Job Creation

Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg Accepts The National Mayoral Leadership Award From The U.S. Conference Of Mayors

Thu, 24 Jan 2008 07:51:43 -0600

“Thank you, Mayor Palmer, and thank you for this honor.

“I suspect the real reason I’m getting this award is that Mayor Palmer is hoping I can get him Super Bowl tickets. And I believe Mayor Schmitt from Green Bay is here. We had a friendly wager on last week’s game. Now, I’m not going to rub it in, but if anyone here would like to enjoy some delicious Wisconsin cheddar, see me afterwards. Mayor Tom Menino of Boston and I also have a little wager going: If the Giants win, Tom has promised to send me some genuine New England Clam Chowder. And if the Patriots win, I have promised to send him some genuine New York rush hour traffic.

“Mayor Palmer, Mayor Schmitt, and Mayor Menino are all members of our of coalition of Mayors Against Illegal Guns. We started with 15 mayors two years ago, and we’ve grown to more than 250 members from both political parties and from more than 40 states. If you’d like to join, we have a representative at the back of the room.

“This award is a real honor, but it could have gone to any number of other mayors who are some of the country’s strongest environmental leaders: Chicago’s Rich Daley; Seattle’s Greg Nickels; Miami’s Manny Diaz – those are just a few of the names that come to mind. In New York, we have no shame about stealing the best ideas from those cities – and from cities around the world – and working to push them to the next level. That’s how we arrived at our plan to cut electricity costs in government buildings by 30 percent over ten years and to turn our fleet of taxi cabs into hybrids, which will reduce their CO2 emissions by 50 percent. Those hybrids are allowing each cab driver to save about $5,000 a year in gas costs.

“Innovative environmental policies also make good economic sense and – these days– we could use a lot more good sense when it comes to how we approach our economy. If you’ll allow me to veer off-topic, I’d like to say a few words about the economy, because the debate over the economic stimulus package is the big issue in Washington right now and mayors should be a part of it.

“Mayors are the ones on the front lines of the economy, and we’ve got a lot to be worried about: The stock market has already given up more than the entirety of the gains it made last year, in just three weeks. Housing starts are at a 16-year low; oil is at $90 a barrel; food prices are up sharply; banks are turning to foreign funds to maintain reserves; and homeowners are defaulting at record rates. But from where I sit, having spent 35 years in the private sector, the debate in Washington is missing the point.

“Tax rebates, more generous unemployment benefits, home heating oil credits- these measures could modestly benefit Americans, and there is some value in that. Cutting taxes and increasing spending to stimulate demand is the standard Keynesian response. But there’s just one problem, it’s not going to make much of a difference, because we’ve already been running huge deficits.

“John F. Kennedy told us, ‘The time to repair the roof is when the sun is shining.’ That’s what many of us in this room did. We used the good times to save for the future and pay down debt. And when the storm clouds started gathering last year, we tightened our belts. In New York, we put $2.5 billion into a trust fund, beginning in 2006. Last year, we began cutting agency spending by 2.5 percent and we instituted a hiring freeze. But in Washington, they did exactly the opposite.

“They spent most of this decade running up bills with reckless abandon and when the economy started heading for the ditch, the special interest give-always got even bigger. They ate the seed corn without worrying about the next year’s harvest. Well, the next year is here, and the seed corn is gone. All we’ve got is a barn full of I.O.U.s.

“We can’t borrow our way out of this. The jig is up. It’s time to start getting our house in order, which I believe starts with a simple idea: Making decisions based on the business cycle instead of the election calendar.

“We all know that spending decisions in Washington are driven by whatever will attract votes and campaign cash. You can see it in the farm bill: 10 percent of farms – the large agribusinesses – captured 75 percent of the benefits, while the small family farmer got a few crumbs. You can see it in the energy bill, which was also a gift to agribusiness – and the rest of us are paying higher food prices as a result. And you can see it in the response to New Orleans, banks got their mortgages covered, but people still lost their homes.

“We can do better – if we start focusing on stimulus policies that make sense over the long term. Without keeping you here all night, I’d like to touch on a few ways we can do that.

“First, the most important and immediate economic relief we can offer is to help people who are in danger of losing their homes stay in their homes. What good is a rebate going to do for a family who’s about to lose their home? As a businessman who believes in the self-correcting nature of markets, I don’t think we should bail anyone out – the industry or the speculators. But it’s short-sighted to allow whole neighborhoods to fall victim to this, because when neighborhoods empty out, crime and drugs and violence rush in.

“That’s why the U.S. Conference of Mayors has been an important leader on this issue. The three-quarter point cut in interest rates will be helpful – not only to homeowners with variable mortgages, but also to the construction business, because more people will consider buying homes. But, we should do more to provide assistance to families trapped in bad mortgages so that they can keep their homes.

“In some cases that will mean financial counseling. In others it will mean ensuring that lenders make good on their promises to modify loans and make them affordable. And in some cases, it may also mean offering families trapped in bad mortgages a subsidized loan before their interest rates shoot up. This approach would provide immediate relief that would help stabilize both the national economy and strengthen local neighborhoods.

“Second, I believe - and I know a lot of mayors agree - that the best way to pump money into the economy in the short-term and get something out of it in the long-term is to finance immediate infrastructure projects that cities and states can’t afford. I’m sure all of us have a list a mile long – bridges and roads and mass transit systems that need repair. Why not put people to work on these projects right now? Remember, the public works of the New Deal didn’t just create jobs. They built a foundation that allowed America to experience unprecedented growth in the 1940s, 50s, and 60s.

“Last week, I was in California with Governor Schwarzenegger and Governor Rendell of Pennsylvania. We launched a new, nonpartisan coalition of mayors and governors called Building America’s Future. We’re going to push for a new national commitment to infrastructure, and I hope all of you will join us. Other countries around the world are spending 5-10 percent of their GDP on infrastructure, while we’ve been down around 2.5 percent for decades. And it shows - not just in New Orleans and Minneapolis, but all across the country.

“The problem isn’t just that we’re not investing enough in infrastructure, it’s that we’re investing badly. It’s time we start spending on the infrastructure Americans need, not the pork barrel projects that politicians want. Senators Chris Dodd and Chuck Hagel have proposed creating an infrastructure bank for this purpose.

“That strikes me as a very good idea, and here’s another one we should consider: a capital budget for the federal government. Almost every mayor in this room has a capital budget, and so does just about every industrialized nation. But not Washington.

“I built my company on the idea that better, more transparent data will help people make better decisions. There’s a saying: In God We Trust. Everyone else bring data. Washington should be no exception. Telling us how and for what our money’s being spent let’s us, rather than them, make the decisions.

“Third, it’s time to stop talking about protecting manufacturing jobs and start talking about promoting manufacturing jobs. We can create a stronger manufacturing base, but only if we focus on what we excel at as a nation – innovation. We invented the telegraph and telephone and built an industry that began a communications revolution.

“We invented the airplane and built an industry that began a transportation revolution. We invented the personal computer and built an industry that began a technological revolution – and that allowed me, and so many other entrepreneurs, to launch companies. No economy is more innovative than ours, but other countries are catching up. If we’re going to stay ahead, we need to develop market-based incentives for promoting innovative new industries that can make break-through products and breakthrough materials.

“Demand is growing in every industry for materials that make products better, lighter, faster, cheaper and greener. That’s especially true of green energy, biotechnology, life sciences, computer technology. These industries are going to create millions of jobs. But whether those jobs are American or foreign will depend largely on the economic climate we create.

“Fourth, it’s time to take the best ideas from the left and the right to reward work and raise real incomes. If and when Americans get rebate checks an awful lot of them are going to be asking, ‘why is this the first real raise I’ve gotten in years?’ ‘Why didn’t my income grow with the economy?’ Too many Americans are working hard just to stand still – even after a long period of economic growth. We can do better.

“Expanding the earned-income tax credit and eliminating its marriage penalty would be a more effective way of getting money into people’s hands than a rebate – and, unlike extending unemployment insurance, it would incentivize work. To help Americans stretch their dollar further, we should also use the downturn to begin getting serious about finding ways to control health care costs, and reforming policies that add hundreds of dollars to every family’s grocery bill. But the single-most important thing we can do to raise real income in the years ahead is to invest more – and more wisely – in education and job training.

“It’s popular to throw money at job training programs, but too many of them are glorified social-service programs. In New York, we turned job-training upside down by instituting pay-for-performance contracts and linking workers with growing industries. Now, job-training centers get paid in full only if they place clients in jobs – because that’s why we hired them. If they can’t do it, we’ll find someone else who can. By taking this approach, we’ve gone from placing about 500 people in jobs every year to placing about 18,000 per year.

“Tailoring services around the customer and holding everyone accountable for results: that’s what you do every day in the private sector, and that’s what should be done in the public sector, not only in job-training, but also in our schools.

“We need national leaders who have the courage to put every idea that will help children succeed on the table – whether those ideas come from the left or the right. Higher standards, higher salaries, merit pay, tenure reform, school report cards: These reforms have been essential to our success in New York – and if we’re serious about creating an education system capable of raising real income over the long-term, we can’t afford not to try them.

“Fifth, and finally, we could strengthen our economy – today – if Congress would pass a comprehensive immigration reform bill. Illegal immigration has become the pandering politician’s best friend. But here’s the reality: we all know that the federal government has failed to secure the borders and failed to give businesses the tools they need to deal with the issue.

“But at the same time, we have to stop turning away people that our economy needs. Not only unskilled laborers, but also scientists, doctors, engineers, and innovators of every kind. They are going to invest in America and open businesses and pay taxes and create millions of jobs.

“The only question, once again, is whether we allow those jobs to be created here, or whether we continue sending them elsewhere.

“If America is going to remain the world’s economic superpower, we have to continue welcoming the best and the brightest from all over the world. Otherwise in another generation or two, other countries that are producing high-wage jobs are going to be out-sourcing low-wage jobs to us.

“The problems of our economy are not going to be solved with a quick fix. We need policies that will produce a boost in the short-term and a boom in the long-term. We have it within us to build a strong and stable economy. And by that I mean one where entrepreneurship is encouraged, where there is freedom to innovate, where opportunities are open to all, where benefits are shared by everyone, and where families can find economic security.

“That’s the promise that America has always held, and we deserve a federal government that does more to help Americans redeem that promise. Thank you again for this award, and for being such strong partners on so many of important issues.

“And, Go Giants!”

Mayor Bloomberg And Chancellor Klein Announce 5,000th Student Will Graduate From City's 'Learning To Work' Program

Tue, 15 Jan 2008 06:00:00 -0600

Program Allows Over-Age Students to Earn High School Diplomas While Serving
in Paid Work Internships

Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg and Schools Chancellor Joel I. Klein today announced today that the 5,000th graduate from the City’s innovative career development program, Learning To Work, will earn his or her high school diploma by the end of this month. Learning to Work, launched in September 2005, helps students who are academically behind by at least two years graduate from high school while receiving in-depth job-readiness training, including paid internships. The Mayor, Chancellor, and Learning To Work participants from programs throughout the city were joined at the Harlem Renaissance School in Manhattan by Deputy Mayor for Education and Community Development Dennis Walcott, New York City Mission Society Executive Director Stephanie Palmer, and Harlem Renaissance Principal Mary Rice Boothe.

“When students fall two or more years behind in school, we as a City have two choices – throw up our hands and consign our kids to a lifetime of doors closed to opportunity, or find ways to help them across the line to graduation,” said Mayor Bloomberg. “We’ve chosen the more challenging route – finding a different way – and we have found that given an opportunity to combine academics and opportunities to gain workforce experience, students respond positively. Learning To Work has improved students’ odds of enjoying successful and rewarding careers, and that is good news for all New Yorkers.”

“We launched Learning to Work because tens of thousands of predominantly poor, black, and Hispanic students were dropping out of City schools every year, and traditional forms of outreach and intervention were failing to reach them,” said Chancellor Klein. “Learning to Work makes school more relevant for struggling students by supplementing academic instruction with paid internships and career counseling. Today, Learning to Work is recognized as a national model for helping at-risk students to get back on track. Its success is a testament to the hard work and commitment of teachers, administrators, community partners, and especially the students.”

Outcomes for over-age and under-credited students – those who are more than two years behind academically – are much more positive for students who participate in Learning To Work programs than for similar students who remain in traditional high schools. Only 19 percent of over-age, under-credited students earn diplomas in traditional high schools, while the graduation rates is 56 percent for comparable students in transfer schools – small, academically rigorous, diploma-granting high schools designed to reengage students who have dropped out or who have fallen behind and earned fewer credits than expected for their age. The graduation rate in Young Adult Borough Centers with Learning To Work programs is 44 percent. The program also outperforms the school system as a whole in re-engaging and graduating male students. The vast majority of Learning To Work graduates are black and Hispanic, with black males representing 19.9 percent and Hispanic males representing 22.4 percent of its graduates.

Participants enjoy a broad range of paid internships in the public, private, and non-profit sectors, with placements tailored to match their interests and career goals. Students express high levels of satisfaction with the program, with over 90 percent of students reporting that their internships would help them obtain jobs after graduation. Additionally, three times as many students reported that the overall Learning To Work program supported key career development skills – such as identifying career goals, constructing résumés, and applying for jobs – compared with programs they previously attended.

Expansion of Learning To Work programs has been a central priority of this Administration. Since September 2005, the DOE has opened or enhanced 15 transfer schools, 10 GED programs, and 20 Young Adult Borough Centers with Learning To Work components. In 2007, 9,809 students participated in Learning To Work programs, compared with 6,351 during the previous year. As of November 2007, nearly 8,000 students were already participating in the programs citywide, with students continuing to enroll throughout the academic year. The Department of Education has also expanded program services to students, with internship placements increasing by 115 percent during the program’s second year of operation and continued growth expected in 2008.

“Learning to Work programs have provided tremendous benefits to Harlem Renaissance students who have taken advantage of them,” said Harlem Renaissance High School Principal Mary Rice Boothe. “Our most successful students are those who have been involved with Learning To Work, not only because of the work experience they gained outside of school, but also because of the social, emotional, and academic supports they received from the dedicated staff of our community partner, the New York City Mission Society.”

“Our partnership with Harlem Renaissance High School demonstrates that community-based organizations such as the New York City Mission Society are committed to working with the Department of Education to ensure that the City’s education system works for all young people,” said New York City Mission Society Executive Director Stephanie Palmer. “The success of this initiative proves that our collective efforts can assist students who somehow lost their way to get back on track to fulfill the promise of a brighter future and better outcomes for themselves and their families.”

Statement By Mayor Michael Bloomberg On New York City's Lowest Unemployment Rate Ever

Fri, 20 Apr 2007 08:46:56 -0500

Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg today announced the New York City unemployment rate fell to 4.3% in March, the lowest since comparable data collection began in 1976, according to the New York State Department of Labor. Over the past five years, the City's unemployment rate has fallen steadily from 8.4% in March 2003, 7.7% in March 2004, 5.5% in March 2005, 5.3% in March 2006 and 4.3% in March 2007.

"New York City's economy continues to grow, and today's news that our unemployment rate fell yet again to an historic low is the latest sign that everything we're doing to create and keep jobs in New York is working," said Mayor Bloomberg. "Our ambitious five-borough economic development strategy is designed to make the City more livable, more business-friendly and more economically diverse. Our crime rate is lower and our schools are getting better, so it's no surprise that people want locate and grow businesses here and create more jobs."

Mayor Michael Bloomberg Announces City Achieved Lowest-Ever Annual Unemployment Rate In 2006

Mon, 26 Mar 2007 13:03:07 -0500

Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg today announced the New York City unemployment rate fell to 4.3% in December, dropping the average unemployment rate in 2006 to 5.0% for the first time since comparable employment data collection began in 1976, according to the New York State Department of Labor. The previous yearly low was 5.1% in 1988. At 4.3%, the City’s monthly unemployment rate remained lower than or the same as that of the nation for the fourth straight month. The monthly rate is down from 4.5% in November 2006, 5.8% in December 2005, 6.3% in December 2004, 8.0% in December 2003 and 8.6% in December 2002.

"Yesterday, we outlined an ambitious agenda to take advantage of the unique position of strength New York City is in as a result of five years of innovation, accountability and fiscal responsibility,” said Mayor Bloomberg. “News that our average unemployment rate in 2006 was the lowest on record is yet another example how New York's recovery from 9/11 is exceeding our wildest dreams.”

Average Annual Unemployment Rates in New York City (1978 – 2006)

1978 – 9.0%
1979 – 8.7%
1980 – 8.6%
1981 – 8.9%
1982 – 9.7%
1983 – 9.6%
1984 – 8.7%
1985 – 8.2%
1986 – 7.4%
1987 – 5.7%
1988 – 5.1%
1989 – 6.7%
1990 – 6.9%
1991 – 8.7%
1992 – 11.1%
1993 – 10.3%
1994 – 8.8%
1995 – 8.2%
1996 – 8.8%
1997 – 9.4%
1998 – 7.9%
1999 – 6.9%
2000 – 5.8%
2001 – 6.0%
2002 – 8.1%
2003 – 8.3%
2004 – 7.0%
2005 – 5.8%
2006 – 5.0%

Mayor Michael Bloomberg And NYC & Company Announce 44 Million Tourists Pumped $24 Billion Into Economy

Mon, 26 Mar 2007 13:03:07 -0500

Year-End Tourism Estimates Surpass Original Projections and Shatter Previous Visitor Record; City is Ahead of Schedule in Plan to Attract 50 Million Tourists to New York by 2015

Mayor Announces Expansion of City’s First International Tourism Marketing Campaign – NYC OPEN/BOOK – Into Ireland, Italy and Spain; New Program Offers Hotel and Airline Discounts During Traditionally Slower Tourism Periods

Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg today announced that an estimated 44 million people from around the country and the world visited New York City in 2006. This total surpasses the 41 million tourists that were estimated to have visited the City in 2005 at this time last year. It also tops the 43 million tourists projected to visit in 2006 at the beginning of the year, and represents a major step towards the City’s goal of attracting 50 million tourists by 2015. NYC & Company projects that tourists spent $24 billion in the City in 2006, supporting nearly 350,000 jobs. This announcement comes just days after NYC & Company completed phase one of the City’s first international tourism campaign, NYC OPEN/BOOK. The second phase, starting January 2, will expand the marketing campaign to Italy, Ireland, and Spain. NYC & Company Executive Director of Tourism Tim McGuinness, Radisson Lexington Hotel bell captain Willie Lopez, Radisson Lexington Hotel front office employee Edna Thomas, and New York Botanical Garden President Gregory Long also attended the announcement at the New York Botanical Garden in the Bronx, a New York City cultural destination promoted and marketed to tourists by NYC & Company.

"The 44 million people who came to New York City in 2006 are an invaluable engine helping drive the City’s economy," said Mayor Bloomberg. "New Yorkers from waiters and waitresses to hotel workers, like Willie Lopez and Edna Thomas, are supported by the millions of people that come here from around the world to experience the Big Apple. We set an ambitious target of attracting 50 million tourists by 2015, and judging by NYC & Company’s success with innovative marketing campaigns like NYC OPEN/BOOK, we are well on our way to achieving our goal."

The 2006 estimates include 37 million domestic visitors and 7 million visitors from other countries, including 1.2 million visitors from the United Kingdom, the City’s number one international market. Tourism from Ireland has more than doubled since 2000, and travel from Spain, Holland, Australia and South America is rising steadily and expected to continue to grow. Between Christmas and New Year’s Day, an estimated 1.25 million international visitors came to the City. With the focus on new opportunities and emerging markets, NYC & Company projects a total of 45.5 million tourists for 2007, a gain of 3.2% over this year. NYC & Company revises its estimates as more information becomes available; the estimate for 2005 of 41 million tourists was revised upwards to 42.6 million tourists.

In November, NYC & Company, under the new leadership of CEO George Fertitta, launched the first phase of its first major international tourism marketing campaign, NYC OPEN/BOOK. The campaign offers potential visitors hotel and airline discounts during days of the year that are traditionally slower for the City’s tourism industry. The discounts are offered around major U.S. holidays and are aimed primarily at international travelers who spend more money than domestic tourists. International visitors stay longer and are 2.5 times more likely to visit a cultural organization, frequently those located in boroughs beyond Manhattan. NYC & Company has already received positive feedback from travel agents about the first phase, which ran from December 18 to December 25 and centered on advertising in London’s underground rail system.

From January 2 to January 15, the second phase of the NYC OPEN/BOOK campaign will offer hotel and airline discounts for the post-holiday shopping period and Martin Luther King Jr. long weekend. Because of the excitement generated by the first phase in the United Kingdom, the City is expanding its tourism campaign to include upcoming promotional and advertising outreach in Ireland, Italy and Spain in the coming months.

"The destination marketing and tourism industries have become increasing crowded and competitive," said NYC & Company Chairman Jonathan Tisch. "The marketplace demands that cities – even New York City – keep up with those changes. We must be smart, nimble and strategic to succeed. NYC OPEN/BOOK is an innovative effort to bring more visitors to NYC during identified need periods."

"There are 70 key OPEN/BOOK dates every year when domestic visitors tend to stay close to home with their families. These are the perfect dates for visitors from outside the United States to come to New York," said NYC & Company CEO Fertitta. "Thanks to Mayor Bloomberg’s commitment to promoting New York City as a destination and through the reorganization of our marketing and promotional efforts, we are able to reach out to the United Kingdom and other countries and attract more visitors."

"Our marketing and promotional efforts are important to the 350,000 women and men who work in the travel and tourism industry in New York – the hotel staff, doormen, waiters, cab drivers, tour guides and more – who depend upon a robust tourism industry to put food on their family’s table," said Executive Director of Tourism McGuinness. "Seen through that lens, this effort has an amazing impact on our City’s economic health."

Mayor Bloomberg appointed Fertitta in June to combine the formerly separate entities of NYC Marketing, NYC Big Events and NYC & Company under one banner – while keeping the NYC & Company name – creating the world’s leading municipal tourism, marketing and events organization.

An integral part of NYC & Company’s marketing strategy is a concerted effort to market New York’s five boroughs as a whole. Most recently, NYC & Company aggressively promoted the colorful glass creations by artist Dale Chihuly at the New York Botanical Garden. The exhibit was featured in a multitude of NYC & Company publications, including official visitors guides, print and online newsletters, and press releases reaching more than 100,000 City residents, visitors, journalists, travel agents, meeting planners and tour guides.

For more information on NYC OPEN/BOOK, please visit http://www.nycopenbook.com.

Good News Gets Better

Wed, 4 Apr 2007 12:25:19 -0500

The city's unemployment rate has now fallen to 4.1%, the lowest it has ever been since recordkeeping began three decades ago. Since this comes at a time when the number of people working in the city is more than 3.6 million, also an all-time high, we know that the good old days were never this good.

Consider that it was only 3 1/2 years ago, in March 2003, that the city's jobless rate hit a very painful 8.6%, well above the national average. It's now less than half that and below the national rate of 4.4%.

Of course, there's still more work required on the employment front. The last census showed the city's median income was $38,293, and 1.5 million New Yorkers remain under the poverty line. People are desperate for good-paying jobs with decent benefits. Just look at the thousands who mobbed the new M&M's World store in Times Square to apply for 65 full-time and 130 part-time jobs that start at $10.75 an hour, with health insurance and benefits. But the city has clearly reversed the downward trend.

There are a lot of people to thank for that reversal. Some of the credit must go to Mayor Bloomberg, who has run a tax-friendly, business-smart government contributing to job growth and job retention. But most belongs to the employers who are rebuilding New York City.

Boom Burg

Wed, 4 Apr 2007 12:08:39 -0500

New York's astonishing building surge continues apace as projects that long seemed laughably impossible take shape all over town.

Decades have passed since people first began talking about building a new Yankee Stadium, and yesterday the team broke ground on what should become a magnificent new home and addition to the Bronx. For a similarly long period, people have bemoaned the wasteland that is the East River waterfront in Long Island City, and yesterday the City Council unanimously approved plans for a $1 billion residential and commercial development there, including movie production facilities.

This week also brought the groundbreaking for a $500 million retail complex, called Gateway Center, where the Bronx Terminal Market stood decrepit for more than a quarter-century and a key state okay for the transformation of the Farley Post Office on Eighth Ave. into a grand rail terminal, a concept that has been on the drawing boards for more than a decade.

And there's much more in the pipeline. A new stadium for the Mets, Atlantic Yards in Brooklyn and countless projects large and small in every borough will push 2006 construction spending in the city well past last year's record $19 billion. That money will generate the vital benefits of well-paying jobs, affordable housing and renewed neighborhoods. Silvercup West, planned for Long Island City, is a prime example in that the movie studio is expected to have 4,000 permanent jobs, and residential towers will add 1,000 units to New York's housing stock.

Why is all this happening now? Two reasons. First, the economy is on an upswing. Second, Mayor Bloomberg devised zoning reforms and smart public investments, often in partnership with the state, that served as catalysts to development. This is a city on the move.

Kicking butts

Having decided to devote himself to philanthropy after leaving office, the mayor is giving a healthy slice of his fortune, $125 million, to a global anti-smoking campaign.

"There are roughly 5 million people who are killed by tobacco in this world each year," he said. "We know how to save millions of lives, and shame on us if we don't do it."

Achieving just part of that goal would be a triumph. Every success, Mr. Mayor.

Boom Times In Boom Town

Wed, 4 Apr 2007 11:40:00 -0500

Today, good news that bears trumpeting: New York is experiencing its biggest building boom in many decades. All across the city, projects large and small are renewing neighborhoods and creating jobs at stunning rates.

The surge is so large that every sector of construction - from housing to commercial buildings to public works - is growing in all five boroughs, a phenomenon not seen since the 1920s, before the Great Depression, when the original Yankee Stadium went up and ground was broken for the IND subway.

There's enough work to keep 120,000 hardhats toiling away, up by about 20,000 since 1998. The vast majority of this labor force is unionized and lives in the city. Its members get paid well, averaging $50,000 in salary with solid benefits, and they return more than $1 billion in income taxes a year to state and city coffers.

With additional growth, the demand for homegrown workers will intensify. As Lou Colletti, president of the Building Trades Employers' Association, put it: "Contractor capacity and worker capacity are the most important priorities we need to address." High school grads looking for opportunities should take note.

Several forces are propelling the heavy equipment. Chief among them are a rising economy and a growing population; smart, development-friendly policies at City Hall, and an upturn in capital spending by state and city governments. As a result, the construction tab hit a record $19 billion last year and is projected to climb by several billion more over the next three years, said Dick Anderson, president of the New York Building Congress.

Private investment is substantial, too. Consider, for example, housing. The city last year issued 31,600 residential building permits for everything from single-family homes to big apartment houses. That was more than double the number in 2000, with the biggest gains in Brooklyn and the Bronx, up 310% and 300%, respectively.

Mayor Bloomberg has used cost-effective public allocations and zoning reforms to spur private concerns into mega-spending. The benefits include plans for new stadiums for the Yankees and Mets, and a push to build offices on Manhattan's far West Side and as many as 10,000 units of housing on a rundown stretch of East River waterfront in Greenpoint and Williamsburg, Brooklyn.

Also in Brooklyn, Bruce Ratner is forging ahead with his Atlantic Yards project, a $3.5 billion complex with an arena for the Nets, offices and more than 6,000 apartments. In Queens, under the guidance of Gov. Pataki's Empire State Development Corp., construction is underway at Queens West, a $2.5 billion project consisting of 19 apartment buildings and 23 acres of parkland on the East River across from the UN. In the Bronx, the Bronx Terminal Market is being rebuilt in a $300 million investment that will create thousands of permanent jobs.

In Manhattan, the Javits Convention Center is being expanded, the Farley Post Office will become a new Penn Station, the No. 7 subway line is being extended to 11th Ave. and 34th St. and at some point, the World Trade Center site will be rebuilt.

"The city government is taking an active role to shape the future as we transform from a 20th century economy to the 21st century," says Dan Doctoroff, deputy mayor for economic development.

This is the era of the bulldozer, the crane, the hammer - and construction jobs. By one estimate, every $1 spent on building yields $1.50 in economic activity in the city and an additional 66 cents elsewhere in the region. And each $1 million produces 18 jobs in the city and eight in the region.

Ah, the sweet music of jackhammers.

Mayor Michael Bloomberg Delivers 2006 State Of The City Address "A Blueprint For New York City’s Future"

Mon, 26 Mar 2007 13:03:07 -0500

Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg: Well thank you, Jeanne. I’d almost forgotten that little incident with Brian at your party. But you didn’t finish the story. I remember standing up and saying: just don’t tell the Post about it.

Borough President Molinaro, thank you for hosting us here in beautiful Staten Island, the place-

The place that -- unbeknownst to the press -- has been my real island get-away for the past four years.

Comptroller Thompson, Public Advocate Gotbaum; Borough Presidents; Members of the Council; Congressmen; Mr. District Attorneys; Speaker Quinn; and-

And all the distinguished officials and honored guests with us today: Welcome to everybody.

Looking around at all of the elected officials and community leaders in this theater, I see faces with family roots in Africa, and Asia, and Europe, and Latin America, and the Caribbean. I see Jews, and Christians, and Muslims, and Buddhists; gay and straight, immigrant and native–born. I see New York right here!

The diversity of our City -- and its leadership -- gives us incredible strength. And over the past four years, as God knows, we have needed every ounce of it. After starting this decade at the peak of an economic boom, we soon tumbled into the darkest of valleys. And since then, against all the odds, our City has climbed back up that mountain – faster than anyone thought possible. We didn’t do it by putting political interests ahead of the public’s interests. We didn’t do it by leaving the most vulnerable behind. And we didn’t do it as Republicans or Democrats. We did it together as New Yorkers. And because we did, today, all five boroughs are reaching heights that we’ve never before known: in safety, education, health care, economic development. In every area, the State of our City today is united and stronger than ever!

As we look ahead to 2006 and beyond, we recognize that this is a special moment for New York. We can sit back and let the power of the moment wane. Or, we can grab hold of it and set New York on the road to long-term strength, stability, and success so that when the tough times return – and they always do – we will be better prepared to meet them than ever before.

Fellow New Yorkers: such a future is now within our reach. I believe that the unity we’ve achieved, born of tragedy, but nurtured by our common dreams, can lead us to great achievements that no one imagined possible just four short years ago. During the last campaign, I proposed more than 100 initiatives that will keep New York moving forward. Have I forgotten those promises? Not one. Will I honor them? You better believe it. But we will do much more than keep our promises. We will keep pursuing new ideas and fresh approaches with more determination than ever, and with the same set of values and principles that have guided- that have guided us here. We will use this moment to take on the most difficult long-term challenges for our children, and their children.

I have pledged that in my second term, we would neither turn back, nor hold back. And today, you’ll hear exactly how we’re going to do that. I’m going to lay out a blueprint for New York’s future in all the key areas of our City’s life: jobs and the economy, housing and parks, health and human services, education and public safety, financial security, and government integrity.

Let’s start with the challenge of creating the jobs New Yorkers need today, and the jobs our children will need tomorrow. In 2005, New York City's unemployment rate dropped to 5.8 percent, the lowest level since the year 2000, but we're not stopping there. We’ve set a goal of creating 250,000 new private sector jobs over the next five years-- and to make sure that all communities have access to them. To do it, we’re going to invest in economic development projects, make New York the most business-friendly city in the nation, and encourage growing industries.

This year, an extraordinary range of projects will leap off the drawing boards – creating jobs, revitalizing the waterfront, and bringing new life to communities in every borough. At the Homeport here on Staten Island, we’ll break ground on a waterfront esplanade and take the first major steps towards creating a great place to live, work, and play.

In Brooklyn, construction workers will put shovels in the ground at Atlantic Yards – knew you’d like that Marty.

The most exciting housing, commercial, and sports development in Brooklyn’s history.

In both the South Bronx and Flushing, the Yankees and Mets will break ground on new stadiums – and then meet in a seven-game Subway Series!

(We can dream, can't we?)

But that’s just the beginning. Just west of Yankee Stadium, we’ll start construction at the long-neglected Bronx Terminal Market. And, just east of the Stadium, we’ll begin building at the Hub, finally realizing its extraordinary potential. Together, these projects will become the first major retail and commercial development in the South Bronx in decades.

In Flushing, we’ll start construction on a $500 million project to create 2,000 jobs and revitalize the heart of downtown. And just west of there in Willets Point, we’ll select a developer to begin turning the Iron Triangle into a community jewel – with parks, jobs, and housing.

In Jamaica, we’ll begin- begin one of the largest re-zonings in decades, creating the conditions for a vibrant transportation-oriented business district that capitalizes on the AirTrain and its connection to Kennedy Airport, while at the same time protecting the character of the residential neighborhood.

On Manhattan’s East Side, work will begin on the new East River Science Park, which will create 2,500 biotech jobs. On the West Side, we’ll start digging a tunnel to extend the number Seven Train, spurring development of a thriving new residential and commercial neighborhood. We’ll also move ahead on two badly needed projects: the Javits Center expansion, and on the Hudson, a modernized cruise ship terminal.

We’ll begin work on one of the most innovative park projects in the world: the High Line. And, across the island, we will begin reshaping the East River Waterfront.

Over in Brooklyn, we’ve fully- we’ll fully open a new cruise ship terminal in Red Hook, which will become home to the Queen Mary II and 600 new jobs. All along the Brooklyn waterfront, the Port Authority will turn over Piers 1 through 5 – and the City will contribute Pier 6 – to the Brooklyn Bridge Development Corporation – something the community has been dreaming about for 20 years!

To make sure that these projects move forward on schedule and on budget, we’ve created a new Office of Capital Project Development in City Hall, which will work with all of our public and private partners. When we say we're going to build something, it's not just a photo-op -- we're really going to build it! And this office will be the central command center to insure that that happens.

Most importantly of all, this year, as we push forward on the redevelopment of the World Trade Center, we need to put aside individual financial interests and focus on what’s best for our City. That means it’s time to pick up the pace of commercial construction, and build for uses that reflect the realities of the market and the needs of Lower Manhattan –like the retail development that’s so crucial to linking the site back to the life of the City.

Yes you can applaud.

We can do this if Silverstein Properties is willing to do the right thing – and hand over responsibility for building Towers 3 and 4, in exchange for a reduction of its rent. And we-

Yes- And we can do it if the Port Authority commits to occupying one of the towers and working quickly to identify a developer for the other, so that all projects can proceed simultaneously at the same, quick pace. Such re-negotiations between the Port Authority and Silverstein Properties must not wait. The time to reach agreement is now. We can not allow the Trade Center to be a construction site for the next 15 years, which the plan all but ensures that it will be!

If we immediately start building retail stores along with a commercial, residential, and hotel mix – Lower Manhattan will become one of the most energetic and exciting neighborhoods in New York. We need this now, to advance our economy and pay tribute to those who died there –not a decade and a half in the future, when it fits a developer's financial plan!

Three years ago, we presented our vision for revitalizing Lower Manhattan as-as exactly that kind of vibrant, 24 by 7 community. Since then, we’ve advanced every element of that vision – investing in parks, housing, schools, and streetscapes. Now, we’re also going to extend it to one of our most valuable assets downtown: Governors Island. We will select a specific plan for the future of Governors Island that makes the most of its spectacular location, beauty, and history. We believe that by taking all of these steps, the next four years will see the rebirth of Lower Manhattan as the world’s financial capital and as a thriving residential, retail, and waterfront community.

Lower Manhattan is a cornerstone of our blueprint for the future, but we cannot allow its volatile financial markets to be the sole foundation of our economic health. In 2006, not only will we get major economic development projects off the ground in all five boroughs, we will take a major step towards making- towards making New York the most business friendly city in the nation. By the end of this year, we’re going to launch "Business Express," a web site where small business owners can set up personal accounts and get the help they need to start and grow their businesses.

Creating the conditions for small businesses to thrive also means supporting the growing industries that many of them capitalize on, industries like retail, film & television, and tourism. We’ve just had our best tourism year on record, with 41 million visitors to our City.

This year, this year, NYC & Company expects that number to climb to 43 million. But we must, and we will, do even better.

Over the past four years, we’ve created new partners for NYC & Company: NYC Marketing, and NYC Big Events. Now they’ll work more closely together to create the best marketing and promotion effort serving any city in the world. And to support this, we’re going to commit an additional $15 million annually – nearly tripling the City’s investment, so that we can compete with cities like Las Vegas-

-that spend far more than we do to attract tourists and the jobs they create. With this bigger and better marketing strategy, we will set a new goal. We’re calling it "50 by 15," 50 million visitors annually by the year 2015. We can do it.

And to help accommodate all those visitors, we’ll soon announce a comprehensive plan to protect our City’s great hotels and encourage investment in new hotels in our City.

The plan will embody that spirit- the new spirit of labor-management cooperation we helped forge to rescue the Plaza and hundreds of jobs. But the biggest draw for tourists, and the greatest competitive advantage that New York has over every other city in the world, can be found right here, at all of our world-class cultural institutions and entertainment venues.

And that’s why we’ve dramatically increased capital funding for arts organizations in every borough.

This year, the 30th Anniversary of our City’s Department of Cultural Affairs, we will help unveil a number of exciting projects, including a new performing arts center at Harlem’s Aaron Davis Hall, a beautiful new wing at the Bronx Museum of the Arts. And – I know this will be a favorite with many here today– the Staten Island Zoo will open its long-awaited Reptile Wing!

To make sure that all communities have access to the jobs we’re creating in so many different industries, we’ve worked hard to level the playing field for women-and minority-owned businesses. In the months ahead, as a result of our close collaboration with the City Council, we’ll establish explicit purchasing goals at every City agency for minority and women-owned businesses.

We’ll also begin to see the results from our Commission on Construction Opportunity, and let me tell you – the early indications are incredibly promising. For example, next Monday, 160 men and women who have had difficulty finding steady employment will start a six-month job training and union apprentice program to begin preparing them for careers in- in- in construction. And our Workforce One job training centers will place a record 15,000 people in jobs over the next 12 months.

Mak-

Making sure that every community shares in the New York we are building also requires us to look to the future –and plan for the future – in ways we haven’t dared in decades.

In April, I will present the results of a sweeping inter-agency, five-borough Strategic Land Use plan that examines all of our City’s neighborhoods and their needs for the 21st Century, focusing primar- particularly on housing, transportation, energy, and infrastructure – including parks. This year, here in “the borough of parks,” Staten Island, we will begin to turn what was once the world’s largest landfill into a beautiful expanse more than twice the size of Central Park. We’ll also add substantial acreage to Staten Island’s "bluebelt" covers- conservation system.

Historically, there was almost no coordinated planning to protect Staten Island’s quality of life. As a result, as everyone here knows, overdevelopment became a major problem, and traffic went from bad to worse. We are going to confront this problem of traffic with the very same vigor we used attacking overdevelopment. Using the work of the Growth Management Task Force as a model, we will take decisive steps to improve the flow of traffic on Staten Island.

I’ve asked my-

I’ve asked my transportation and City Planning commissioners to report back to the Management Growth- the Growth Management Task Force in 60 days with a package of incentives designed to address Staten Island's growing congestion. And to improve traffic flow in all five boroughs, we will launch a new program called "Take Back the Streets," to crack down on construction contractors that illegally tear them up.

And, to ensure that when public utilities fix the streets, we hold them accountable for making sure they stay fixed!

When we talk about quality of life, we also need to talk about affordability. New York’s future depends on our ability to make sure that middle and working class families can afford to live here.

That’s why we fought for the $400 property tax rebate. That’s why we will again issue it again this year. It’s why I will be asking the State Legislature to extend the rebates for the remainder of my term.

And it’s why we are creating the most ambitious affordable housing initiative in New York City’s history!

Over the past four years, we’ve funded the construction and rehabbing of nearly 50,000 affordable houses in all five boroughs. But that’s only the beginning. Next week, when I release our preliminary budget, it will fund our seven and a half billion dollar plan to build and preserve 165,000 units of affordable housing in New York City by the year 2013. Three-fourths of that housing will be started or finished by the end of this term, and-

And many of the units will be for the middle class. Over the next 12 months, we’ll put another 15,000 units of affordable housing into production. We’ll break ground on the first new mid- and high-rise co-ops and condos to go up in the South Bronx in a generation, and on the next phase- in the next phase of more than 500 Nehemiah homes being developed at Spring Creek in Brooklyn.

To make sure that the benefits of our affordable housing program are shared with City workers, who do so much to keep our city healthy and strong, we’ve introduced a five percent preference for them in our housing lotteries. This year, we’ll also help more of our City’s brave veterans achieving the- achieve the dream of home ownership by giving them a 30 percent preference for homes taken in foreclosure-

Taken in foreclosure by the federal government and that are now being restored by the City and our partners. These men and women have risked everything to defend us, and I’m honored that several have joined us today, and I ask them to stand you can thank them for their sacrifice-

We’ve got obligations to other New Yorkers, too, particularly our children, and especially those who are at-risk of abuse. Our Administration for Children’s Services has come so far over the past ten years, but we know we haven’t come far enough. We must respond to every child’s case with an unflinching sense of urgency. Two days ago, I announced $16 million in new initiatives that will improve oversight, ease caseloads, and ensure coordination among all City agencies. We are taking every possible step to seal up the cracks so that no child can slip through them. The death of Nixzmary Brown will long be remembered in New York as a terrible tragedy, but I am determined to see that her death will not be in vain.

I-

I promise you we will do everything we can to protect innocent children from suffering at the hands of abusers. As we focus on protecting our children, we will also do more to tackle the myriad of issues that prevent too many in our City from fully enjoying its opportunities. In a few weeks, we’ll break ground on a new citywide intake center for homeless families that will replace the old Emergency Assistance Unit and the failure it represents.

This-

This year, we’ll also launch our Integrated Human Service System, a secure, online information and application system for all those who receive Food Stamps, public health insurance, and other benefits. Today, the number of New Yorkers on welfare is at a 40-year-low, but this year, we’re going to do more than ever to give people the opportunity to live lives of independence and dignity.

To make sure that welfare recipients receive the training and education they need to hold jobs, we’re launching "Back-to-Work"- "Back to Work" initiative that connects case-load contractors and the training and educational services they provide to every job center in the city. If contractors don’t help their clients find and hold jobs, it’s simple: They won’t be paid.

Because beginning this year, all contracts will be performance-based.

Even though we’ve become a national leader in promoting welfare-to-work, our great City remains home to the nation’s poorest congressional district – the 16th in the South Bronx. That has been true for too long. Men and women struggling to get out of poverty deserve our help – and so do their children. Our na-

Our nation has learned by experience that we cannot eliminate poverty by throwing money at the problem. Our City has shown that problems once thought to be beyond hope: dangerous streets, failing schools, chronic homelessness –can be turned around, if we target our resources where they are needed most, if we set measurable goals, and if we hold ourselves accountable.

Today I am committing to a major reduction in the number of children, women and men who live in poverty in this City over the next four years.

To that end, this year, we’ll launch a public-private task force – modeled on our task force to end chronic homelessness – that will attack chronic unemployment and poverty in the homes and neighborhoods where the need is greatest. We-

We’ll launch our first pilot program in three communities where the problems have long been entrenched – Bushwick, Melrose, and Bedford-Stuyvesant.

I have asked Richard Parsons, CEO of Time Warner, and Geoffrey Canada, President and CEO of the Harlem Children's Zone, to serve as co-chairs of our new task force. They have agreed to work with me to develop and implement our strategy, identify the most important measurements, and make sure that we refuse to accept failure.

Geoffrey is here with us today, and I want to thank him and Richard for joining me in taking on such an important challenge.

Attacking poverty also means making sure all people receive the quality health care they deserve. And I am pleased to be working with a City Council Speaker who is as passionate about improving public health as I am.

Over the past four years, we’ve created the nation’s finest public hospital system. This year, we’re going to launch a revolution in our community health clinics. We’ll ask Albany, Washington, and the private sector to join us in investing $100 million to create secure electronic health records in our community clinics, and in the offices of doctors who practice in the poorest neighborhoods. This will reduce preventable illnesses. It will save millions of dollars a year now wasted on needless procedures. And it will make us the national leader in providing high-quality health care to those most in need.

Compared to four years ago, there are more than 1 million more New Yorkers currently enrolled in public health insurance programs, many of them children. Now, we’re going to begin an unprecedented campaign to improve the health of our children by working to ensure that virtually every school student has health insurance – a mark that no other city in the country has ever achieved.

We’ll work with the City’s primary and secondary schools to integrate public health insurance into their enrollment process, and with community health centers and all hospitals to make health insurance enrollment a key part of the discharge process.

We will also remain at the forefront of the war against AIDS. Over the next three years, our goal is to cut the number of HIV-related deaths by more than 40%. We believe we can achieve it by intensifying prevention, improving access to treatment, focusing on programs that actually deliver results, and by urging the State to pass legislation that makes it easier to find out your HIV status and enables us to reach out and offer to help patients get better care.

This year, we’ll also mount an aggressive campaign against the only major health problem in our city that is getting worse—diabetes.

It’s a vicious silent killer, and we’re going to start tracking it down and doing everything we can to control it. This year, when people take blood sugar tests, that information will go to the Health Department. And starting in the South Bronx, we’ll work with patients at high-risk and their doctors to improve the care they receive. Our goal is to reduce the number of New Yorkers at the highest risk for diabetes complications by 20% by the end of 2008. I believe public health is a fundamental responsibility of government, and we are going to do everything we can to help New Yorkers continue living longer and healthier lives.

If we want New York to be the healthiest big city in America, we cannot succeed without continuing to restore the long-lost vitality of our schools. Over the past four years, we’ve taken major strides in providing our children with the education they need- they will need to lead New York forward. Today, students are making record gains on their test scores, schools are safer, and the intolerable achievement gap that exists among different ethnic groups has begun to close. But we all know we have a long ways to go.

In the fall, I proposed several major initiatives to take our reforms to the next level. We are charging ahead on each and every one of them, and at the same time putting in place even more bold programs. First, this year we will begin creating more new schools, and other programs, that offer high school students additional routes to graduation, employment, and post-secondary education. Second, this September, we will open Brooklyn Latin, the first of seven new, top-flight, academically selective schools (This is just the type of school I could not have gotten into.)

Third, we will be a leading voice in the effort to lift the State’s cap on charter schools in New York City –

So that we can create more options for communities that need them the most.

But we will do even more. This year, we will increase by 150 the number of schools in the "Autonomy Zone". These schools will be empowered with greater freedom and flexibility and be held accountable for their results. We will begin directing at least $200 million more away from the bureaucracy and into the classrooms, and-

And today- and today I am happy to announce that the Department of Education, together with NYU and CUNY and supported by $15 million from the Carroll and Milton Petrie Foundation, is launching the New York City Partnership for Teacher Excellence. The Partnership takes a new approach to teacher education. Aspiring teachers will spend a great deal of their time inside our public schools because there is no substitute for real world experience. And we are confident that the Partnership will help us attract and retain more high quality teachers and prepare them for the hardest-to-staff subject areas, grade levels, and communities. CUNY Chancellor Matt Goldstein and NYU President John Sexton have joined us today, and I want to thank both them for lining up their great universities-

I want to thank them for lining up their great universities behind this innovative program. We're also making sure that our teachers spend more quality time with students. Starting in less than two weeks teachers will spend an additional 150 minutes a week in small group instruction with struggling students and they will return to assignments in lunchrooms, school yards, and hallways – something that hasn't been done in years.

But we also need our State officials to step to the front of the class and deliver the money we are owed as a result of the Campaign for Fiscal Equity.

We need that money to build and maintain new facilities to provide more training for teachers and principals and to create more Pre-K programs throughout the City – ensuring that thousands more of our City kids arrive at kindergarten ready to learn. We need the money now and together we must continue fighting for it. Because it’s not just our school children who are being shortchanged, but the very future of our City.

Putting New York on the road to long-term success in all of the areas I’ve spoken about today rests on our ability to continue making the safest big city in America even safer. Public safety is the foundation of our City’s prosperity. And over the past four years, the NYPD has cut crime by more than 20%. Today, our City is safer than it has been in more than four decades.

Now, people ask: How low can crime go? No one knows the answer, but we’re going to continue doing everything we can to try to find out. This year, for examp-

This year, for example, we’re going to expand "Operation Trident" – which splits precincts to attack stubborn crime problems. Last year, in the 75th Precinct in East New York, Brooklyn. Operation Trident reduced crime by more than twice the citywide average. Now, we’re going to take it to the 44th and 46th Precincts in the Bronx. We’re going to identify new locations to target as part of Operation Clean Sweep so that we continue gaining ground in our campaign to improve New York’s quality of life. We will also expand our cutting-edge Real Time Crime Center so its data can be used to solve not only murder cases, but other serious crimes as well. And we will complete construction of the most sophisticated forensic DNA laboratory in the nation, which will have the capacity to test evidence not only from sex crimes and homicides, but from any crime.

I got to tell you, even as our City leads the nation in analyzing DNA from crime scenes, our State is way behind the nation in collecting DNA from convicted offenders. Forty-three other states require DNA samples from all convicted felons. We are not one of them and make no mistake: People are dying because of it. This year, we will urge the State Legislator- Legislature to pass a law mandating the collection of DNA samples for all criminal convictions.

We do it for fingerprints already. This is the single best way to catch offenders before they become serial offenders, as well as to exonerate the innocent. Let's hold the State Legislature accountable for doing it-

And at the same time, let's also challenge them to abolish the statute of limitations for rape and sexual assault cases where there is DNA evidence-

So that these vile criminals are punished whenever the perpetrators get caught.

By now, I think most of you know that I never mince words about the ugly threat that illegal guns pose to our everyday lives. Let me describe exactly how we will turn up the heat against all those who menace our streets by carrying or selling illegal guns. This year-

This year we will marshal all of our resources and work with all of our partners in public service –whether they are across the rotunda in City Hall up in Albany or in big cities across the nation– both to root out and punish these criminals and to stop the flow of illegal guns into our City.

What steps are we going to take first? Every felony gun defendant will be thoroughly de-briefed either by the Police Department’s elite Gun Suppression Squad that we are now forming or by district attorneys, or in many cases, by both. This will allow us to learn much more about where and how illegal guns are sold and by whom. Second, we will pilot new technology that uses microphones to instantly direct video cameras to the source of gun shots, ensuring that shooters are seen as well as heard. Third-

Third, we will continue using gun crimes to identify Impact Zones to crack down on shootings. And fourth, when gun offenders get re-arrested for any other crime – theft or assault, for instance – their cases will be red-flagged for prosecutors, judges, and probation and parole officers so that all law enforcement officials will know the threat these offenders pose.

As we marshal our resources to stiffen enforcement of existing laws, we will also ask our legislative partners to strengthen our laws. We will work with the City Council to enact a one-gun-every-three-months limit on purchases in New York City, and we will urge Albany to pass two pieces of critical legislation:

First, a Gun Offenders Registration Act – which would be a Megan’s Law for gun criminals. Don’t forget, like sex offenders, gun offenders present terrible risks for communities, and they should be required to regularly verify their addresses with police.

And second, a law to make criminal possession of a loaded gun a Class C felony with a 3-year minimum jail sentence.

There is simply no reason why judges should have the discretion to let criminals who carry loaded illegal guns get off the hook with probation. Illegal guns have one purpose: to kill. Period. End of story!

We will do more than ever to detect and punish gun offenders, but when more than eight of every ten guns used in crimes scenes comes from other states, we must reach across state lines. And we will. Right now, about 1 percent of gun dealers account for almost 60 percent of guns used in crimes nationally. This year, we are going to launch lawsuits against these irresponsible dealers,-

And we are going to hold them accountable for the terrible damage their guns cause.

We will also reach out to elected officials in other states to discuss potential policy and legislative changes, and new ways of sharing information. In our conversations with our sister cities and states we will not seek solutions that infringe on the rights of gun owners but we will seek to move beyond the knee-jerk opposition that special interests invariably pose against even the most basic and common sense efforts to clamp down on illegal guns.

Getting tough on illegal guns is not a conservative or liberal issue. It’s an issue of law and order and an issue of life and death.

Only a few miles from here Detectives Rodney Andrews and James Nemorin were viciously murdered nearly three years ago. They were conducting one of the buy-and-bust operations that police officers do every day to keep illegal guns out of the hands of criminals. In the past four years, Detectives Patrick Rafferty, Robert Parker, Dillon Stewart, and Daniel Enchauteg- tegui all were gunned down in the line of duty. Today, I’m honored to say, we are joined by members of their families, and I’d like to ask them to stand.

To all the family members here with us today: We will never forget we owe to your loved ones and to all the men and women who have paid the ultimate sacrifice protecting the rest of us. But we will also never forget your sacrifice. And I make you this promise: I will never give in to those who accept the spread of illegal guns and their deadly consequences. Never. I will do whatever it takes – in the memory-

I will do whatever it takes in the memory of your sons, your husbands, your brothers, your fathers, and our brave heroes.

Taking on the toughest public safety challenges means we must also confront any obstacle that stands in the way of our counter-terrorism efforts. Even though the NYPD is the most sophisticated counter-terrorism police force in the world, much of our transportation infrastructure – which we know has been targeted in the past by terrorists – is policed by the MTA and the Port Authority.

In one of the most important lessons of 9/11 was the need for greater communication and integration among government agencies. This year, our Administration will work with the governors of New York and New Jersey – and the leaders of the Port Authority and MTA – to establish a security protocol for our City’s vital transportation infrastructure that is more integrated, accountable, and effective. And today, I am announcing that we will propose legislation, in New York and New Jersey, giving our City’s Police Commissioner a permanent seat on the MTA and Port Authority boards to en-

That will help ensure that the NYPD has a voice in both agencies’ security planning, capital projects planning, and incident command.

Building a more secure future requires us to take on the toughest long-term challenges wherever we find them – and we find several of them in our city’s budget. Over the past years we have cut city discretionary spending by almost $4 billion. But total spending has continued to grow because our non-discretionary costs increased by $7 billion annually in the same period - annually. These costs are continuing to soar and will result in ballooning deficits in the years ahead. And when bad economic times return – and they always do – those deficits will explode and New Yorkers will pay a heavy price, both in increased taxes and reduced services.

The only chance to avoid this is to correct the budget’s structural imbalances, and that means we must rein in health care and pension costs that have spiraled out of control. Today, nearly all private sector employees contribute to their health care and the few companies that continue to offer "defined benefit" pension plans are moving to "defined contribution" plans.

Our Administration has worked closely with labor leaders in the past, to create fair, long-term contracts. Moving forward we will work with them to reach agreements that include a provision that is familiar to most people: employee contributions for health care. At the same time, we will work with labor and legislative leaders on innovative pension modifications for future workers. Only by making the tough decisions today will we be able to finance the wage increases that our outstanding workforce will deserve tomorrow.

Improving the long-term health of government also means strengthening its integrity. We need only look to the scandals in Washington to see what happens when lobbyists and campaign contributors create a culture of "pay-to-play." Last week, many members of Congress proposed a ban on all gifts from lobbyists. We should do that here. Th-

They proposed requiring lobbyists to file disclosure reports electronically. We should do that here, too. But most of all, let us finally honor the "pay-to-play" referendum that voters overwhelmingly passed in this City more than seven years ago!

This year, we will work together with the Campaign Finance Board to create an online database that will allow us to implement the referendum and strengthen the integrity of City government. When voters go to the polls, they should have no doubt that all the decisions they make will be respected.

And when they appear before a judge, they deserve to know that justice – not politics – will be served. This year, we will take an important step to improve our administrative tribunals – the places New Yorkers go when they contest a fine, a parking ticket, or a building code violation. We'll bind all of the City’s administrative judges to a code of ethics, just as the voters directed us to do in a public referendum this last November. And I will also sign an executive order creating an Administrative Justice Coordinator to improve the workings of the tribunals so that all New Yorkers are treated justly.

Of course, reforming the election of judges is a more formidable task, but two weeks ago, we did receive an important sign that our reform efforts are starting to pay off. I’m very pleased that Assemblyman Denny Farrell, Chairman of the State Democratic Party, has announced that he will urge all county organizations to adopt independent screening panels for judges that will select only the most qualified candidates so that we can end an election process that is too easily- easily – and too often – corrupted. I wish Denny all the best, but reform should not be an issue for debate among the County chairs. It should be a matter of state law! It’s time to put an end to the backroom deals that should have died with Tammany Hall!

I think that’s perhaps a good point to end on today, because no matter what the issue – from judicial reform to education to poverty – we have the ability to make this City better for all who live here, but only if we put partisanship aside. This year and in the years ahead in every single area of this city, working together, we can lock in and extend our gains. We can take on the toughest issues and get results. And we can make sure that our success touches every block of every neighborhood so that our unity remains the rule not the exception. This does not mean there will be no obstacles on the road ahead. There will be. But if we stay united, we’ve shown there is no obstacle large enough to stop us.

Jeanne Raleigh and Speaker Quinn, if you both will indulge me, I would like to conclude by saying to everyone here: "May that road rise up to meet us." All of us. And let’s walk it together –with hope, kindness and courage. Thank you, and God bless.

Mayor Michael Bloomberg Signs Executive Order To Increase Amount Of Minority And Women Owned Businesses Earning City Contracts

Mon, 26 Mar 2007 13:03:07 -0500

Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg today signed Executive Order 71 to increase the use of minority and women-owned businesses in City contracting. The Order directs the City’s Department of Small Business Services (SBS) to establish a goals-based program for City agencies and their prime contractors to increase the pool of minority and women-owned businesses that are employed when government contracts are available. In June 2003, Mayor Bloomberg signed Executive Order 36 to assist minority and women-owned businesses to better compete for City contracts and more efficiently navigate the City’s procurement process. Deputy Mayor for Policy Dennis Walcott, Deputy Mayor for Economic Development and Rebuilding Daniel L. Doctoroff, SBS Commissioner Robert W. Walsh, Regional Director of U.S. Department of Commerce Minority Business Development Agency Heyward Davenport, and SBS MWBE Advisory Board Member Elizabeth Velez joined Mayor Bloomberg at the signing of Executive Order 71.

"Small businesses, in particular those owned and operated by minority and women entrepreneurs, are the heart and soul of New York City’s growing economy," said Mayor Bloomberg. "By lowering the barriers that have traditionally prevented minority and women owned businesses from competing for government contracts, we are reaffirming our commitment to spurring business growth, putting people to work, expanding our economy and creating a ‘City of Opportunity’ for all."

Under Executive Order 71, all City agencies will be responsible for submitting an annual procurement plan that includes detailed goals for employing certified minority and women-owned businesses. Agency plans will include the industries from which the organization purchases a significant amount of goods and services and the presence of minority and women-owned businesses in these industries. City agencies will be required to detail specific strategies to achieve an increase in the pool of minority and women-owned businesses which are awarded contracts. The City will track the performance of agencies in their use of minority and women-owned businesses and this data will be available annually when the Mayor’s Management Report is issued.

"We’ve removed a number of the obstacles and made it easier for M/WBE firms to do business with New York City," said SBS Commissioner Robert Walsh. "The City’s minority and women owned firms responded by certifying with the City in record numbers. Now we need to build on these accomplishments by holding City agencies and their prime contractors to a higher standard. By working with each agency, assessing their record and setting aggressive goals, we are taking stock of where the opportunities are and building a better program for the City’s M/WBEs and disadvantaged individuals."

Executive Order 71 is expected to expand the pool of minority and women-owned businesses working with the City on large construction development and in construction related areas including architecture, engineering, professional and standard services. City agencies will be encouraged to employ minority and women-owned businesses and disadvantaged firms in three "dollar" categories. One covered category of contracts authorized by City agencies are micro-contracts for the purchase of goods and services less than $5,000. In the most recent fiscal year, there were more than $58.5 million in micro-purchase contracts. A second category that will be impacted by Executive Order 71 is "small" purchase contracts which range from $5,000 to $100,000. There was $119 million in "small" purchase contracts in the most recent fiscal year. The third category of contracts to be impacted by Executive Order 71 is contracts of less than $1 million. Prime construction contracts of less than $1 million total more than $234 million of all construction related contracts in the most recent fiscal year. Finally, prime contractors awarded City construction contracts will be required to provide evidence of their efforts for increasing the percentage of minority and women-owned businesses participating in subcontracts of $1 million or less. In the most recent fiscal year, there were more than $1.4 billion in such subcontracts.

In the next few months, SBS and the Mayor’s Office of Contract Services will formally propose new rules for the inclusion of minority and women-owned businesses in the awarding of City contracts. These rules will establish goals, which will be set for minority and women-owned businesses, and expressed as a dollar figure and a percentage of overall contracts. SBS will also begin certification for a larger group of businesses that may claim "disadvantage," regardless of race or gender. Eligibility for certification as a Disadvantaged Business Enterprise (DBE) will include ownership by an individual who can prove social and economic disadvantage, mirroring guidelines established by the federal government. Draft rules are expected to be published in late fall and final rules are expected to be published next spring.

The success of the SBS program to increase the pool of minority and women-owned businesses employed by City agencies will be measured annually and after 5 years the City will conduct a comprehensive review to evaluate evidence of continuing disparity so as to restructure the initiative as necessary.

"The strategies announced today will result in new standards and a higher level of accountability in agency procurement which will ultimately allow us to leverage our purchasing power as an effective economic development tool," said Deputy Mayor Doctoroff.

"The program the Mayor is announcing today offers opportunity to minority and women-owned businesses to compete in the procurement marketplace and to grow their capacity," said Deputy Mayor Walcott. "As a result, we all benefit – minority and
women-owned businesses and the City’s taxpayers."

"I commend Mayor Bloomberg and his administration for the significant steps they have taken to strengthen the City’s M/WBE Program," said Heyward Davenport, Regional Director of the U.S. Department of Commerce Minority Business Development Agency and Chair of the SBS M/WBE Advisory Board. "Working with the Department of Small Business Services over the past few years, we have made tremendous gains in building the capacity of the City’s minority and woman-owned firms and creating new opportunities for them. This is critical work and will go a long way towards strengthening and diversifying the City’s economy. This new Executive Order creates even more opportunities, and I look forward to continuing our work together."

In New York City today there are more than 200,000 small businesses that account for 1.5 million in private sector employment and $4.5 billion in annual tax revenues. Nearly one third of City businesses are owned and operated by minority entrepreneurs and more than a quarter are owned and operated by women.

In the past three years, SBS has made the certification of minority and women-owned firms easier, eliminated bureaucratic hurdles, implemented new technologies, built partnerships with the public and private sector, and better prepared minority and women-owned firms take on even larger contracts.

Mayor Michael Bloomberg Joins Silver, Pataki for Signing of Aggressive Economic Development Package For Lower Manhattan

Mon, 26 Mar 2007 13:03:07 -0500

New Legislation Creates Tax Incentives for Small and Large Businesses Moving to Lower Manhattan or Making Long-Term Commitments

Integrated Technology Communications Firm Horn Group Moves Headquarters from Midtown and Expands Downtown at 55 Broad Street, Making Use of Incentives

Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg, Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver and Senator Martin J. Golden today joined Governor George E. Pataki as he signed legislation into law to provide significant tax incentives to attract new businesses and encourage existing businesses to recommit their operations and employees in Lower Manhattan, promoting economic growth downtown as the area continues to recover from the impact of September 11, 2001. The incentives are already producing tangible results: the Horn Group, an integrated technology communications firm, has committed to lease over 10,000 square feet of office space at 55 Broad Street, the heart of Downtown’s Technology District, and expects to triple their number of employees in the next two years.

"Over the last four years, our Administration has created and implemented an overarching vision for Lower Manhattan’s future and we’ve brought downtown back from the effects of September 11th," said Mayor Bloomberg. "We’ve established priorities and along with our partners in State government, we’re making investments that are attracting new businesses downtown and ensuring that the area will have a great future. Today, we are taking downtown’s revival to the next level with a new incentives package that will ensure that businesses at the World Trade Center site and in the surrounding area continue to grow briskly. These measures demonstrate our Administration’s commitment to ensure that Lower Manhattan remains the world financial leader, while also attracting businesses like the Horn Group to an increasingly lively and vibrant downtown area."

"Lower Manhattan has a proud history as the birthplace of New York City and the financial capital of the world and has long-served as an economic catalyst for the rest of New York City and New York State generating hundreds of millions of dollars annually in tax revenue," said Governor Pataki. "This legislation will revitalize Lower Manhattan through tax and other benefits that will pay for themselves many times over as Lower Manhattan regains its prominence, expands its tax base, and attracts and retains new business and employees. This new incentive package will build on our ongoing efforts to promote economic growth, develop new business opportunities, create jobs, and make the new Lower Manhattan stronger than ever."

"This ‘Marshall Plan for Lower Manhattan’ will restore this community to its rightful place as the financial and business capital of the world and breathe new life into a historic place that has contributed so much to our nation’s growth and prosperity," said Assembly Speaker Silver. "Rebuilding Lower Manhattan transcends partisanship and political legacy and rises to the level of moral obligation."

"This bill will provide the necessary incentives for businesses to develop and grow in Lower Manhattan, one of the largest business districts in the country and a critical economic engine for the state and nation," said Senate Majority Leader Joseph L. Bruno. "These benefits will renew confidence in the city of New York, strengthen our long term commitment to revitalize our economy and recapture some of the 100,000 jobs that were lost on September, 11, 2001."

"I am pleased to be a supporter of this important legislation," said State Senator Martin J. Golden. "A vibrant New York City demands a healthy downtown economy. This bill, through tax incentives, provides a solid boost to our efforts to stimulate Lower Manhattan development."

The legislation permanently eliminates the commercial rent tax at the World Trade Center area, and adds a five-year exemption from commercial rent taxes for new and renewed leases for property located in the New York City Liberty Zone but outside the World Trade Center area. Additionally, it permanently eliminates the tax for all retail tenants in the area generally south of Murray Street between South and West Streets.

The legislation also provides State and local sales and compensating use tax exemptions for purchases related to the outfitting, furnishing or equipping of commercial office space in leased premises of buildings at the World Trade Center site and in Battery Park City when tenants make at least a ten-year commitment. Other areas in Lower Manhattan will have a similar exemption, with certain restrictions. The legislation also provides for reduced rental rates via PILOT (payment in lieu of taxes) abatements of $3.80/sq. ft. for tenants that occupy the first 750,000 square feet of 7 World Trade Center and $5/sq. ft. for the first 750,000 square feet of the Freedom Tower and the World Trade Center site.

The legislation also calls for improvements to the Lower Manhattan Relocation Employment Assistance Program, which will offer refundable tax credits up to $3,000 per employees for 12 years to businesses, with a presence in Manhattan, that relocate employees to Lower Manhattan from outside of New York City. These tax credits can be used to reduce New York City taxes such as the general corporation tax, banking corporation tax, unincorporated business tax, or the utility tax.

Horn Group Founder & President Sabrina Horn said, "The Downtown Incentive Bill helps the Horn Group, and many other entrepreneurial companies like us, fuel our ongoing growth plans. We view our move downtown as a symbol of the ongoing renaissance taking place. We’re proud to be an integral part of the ongoing tech movement in Manhattan and 55 Broad Street represents the heart of this ongoing trend."

Horn Group, Inc. provides integrated communications services to technology companies from start-ups to large corporations. The Horn Group is leasing the entire 29th floor of 55 Broad Street for its current 15 employees. Horn Group expects to triple its workforce in the next two years. 55 Broad Street, owned by the Rudin Management Company, is the original home of New York’s technology community.

Association for a Better New York Chairman William C. Rudin said, "The newly adopted incentives program for Lower Manhattan is an essential component to the ongoing revitalization of Downtown. The plan will further encourage potential and current tenants to do business here and spur much-needed economic activity. As a property owner and Lower Manhattan supporter, I was proud to stand alongside Governor Pataki in 1995 when he signed the innovative Downtown Plan. Today, ten years later, I am just as proud to be back here at 55 Broad Street at this bill signing to support tenants both large and small, who continue to make Lower Manhattan the Financial Capital of the World."

Real Estate Board of New York President Steven Spinola said, "The signing of the Lower Manhattan incentive legislation, coupled with the infrastructure commitments from the City and State, will create a positive environment for tenant commitments in the Downtown area. I applaud the efforts of Governor George Pataki, Speaker Sheldon Silver, Majority Leader Joe Bruno and Mayor Michael Bloomberg for ensuring that the revitalization of Lower Manhattan remains one of New York State’s top priorities."

NYC Partnership President & CEO Kathy Wylde said, "These new incentives are just the catalyst that is needed to accelerate the restoration of the Downtown as a world-class central business district. Although the entire city suffered from the devastating attacks of September 11th, Lower Manhattan bore 70% of the job losses and has not yet fully recovered. Transportation and critical infrastructure investments are the long-term solution, but the city and the downtown community must act now to ensure success and this new legislation is essential."

Downtown Alliance Chairman Robert Douglass said "We applaud Governor Pataki, Mayor Bloomberg, Assembly Speaker Silver and Senate Majority Leader Bruno for making these incentives a top priority. The continued commitment by our community leaders will help to ensure that Lower Manhattan remains a center of commerce and a premier business district."

Mayor Michael Bloomberg Discusses Spurring Business Growth and Creating Jobs

Tue, 20 Mar 2007 16:53:41 -0500

The following is the text of Mayor Bloomberg’s weekly radio address as prepared for delivery on 1010 WINS News Radio for Sunday, August 14, 2005

"Good Morning. This is Mayor Mike Bloomberg.

"New York City’s economy is strong and getting stronger. The city’s unemployment rate is lower than it was before 9/11. During the last quarter, our economy grew faster than the nation’s. Success usually has a way of building on itself; we saw that last week, when Weight Watchers, the international diet company, relocated its corporate headquarters here, bringing 100 more new jobs with them.

"A healthy economy is a diversified one, and New York’s over-dependence on Wall Street has long been a problem. That’s why our Administration is working hard to grow other major industries, including tourism, film production, and manufacturing. We’ve identified biotechnology as another area ripe for growth. New York’s world-class universities and research hospitals, and our deep pool of medical and scientific talent, already produce biotech start-up companies. But once they start to grow, they often run out of room here, and move out of town, taking jobs with them.

"It’s time to reverse that trend. That’s why last week we unveiled plans for a $700 million, privately financed bioscience center on Manhattan’s East Side. Work on this project, which will produce 4,000 construction jobs and 2,000 permanent new jobs, will start early next year. This East River Science Park will include labs, offices, and a conference center. When the first two buildings are fully occupied, the City will begin to receive $2 million a year in rent from the developer. When the project is fully built out, it will add $350 million a year to our economy, and generate more than $16 million in annual City tax revenues.

"This development is going to go up on land near Bellevue Medical Center currently occupied, in part, by an obsolete hospital laundry. It’s just one more example of how our Administration is bringing private, multi-million dollar, job-creating investment to under-used City-owned land in all five boroughs.

"Last month, for example, we closed a deal to turn a five-acre municipal parking lot in Flushing into a $500 million privately financed project creating stores, apartments, and a multiplex cinema.

"Earlier this summer, we broke ground for a new shopping mall on formerly City-owned land on Staten Island; it will produce hundreds of construction and permanent jobs. The stores and other businesses set for the new $400 million Bronx Terminal Market will create 2,000 permanent new jobs and be the gateway to the borough that the people of the Bronx have long deserved. In a similar fashion, the proposed $3.5 billion Atlantic Yards project—also set to be built on under-utilized publicly owned land—would be the biggest private investment project in Brooklyn history, creating new retail stores, offices, 4,500 mixed-income apartments, and a new sports arena.

"To make sure that each of our communities across this City share in today’s prosperity our Administration is also opening the doors of opportunity, in both the public and private sectors, to more of our growing number of minority- and women-owned businesses. Under my Executive Order 36, we’ve cut the time it takes for such companies to certify to do business with the City from two months to two weeks; as a result, over the last three years, more companies have certified than did in the previous five years. The purchasing agents of City departments also have increased their outreach to minority- and women-owned businesses. And in all five boroughs, our Business Solution Centers are helping emerging companies find the financing and trained workers they need. It’s all part of our commitment to making New York a city of opportunity for all—and it’s really producing results.

"This is Mayor Mike Bloomberg. Thanks for listening."

Mayor Bloomberg Announces Developer To Build Largest Biotech Campus In New York City

Mon, 26 Mar 2007 13:03:07 -0500

New Science Center to Attract Top Healthcare and Pharmaceutical Companies and Create Thousands of New Jobs

Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg today announced the selection of Alexandria Real Estate Equities Inc. to develop the East River Science Park into the largest commercial bioscience center in New York City. The new 870,000-square-foot-facility, which will be built on a City-controlled site on Bellevue’s campus that the City will lease to Alexandria, is expected to jumpstart the City’s commercial bioscience sector by attracting the world’s leading healthcare and pharmaceutical companies, and providing needed expansion space for the City’s existing companies. The privately-financed, $700 million project is expected to create more than 2,000 permanent jobs and 4,000 construction jobs over the next 10 years. The total economic impact of ongoing operations of the development project is expected to be more than $350 million a year. Deputy Mayor for Economic Development & Rebuilding Daniel L. Doctoroff, Economic Development Corporation (EDC) President Andrew M. Alper, Health & Hospitals Corporation Acting President Alan D. Aviles, Bellevue Hospital Executive Director Linda Curtis, Alexandria CEO Joel S. Marcus, and Kathryn Wylde, President & CEO of the Partnership for New York City, the City’s leading business group that committed up to $10 million toward the project through its New York City Investment Fund, also attended the event.

"Since the beginning of our Administration, a key component of our economic development strategy has been to diversify New York City’s economy and create new jobs," said Mayor Bloomberg. "The development of the East River Science Park will help us accomplish that goal by transforming New York City, already a leading center of bioscience research, into one of the nation’s primary commercial bioscience clusters as well. This state-of-the-art facility will allow us to take advantage of our enormous scientific base and world-class research institutions to attract both start-up firms and established bioscience companies to New York City."

"Today is the culmination of a three year effort by our Administration to capitalize on the enormous life science assets we have in New York City and grow our bioscience industry," said Deputy Mayor Doctoroff. "Building this world-class facility will help us attract top companies, create valuable jobs and make our City the bioscience capital of the world. I want to commend the staff at EDC, led by President Alper, for moving forward expeditiously with plans to develop the East River Science Park."

"Despite our tremendous scientific assets, New York City has never captured its fair share of the commercial bioscience industry," said EDC President Alper. "The development of the East River Science Park will help us reverse this trend by offering companies room to expand right here in the City. Developing a commercial biotech cluster will allow our institutions to forge stronger ties with the bioscience industry, help our academic institutions attract top talent and create many new high-paying jobs."

The East River Science Park will capitalize on its prime East River location and its proximity to many prominent healthcare institutions such as Beth Israel, Memorial Sloan Kettering, Mount Sinai, New York University (NYU) Medical Center, Rockefeller University and Weill Cornell. EDC issued a Request for Proposals in November 2004 to develop the City-owned site, located in Manhattan’s Kips Bay neighborhood on the northern portion of the Bellevue Hospital Center, just south of NYU between East 28th and 29th Streets, and First Avenue and the FDR Drive.

In the project’s first phase, Alexandria will build two laboratories and office towers totaling 542,000 square feet of space. The first 242,000-square-foot building on the site’s southeast corner just north of Bellevue’s hospital tower will include 14 floors of laboratory and related office space, a conference center and café. The developer plans to start the second 300,000-square-foot building four months after construction of the first building begins. This second building will be located on the site of the obsolete Bellevue laundry building, and will include laboratory and office space for early-stage companies, additional office space for bioscience venture capital firms and street-level retail. The plan also calls for a glass-enclosed retail area with 43,000 square feet of publicly accessible open space, including a riverfront esplanade. The developer will build a parking garage below the two buildings to accommodate 520 parking spaces, with 400 reserved for Bellevue. Alexandria plans to break ground in 2006, with initial tenant occupancy of the first building in 2008 and the second building in 2009.

The project’s second phase calls for a 330,000-square-foot laboratory and office building located on a parcel of land north of the site. Construction of this building can only begin after the site is vacated by the City’s Office of the Chief Medical Examiner. Additional open space and 200 more parking spaces are also planned for this phase.

Alexandria is a leading real estate investment trust focused principally on the development and acquisition of properties with office and laboratory space. Alexandria focuses on the principle of "clustering," with assets and operations strategically located in all major life science hubs. Alexandria’s clients consist of some of the world’s leading edge research and commercial entities, such as universities and not-for-profits, pharmaceutical, biotechnology, life science product, service, biodefense research entities and government agencies. Alexandria owns and operates 127 properties comprising more than 8.2 million square feet of office and laboratory space.

"We are honored to be partnering with the City of New York and the other key stakeholders, and to be the vanguard for the creation of the first commercial life science cluster location within the heart of Manhattan," said Alexandria CEO Joel S. Marcus. "Alexandria is proud to be the designated developer for this truly unique and innovative commercial life science destination. Together with the City, EDC and the New York healthcare community, we look forward to carrying out the vision of forming a bioscience community that will be equipped with all of the components to foster the great medical discoveries of the future."

New York City’s initiative to grow its bioscience sector is led by EDC’s Client Services division, established by Mayor Bloomberg in 2002 to serve as a much-needed link between the City and the business community. So far, EDC’s bioscience group has met with more than 350 companies, including many of the top global pharmaceutical companies in the U.S., Europe and Asia to encourage them to locate, expand and invest in New York City. In addition, the agency has developed a marketing campaign to emphasize the City’s existing bioscience assets and to recruit companies to anchor several possible bioscience developments in the City.

New York City and the surrounding region are home to extraordinary academic medical research and healthcare assets. These include 25 medical research institutions, more than 70 hospitals, 40,000 physicians, 128 Nobel Laureates, and more than $1.3 billion a year in research funding from the National Institutes of Health. New York is home to more than 90 bioscience companies and two biotech incubators, and more than 30 new biotechnology companies are launched in the City each year.

The New York City Investment Fund, the economic development arm of the Partnership for New York City, has committed $10 million in funding to support the East River Science Park. The Fund has worked closely with the Bloomberg Administration to encourage development of the City’s bioscience industry. It has organized a consortium of the City’s top academic medical research institutions, as well as prominent venture capitalists, bankers and private equity investors to support this project and other initiatives to generate jobs in the bioscience sector.

"Today’s announcement of Alexandria Real Estate Equities as the developer of the East River Science Park is the culmination of a highly competitive process that demonstrates that New York is finally emerging as a world center for commercial bioscience," said Wylde, president of the Partnership for New York City. "We look forward to working closely with the City and the developer to ensure the success of this project."

Mayor Michael Bloomberg Discusses New York's Five-Borough Economic Development Plan

Mon, 26 Mar 2007 13:03:07 -0500

The following is the text of Mayor Bloomberg’s weekly radio address as prepared for delivery on 1010 WINS News Radio for Sunday, March 13, 2005

"Good Morning. This is Mayor Mike Bloomberg.

"New jobs numbers came out last week, and they show that New York City’s economy continues to grow. Unemployment is down to 5.9%--the lowest it’s been since before 9/11. During January—the last month for which there are complete figures—we gained nearly 14,000 new jobs. That puts us on course to meet or exceed forecasts that we’ll produce 50,000 new private sector jobs during 2005.

"As good as those statistics are, we’re not resting on our laurels. From Day One, our Administration has said that creating jobs in all five boroughs is crucial to New York’s future. And we’re making that a reality. Last week, we opened "Hunts Point Works," an initiative that will help local residents land jobs in the Bronx’s growing wholesale food industry. And just since the first of this year, we have also:

• Agreed to lease the new Brooklyn Cruise Ship Terminal, which will create 600 new jobs in Red Hook by the end of the year.

• We joined the State in a "memorandum of understanding" with Forest City Ratner Companies. The City and State will each make $100 million in infrastructure improvements to the Atlantic Yards area. That sets the stage for a $2.5 billion commercial, residential, and recreational center there—the biggest development ever outside Manhattan, which will produce 8,500 permanent new jobs and be the home of a professional basketball team playing in Downtown Brooklyn.

• We signed into law tax incentives to encourage film and TV productions, like the pilots for five new television series that are now being shot in New York City. They’re just part of a $5 billion a year industry that supports 100,000 jobs in all five boroughs.

• And we launched a new citywide industrial policy that will foster growth in manufacturing by establishing new industrial zones from Bathgate to Long Island City to East New York.

"Our Administration is also spurring economic growth in all five boroughs—not just Manhattan—by improving safety, schools, and the quality of life. Better than 85% of the new school classroom seats created over the last two years have been outside Manhattan, and nearly 95% of the seats in the new school capital plan will be, too. More than two-thirds of the 65,000 units of affordable housing we’re building and preserving are or will be outside Manhattan. And the most dramatic improvements in street cleanliness have taken place in such communities as Bushwick, Highbridge, Elmhurst, and Corona.

"Given all that, it’s no surprise that over the last four years, the biggest jumps in residential property values have been, first, in Staten Island, Brooklyn, and Queens—where they’ve gone up by 60%--then in the Bronx, and—last—in Manhattan. That’s just more proof that by making every borough more livable, more business friendly, and more economically diverse, we’re putting New York City’s future prosperity on a strong foundation.

"This is Mayor Mike Bloomberg. Thanks for listening."