Liu: City’s Marriott Marquis Lease is a $345 Million Land Giveaway

The City’s Economic Development Corporation is famous for doling out corporate welfare without making sure that the companies that get those tax breaks and subsidies produce jobs.

Our latest discovery, however, shows just how wasteful and disgraceful that agency’s actions can be.

My Audit Bureau uncovered a secret deal that the EDC made in 1998 with the Marriott Marquis Hotel that could cost our taxpayers at least $345 million. In fact, it may be the … <Read More>


Landmarks Approves Modifications to Seaport’s Pier 17 Redevelopment Plan

Modified plan would split redeveloped Pier 17 into two components, with signage added to roof and for the complex’s commercial tenants. On October 23, 2012, Landmarks agreed to amend a previously issued binding report for a plan to redevelop Pier 17 in the South Street Seaport Historic District.  Landmarks in May 2012 initially approved the Howard Hughes Corporation and the New York City Economic Development Corporation’s plan to demolish the existing Pier 17 structure and … <Read More>


City Council Tweaks Six-Acre Seward Park Redevelopment Plan Proposed for Area Along Delancey Street

The City agreed to increase number of housing units from 900 to 1,000 and set aside space for on-site public school. On October 11, 2012 the City Council modified and approved the City’s Seward Park Mixed-Use Development Project. The 1.65 million-square-foot project will impact nine City-owned lots on the north and south sides of Delancey Street between Ludlow and Clinton Streets in Manhattan’s Lower East Side. The City envisions the development of six new … <Read More>


City Planning Commission Approves Seward Park Redevelopment Proposal

City’s plan to redevelop urban renewal area in the Lower East Side would include 1.65 million sq.ft. of new development across nine City-owned sites. On August 22, 2012, the City Planning Commission approved the New York City Economic Development Corporation’s 1.65 million-square-foot, 900-unit Seward Park Mixed-Use Development Project in Manhattan’s Lower East Side. The project site consists of nine City-owned lots on the north and south sides of Delancey Street between Ludlow and Clinton … <Read More>


EDC Seeks Developers for Four Sites Slated for Industrial Development

City seeks proposals for industrial-use lots in parts of the Bronx, Brooklyn, and Queens. On June 25, 2012, the Economic Development Corporation issued a rolling request for proposals for the purchase or lease of four City-owned industrial parcels in the Bronx, Brooklyn, and Queens. The sites are: North Zerega in Unionport, Bronx; Chestnut-Dinsmore in Cypress Hills, Brooklyn; Moore McCormack in Sunset Park, Brooklyn; and College Point in the College Point Industrial Park section of … <Read More>


[Update] EDC Seeking Developer for Large Rooftop Farm in Hunts Point

Opportunity to develop and operate a rooftop farm on a 200,000 sq.ft. building near the Halleck Industrial Development Site. On June 11, 2012, the Economic Development Corporation issued a request for proposals for the development and operation of a year-round rooftop farm on a 200,000-square-foot City-owned warehouse along the East River in the Hunts Point section of the Bronx. The farm would be located on the roof of 600 Food Center Drive, which … <Read More>