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The Boroughs are Booming
By Mayor Rudy Giuliani
New York City has received more great economic news.
Last month, Crain’s New York Business proclaimed that New York
City is well on the way to adding another 70,000 new jobs this year,
nearing the record-breaking job gains of the previous two years.
And Crain’s reports that one of the
factors making 2000 one of the best years ever is that Brooklyn, Queens,
the Bronx and Staten Island are now producing more new jobs than Manhattan.
According to State Department of Labor figures,
while Manhattan produced 33,275 private-sector jobs last year, an increase
of 1.8% over the previous year, the other boroughs gained 37,420 new
jobs, a jump of 3.75%.
All told, the boroughs collectively produced
52% of the city’s 70,695 new jobs. That’s quite a change from earlier
years, when Manhattan produced 68% of new jobs. This marks the first
time since 1994 that the city’s other boroughs surpassed Manhattan in
job creation.
This has been an extraordinary time of economic
growth and job creation in every sector of our city. Since 1994 -- spurred
by lower crime, lower taxes, a more stable budget, and improving quality
of life -- our private sector has created 395,000 new jobs.
Wall Street has been instrumental in helping to
create budget surpluses for the City, but our job gains have been broad-based,
in a wide range of different neighborhoods and industries. This administration
has been committed to doing everything that we can to reward work and
encourage innovation in businesses across the city, and we’re committed
to doing even more.
That’s why we announced a new initiative designed
to encourage new media companies to develop outside of Lower Manhattan
by creating affordable, Internet-ready office space in so-called "high-tech
zones" throughout all the boroughs.
This includes space that is ready to rent immediately
in Staten Island in St. George; and in Brooklyn in Red Hook, the Brooklyn
Navy Yard, the Bush Terminal, Downtown Brooklyn, and "Dumbo."
Later this year similar spaces will open in Long Island City and Astoria,
as well as the South Bronx.
High technology companies are busy creating the
jobs of the future. Already we’ve seen the number of high-tech related
jobs in our city rise dramatically, and the number of New Yorkers employed
by high-tech companies is expected to reach 250,000 by the year 2002.
Last month, City Council Speaker Peter Vallone and
I announced a proposed amendment to the City’s pending Commercial Revitalization
bill, which will expand the current proposed benefits from nine districts
to all areas of the city with the exception of the Manhattan central
business district. The primary goal of this legislation is to encourage
businesses that are considering relocation from Manhattan to relocate
to one of the other four boroughs or north of 96th Street.
Among the many benefits the Commercial Revitalization
program offers is a $3,000 business tax credit for each employee who
is relocated to one of the designated areas. Additionally, there will
be special real estate tax incentives that are targeted to spur new
construction of commercial office space.
It’s our responsibility to ensure that job growth
is as geographically broad-based as possible. Five years ago, when vacancy
rates in Lower Manhattan were sky-high, our initiatives helped encourage
the growth of what is now known around the world as "Silicon Alley."
Now it’s our hope that similar incentives will expand the development
of high-technology companies in all the boroughs of our city.
Private enterprise has been the engine of growth
in our city, and private enterprise will continue to fuel our city’s
growth. And it is my belief that in the 21st century, that
growth will be increasingly broad-based, enabling every borough to enjoy
the fruits of the City’s economic renaissance.
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