would just show up every day,” he said, pitching his classes to almost anyone in workout gear. “I thought I had made it when I had five people there,” he went on. “I was conducting class, doing flutter kicks [exercises], under a beautiful sky. When I went from three to five customers, I was like, “Oh s—.”

Growing into a bigger operation took more than tenacity.

After two and a half years, Marte had saved enough money to open a brick-and-mortar location. Several landlords did not want to rent him space because they were uncomfortable with his background and his plan to hire others who had gotten out of prison. He could not get a loan.

He was quoted astronomical business insurance rates and had to open without coverage. In 2016 then-Gov. Andrew Cuomo created a regulation that prevented insurance companies from denying commercial crime insurance to New York businesses with previously incarcerated employees. But that did not help with costs.

A lack of experience with up-to-date technology can stifle ambition, the report found.

So, too, can restrictions on movement because of parole.

“The term ‘entrepreneur’ implies someone who can create things out of nothing,” Christopher Watler, chief external affairs officer at the Center for Employment Opportunities, which supports re-entry, said in the report. “But when you’re on probation or parole, you literally cannot leave a geographic area, so there’s already a built-in restriction on your ability of movement.”

Obstacles to entrepreneurship are also plainly intertwined with other re-entry issues.

“It’s systemic,” said Katie Nitti, who runs a small-business and entrepreneurship workshop in Rikers on a contract and often stays in touch with former students when they are released. “They get out and don’t have anyone to stay with. They go to open a bank account but need a photo ID or home address.”

Worse, she said, is a feeling that getting re-established is a risky proposition and that any stride will be scrutinized. They worry that if their business becomes visible, a victim may come forward to sue them or that if they raise money from friends or family, the source of the cash may come back to haunt them.That translates into well-founded anxiety, Nitti said.