MAYOR GIULIANI RINGS OPENING BELL OF NEW NEW YORK MERCANTILE EXCHANGE
World's Largest Physical Commodity Exchange Quadruples Trading Space With New Facilities
Mayor Rudolph W. Giuliani, joined by Daniel Rappaport, Chairman of the New York Mercantile Exchange (NYMEX), today rang the opening bell to start global crude oil trading at the new state-of-the-art Mercantile Exchange in Lower Manhattan. The $228 million, 16-story facility boasts $44 million in high-tech communications and computing equipment, making it the largest physical commodities market in the world.
"I am very pleased to be here today to welcome the New York Mercantile Exchange to its new state-of-the-art facility right here in Lower Manhattan -- the financial center of the world. This beautiful building represents not only an upgrade for the Mercantile Exchange, but it's also a boon for the City as a whole. Today we enhance the Mercantile Exchange's critical role in the City and again we proudly reassert New York City's status as the Financial Capital of the World," the Mayor added.
Accounting for more than 85 percent of the futures business transacted in the New York metropolitan area, the New York Mercantile Exchange offers trading in crude oil, heating oil, unleaded gasoline, natural gas, electricity, propane, platinum and palladium, while the Commodities Exchange offers trading in gold, silver, copper and the Eurotop 100 index. The Exchange is responsible for $2 billion in annual economic activity in New York City.
"The merger of the New York Mercantile Exchange and the Commodity Exchange, three years ago, signaled exciting things for futures and options trading in New York City and around the world. And it wasn't long ago that New York City was in danger of losing NYMEX -- and with it more than 8,000 jobs and $180 million in annual City and State tax revenues.
"From the outset, we understood the importance of keeping NYMEX on our side of the River -- and our efforts, along with those of New York State, have paid off. We have once again succeeded in keeping a vital player in the world financial community right here where it belongs," the Mayor concluded.
New York Mercantile Exchange Chairman Daniel Rappaport commented, "Our industry is one of the few remaining fields in which unlimited opportunities exist for an entrepreneurial young person. Our traders have worked hard to make the Exchange into the global financial institution it is today and they deserve a facility that supports and enhances our continued expansion and growth into the 21st Century."
In addition to housing the two exchanges, the building will also have a ground floor museum of the history of the Mercantile Exchange that will open free to the public. The new Exchange is located at One North End Avenue in the World Financial Center.
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