Schumer promises continued good times

Real Estate Weekly, Dec 20, 2000 by Elaine Misonzhnik

But warns growth can't outpace space

Disputing the panicked whispers that New York is due for another recession, U.S. Sen. Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.) assured the audience at the CREWNY breakfast meeting Dec. 13 that the City is going to continue to flourish. "I think we are going to be great for the next ten years," he said. "There will be little ups and downs, of course, but the current growth is going to continue."

Schumer's primary concern about the New York City economy seemed to be the lack of available space, a factor that might stifle business expansion in the area. "When I won the election, I started asking people what would make them stay in or leave New York. And the number one reason for leaving was lack of available space," he said.

According to Schumer, New Yorkers should do as much as possible to attract new businesses to the area. "Our growth rate has been steady, representing the national average," he said. "But we shouldn't be happy with that. The bottom line is with the kind of opportunities that exist in New York we should be growing at double the national average. And we need leadership. We have not had leaders who concentrated on this issue since Mayor Koch."

In an effort to get both the government and the private sector involved in attracting new businesses to New York City, Shumer has become a part of the group of 35 -- a coalition of various private and public executives who are trying to create more available land for the City.

"Our goal is to lay out a blueprint of what the government could do to encourage businesses to be here," Shumer explained. "We are going to look at specific areas -- Long Island City, the MetroTech area in Brooklyn, the West Side of Manhattan. What we found is that, particularly for companies who need specialized kind of space, you need land and assemblage, you need transportation, and you need amenities, like restaurants, to bring people in. There are so many factors involved, that it would take a lot of time for the private sector to get it all together. And if we were to sit and wait until it all came together, we would have lost a lot of companies."

The group's report is supposed to come out in January or February of the next year, and Shumer expressed hope that it will "light a fire under New York to make it compete.

"We have a pretty heavy group of people, including representatives from some of the bigger financial services firms," he said. "We are going to ask the corporations involved to take responsibility for certain areas, and we will also try to get the City and the state involved."

When asked about New Jersey's increasing popularity among New York's business tenants, the senator said he is not too concerned. "Executives would rather be in Long Island City or Brooklyn, because these areas are closer to New York City and it is easier to get the workforce there. The reason New Jersey prevailed was because it was ready and more aggressive. But New Jersey is going to run out of space. The only three cities that are expanding there are the ones near the PATH line. So, all is not lost yet."

Speaking the day after the Supreme Court decision, Shumer also added a few words about the Presidential election. "I thought the Supreme Court decision was disgraceful," he said. "When you think about it, both Bush and Gore earned one right -- to get into a circle for a coin toss. But the American people gave a serious signal in this election -- they don't trust the Democrats, and they don't trust the Republicans, when left on their own. My message to Congress right now would be to work in a bi-partisan way."