Mayor to Critics: Do the Math; NYC Has the Space to Keep Tenants Here

NEW YORK CITY-Published reports, borrowing Senator Chuck Schumer’s sentiment, “…there is a storm cloud on the horizon that could cause New York City to stagnate or even decline,” from a Jan. 20 speech, accuse the City of New York of not doing enough to ensure that the tightening of the market will not result in a mass exodus to the shores of New Jersey. Mayor Giuliani calls the reports, “unfair to the City of New York.”

“Though many are not aware of it yet, New York is about to enter into a space crises,” Schumer stated. “Manhattan is getting filled up. The lack of new parcels and the island’s density limit new construction as well. In the outer boroughs where there is the physical space to accommodate growth, the lack of critical mass owing to the dearth of large-scale private sector commercial development discourages new businesses from locating there. As a result, large numbers of jobs are starting to leave New York for New Jersey, Connecticut and beyond.”

But Giuliani, repsonding to the warning, urges naysayers to “do a little addition,” and find that New York far exceeds New Jersey in the amount of real estate currently available and under construction. He says the maximum development New Jersey’s shore could sustain is approximately 25.5 million sf, which is the total square footage of only three of New York’s new projects. “At 42nd St. there are five new buildings” at six million sf, “which more than exceeds what New Jersey has available currently,” he adds.He cites statistics that New York’s job growth is setting records, lists of new city development projects, and new private sector development such as the New York Stock Exchange building planned for 1.9 million sf.