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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
PR- 321-03
November 10, 2003

MAYOR MICHAEL R. BLOOMBERG WELCOMES GELMART INDUSTRIES BACK TO NEW YORK CITY

Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg today welcomed Gelmart Industries return to New York City after five years in New Jersey.  The manufacturing company plans to bring more than 140 jobs back to the City by renovating the 140,000-square-foot facility in College Point, Queens that it vacated in 1999.  Gelmart will invest about $1 million in renovations necessary to reoccupy the facility, which is expected to reopen in Spring 2004.  Gelmart Industries Principals James and Ezra Nasser, and NYC Economic Development Corporation (EDC) President and Industrial Development Agency (IDA) Chairman Andrew M. Alper joined the Mayor for the announcement.

“Today’s announcement emphasizes our Administration’s economic development strategy to create jobs and diversify the economy throughout all five boroughs,” said Mayor Bloomberg.  “When companies like Gelmart make a commitment to bring new jobs or build new office space, the City is here to help them make it happen, and I applaud the decision of James and Ezra Nasser to return to New York City where the Nasser family started in business over fifty years ago.  The industrial sector is a very important component of New York City’s economy, and I am pleased the City was able to help bring more than 140 jobs back to Queens, providing a significant boost to the local economy.”

“We are very excited to move our facility back to College Point, where we previously operated for nearly 30 years,” said Gelmart’s Ezra Nasser. “New York City has been a place where our company has achieved great success, and we are thankful to the City for enabling us to return to our roots and plant the seeds for future growth and success.”

“Projects like Gelmart reaffirm New York City as the ideal place for businesses to grow and prosper,” said EDC President and IDA Chairman Alper. “During the Bloomberg Administration, IDA has closed on 86 similar projects across the City that will spur private investment of more than $3 billion, helping create and retain more than 33,000 jobs. Almost 25% of that investment will occur in Queens and more than one-third of the jobs will be located in the borough.”

The IDA approved about $1.3 million in real estate and sales tax benefits to assist Gelmart’s renovation of the distribution center.  Gelmart manufacturers and distributes intimate apparel that is sold in department stores, mass merchants and specialty stores nationwide.  The company also serves as a contract manufacturer for other brands, and the company has a showroom in Manhattan where it employs more than 20 workers.

Gelmart’s distribution center is located a block from the College Point Corporate Park, one of the City’s most successful business locations with more than 200 companies and 6,000 employees.  The corporate park, managed by EDC on behalf of the City, is home to businesses representing light manufacturers, printing, distribution, and retail outlets.  The community surrounding the corporate park supports traditional professional services, such as accounting and law firms and other businesses services.  The location of the 550-acre park provides easy access to the City’s airports, subway and Long Island Railroad commuter lines, and a network of roads and highways that link to Manhattan, Long Island, Westchester, Connecticut and beyond.

The corporate park is also the future home of the Center for Automotive Education and Training, a project of The Greater New York Automobile Dealers Association which has received preliminary IDA approval and provide training for jobs in auto dealerships, ranging from administrative to computer, mechanical and technical positions.  In addition, JetBlue Airways, which recently received preliminary approval for the renovation of a 25,000-square-foot facility and the construction of an additional 107,000-square foot facility at JFK International Airport, which will provide JetBlue with the maintenance capacity necessary to support the airline’s continued growth at JFK.  This project will create almost 200 new jobs, in addition to the 30 maintenance jobs already located at the airport.

In addition to these IDA projects, the Economic Development Corporation is in the process of assisting several businesses – Crystal Window & Door Systems, Ares Printing & Packaging and New York Sign City – to relocate or expand in the community.  These companies represent more than 200 new jobs that will be created in the City in the next two years, in addition to about 150 jobs that will remain here.

“These projects clearly demonstrate the desirability of New York City as a location for industrial entrepreneurs and their determination to do business here,” said Barbara Basser-Bigio, IDA Executive Director.  “We are committed to helping companies like these. Through the IDA, we have helped create and retain more than 20,000 jobs in New York City in just the last fiscal year.”

To further improve business conditions in the community, EDC has issued a Request for Proposals to develop a portion of the former Flushing Airport along 20th Avenue.  Development of this site will help to create additional employment opportunities and return a blighted property back to productive use.







MEDIA CONTACT:


Ed Skyler / Jennifer Falk   (212) 788-2958

Michael Sherman / Janel Patterson (EDC)   (212) 312-3523




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