Contact: Colleen Roche/Curt Ritter (212) 788-2958 Mayor's Office
Contact: Caroline Quartararo (212) 803-3740 (ESDC)
If you would like to hear this press conference, please visit the Blue Room.
The City and State have agreed to acquire the block bounded by Wall Street, Broad Street, William Street, and Exchange Place. The City and State will pay for the construction of the new facility, estimated at $400 million, and will provide exemptions from real property, sales and other taxes estimated at $160 million. In addition, the City and State will select a developer to construct an office tower over the NYSE facility. This will be the first new office building to be built in the Wall Street area in ten years. The NYSE will lease the trading facility for an initial 50-year term, with renewal options up to 99 years, and will pay $10 million a year in rent, with a 15 percent escalation every ten years to account for adjustments due to inflation. Construction is expected to begin in November 2001.
"Today I'm pleased to announce that the City and the New York Stock Exchange will extend our 206 year relationship well into the next millennium and the heart of Wall Street will remain on Wall Street," said Mayor Giuliani. "This is a significant investment on the part of the City and State and is easily justified by the returns it will create for the City, because it will keep the financial sector's center of gravity in Lower Manhattan and will solidify our role as The Financial Capital of the World."
Governor George E. Pataki said, "The New York Stock Exchange has always been synonymous with Wall Street and with this agreement it will continue to be well into the 21st Century. The decision by the New York Stock Exchange to remain on Wall Street guarantees New York's future as The Financial Capital of the World."
Richard A. Grasso said, "We are proud of our 206-year partnership with the City and State of New York, during which time the Exchange has grown to become the world's leading equities marketplace and New York the center of the business world. We look forward to continuing to work hand-in-hand with Mayor Giuliani and Governor Pataki and their teams to ensure that New York remains the center of the global financial community. The NYSE's dramatic and rapid growth in recent years and our growth prospects for the future make it necessary to expand by building a state-of-the-art trading center, which promises to be the world's most technologically advanced center for trading of equities. This agreement enables us to build on our commitment to provide the most efficient and advanced marketplace to serve our rapidly growing base of listed companies and investors well into the new millennium."
Empire State Development Corporation Chairman Charles Gargano said, "Governor Pataki has always been committed to keeping the New York Stock Exchange not only in New York, but in downtown Manhattan where it belongs. This new, state-of-the-art facility will continue the revitalization of one of the City's most historically and economically significant areas."
Deputy Mayor for Economic Development and Planning Randy L. Levine said, "This commitment of public funds will help generate funds for the City and continue the revitalization of Lower Manhattan. The future of the City's Financial District is assured and this expanded, state-of-the-art facility will assure that New York City remains The Financial Capital of the World."
Planning Commission Chairman Joseph B. Rose said, "From a land use as well as an economic perspective, this deal is a major triumph. The New York Stock Exchange will expand where it belongs -- on Wall Street. This site is the right location, well served by mass transit and at the historic center of New York City's financial district."
New York City Economic Development Corporation President Charles Millard said, "More than retaining an exchange by this transaction the Mayor assures that New York City will be the focal-point of the securities industry for decades and decades to come."
After the new facility opens, the NYSE plans to make space available to the City at its existing facility, rent free, to house a New York City Police Department substation. As part of the project, the façade of the landmark J.P. Morgan headquarters building, on the corner of Wall Street and Broad Street, will be preserved.
The Mayor was joined by Chairman of the New York Stock Exchange Richard A. Grasso, Deputy Mayor for Economic Development and Planning Randy L. Levine, Chairman of the Empire State Development Corporation Charles Gargano, Planning Commission Chairman Joseph B. Rose and New York City Economic Development Corporation President Charles Millard at today's announcement in City Hall.