NYCEDC Chief Operating Officer Zac Smith and NYC Department of Parks and Recreation break ground on the repair of the Queensbridge Park Seawall, protecting the Long Island City shoreline from the effects of erosion while increasing waterfront access.
Photo credit: Ian Fried/NYCEDC
Yesterday, Mayor Bloomberg and NYCEDC announced the restoration of the long-abandoned Rockaway Courthouse, transforming a historic building into a new medical center. Built in ornate classical style in 1932, the 24,000-square-foot building has sat vacant for over 30 years, suffering significant neglect and deterioration. For over a decade, the City has been working with local stakeholders and developers to rehabilitate this historic building and restore it to an active use serving the local community.
NYCEDC has selected Harmony Group to renovate the building and establish a new medical center in the space featuring a multi-specialty ambulatory surgical center, which will provide new medical services for a community that recently saw the closure of a major hospital, Peninsula Hospital Center. Harmony will rehabilitate the entire building, which will house medical tenants providing medical and outpatient surgical services in specialties including ophthalmology, urology, obstetrics, gynecology, and orthopedics once construction is complete. The project is estimated to bring 64 construction and 45 permanent jobs to the Rockaways.
Read more on NYC.gov.
March 2013 Economic Snapshot: NYC Commuting Patterns, Residents and Workers
For our March 2013 Economic Snapshot, NYCEDC looked at new journey-to-work data via the Census Bureau that provide new insight into where New York City residents work and New York City workers live.
- 3.6 million NYC residents worked during the reporting period. The data show that City residents primarily work in their borough of residence: 84.2% of Manhattan residents worked there, while figures for the other boroughs range from 41.7% (Queens) to 50.3% (Brooklyn).
- 4.3 million people worked in NYC during the reporting period. 78.5% of these workers were also NYC residents, while 11% traveled from elsewhere in New York State and 8.4% came from New Jersey. Of commuters from other states, the two largest shares were Connecticut (0.9%) and Pennsylvania (0.5%).
- On a daily basis, commutes outweigh reverse commutes—the 912,451 people who traveled into the City is roughly three times the number of NYC residents who traveled to jobs outside the five boroughs (303,497).
Listen to our podcast and read the full snapshot for more insights. For previous Economic Snapshots, visit our economic data archive on NYCEDC’s website.
Do you work in your borough of residence?
Request for Proposals: Business Assistance Services, Flushing Commons
NYCEDC is seeking proposals from qualified respondents to develop, manage, and run a Business Assistance program during the construction of Flushing Commons. Submissions are due April 8th.
Breaks Ground on First 2 Residential Buildings at Hunter's Point South
Today was the groundbreaking on the first 2 residential buildings of the Hunter’s Point South development on the Queens waterfront. When complete the multiphase Hunter’s Point South project will be the largest new affordable housing complex to be built in New York City since the 1970s.
The first phase will include 925 permanently affordable apartments, about 17,000 square feet of new retail space, a 5 acre waterfront park and a new 1,100 seat school. The buildings will be ready for occupancy in 2014 with construction fully completed in 2015.
Mayor Bloomberg also announced the City will issue a Request for Proposals for Phase 2 of Hunter’s Point South development next month. Mayor Bloomberg’s New Housing Marketplace Plan includes plans to finance 165,000 units of affordable housing for half a million New Yorkers by the close of 2014 fiscal year. To date, more than 143,300 units of affordable housing have been created or preserved.
For more, visit nyc.gov.
Read more about Hunter’s Point South at http://www.nycedc.com/project/hunters-point-south
Source: nycgov
February 2013 Economic Snapshot: Foreign- and Native-Born Population in NYC
For our February 2013 Economic Snapshot, NYCEDC took a look at the foreign- and native-born population of New York City and its effect on the economy.
- Among all cities in the U.S., NYC had the largest number of foreign-born residents in 2011 (3,066,599), representing 37.2% of total population.
- Queens had the highest proportion of foreign-born residents among the boroughs in the City. In 2011, nearly half of the borough’s residents were born outside of the U.S.
- Foreign-born residents represented 45.8% of the City’s resident labor force in 2011.
- The growth in the share of native-born residents with a bachelor’s degree increased more rapidly than that of foreign-born residents (8.0% compared to 2.4%). However, the growth in the share of foreign-born residents with a graduate or professional degree slightly outpaced that of native-born residents (8.1% compared to 7.5%).
Listen to our podcast and read the full snapshot for more insights. For previous Economic Snapshots, visit our economic data archive on NYCEDC’s website.
NY1: Queens Entrepreneur Space Continues to Aid Small Businesses
The Entrepreneur Space kitchen incubator in Long Island City is celebrating its 2nd anniversary! Watch the video on NY1 and find out more about the Entrepreneur Space for food entrepreneurs.
Rockaway Ferry Service Alert
February 8, 2013: Due to the impending winter storm, the last departures from Manhattan to Rockaway today will be the 5:10pm from East 34th Street and the 5:35pm from Pier 11. The last departure from Rockaway to Manhattan will be the 4:30pm. Find out more at Seastreak.com.
Superstorm Sandy has greatly affected many New Yorkers across the City, including longstanding community businesses and new shops alike. Over the past month, we’ve interviewed small business owners across Lower Manhattan, Coney Island, Far Rockaway, and Red Hook who wanted to share their “getting back to business” stories of grit and determination to reopen or begin the process of reopening.
Take a few moments to watch these seven audio slideshows and pass along their inspiring stories to your community. We hope these give a glimpse of the fortitude of New Yorkers and encourage other small business owners who are still fighting to recover from the devastation of Sandy. You’ll hear from:
- Gargiulo’s Restaurant, Coney Island
- The Wave Newspaper, Rockaway Beach
- Jack from Brooklyn, Red Hook
- Thai Rock, Rockaway Beach
- Key Food Grocery, Coney Island
- Token, Red Hook
- Acqua, Lower Manhattan
Find them all at nycedc.com/gettingbacktobusiness, and thanks for sharing these stories of New Yorkers’ resilience.
The Rockaways, Queens.
Photo credit: Trista Sordillo/NYCEDC via Instagram
