ARCHIVES OF THE MAYOR'S WEEKLY COLUMN Archives of Rudolph W. Giuliani

New York is the Telecommunications Capital of the World
By Mayor Rudy Giuliani

Last week, we announced the beginning of two major initiatives to ensure that New York City solidifies its place at the forefront of new media and telecommunications.

First, the City has come up with an innovative solution to one of the major problems threatening New York's future as a leader in technology - the need for more underground space for fiber optic cable.

Second, a program called "Digital NYC: Wired to the World," will expand affordable, Internet-ready office space beyond the confines of Silicon Alley to Brooklyn, Queens, Harlem, Staten Island and the Bronx.

In the mid-1990s, Lower Manhattan was suffering from high vacancy rates. With a mixture of tax-abatements, energy incentives and the development of Internet-ready office space, New York City took the first step towards the creation of Silicon Alley.

The City's success in attracting high-technology companies has been staggering. More than 138,000 New Yorkers are now employed in Internet-related companies, and that number is expected to reach 250,000 by the year 2002. And correspondingly, the City's revenues from high-tech related companies have jumped from $2.8 billion in 1997 to $9.2 billion in 1999.

Now that Lower Manhattan has low vacancy rates, the City is expanding its successful formula to other neighborhoods throughout the five boroughs.

The "Digital NYC: Wired to the World" initiative is creating high-tech districts in Harlem along 125th Street, on Staten Island in St. George, and in Brooklyn in Red Hook, the Brooklyn Navy Yard, the Bush Terminal, and Downtown Brooklyn. As of this spring, all have affordable, pre-wired office space immediately available for rent. Later this year, high-tech districts in Long Island City and Astoria, as well as in the South Bronx, will have similar spaces available.

We're also working to meet the growing demand for digital information. The fiber optic telecommunication cables that send digital information throughout our city are located in underground pipes beneath the streets. Because of increased demand, the available space in these pipes is rapidly filling up. But the installation of new pipes can be expensive and disrupt traffic, as well as damage street surfaces.

The City's Department of Information Technology and Telecommunications, as well as the Mayor's Council on New Media, have come up with an extraordinary solution.

Beneath the streets of Manhattan, below 34th Street and in Downtown Brooklyn and Coney Island, there are 175 miles of vacant and unused water pipes dating from 1908. Originally these pipes were built to carry high-pressure water for the fire department, but the development of fire trucks that are able to produce their own water pressure made these pipes obsolete.

This existing pipeline can provide an almost instantaneous addition to the city's information infrastructure. The pipes themselves are up to 36 times larger than standard telecommunications pipelines, so they could potentially hold tremendous quantities of cable. This would directly lower the cost, and increase the speed of availability to telecommunications services for consumers and businesses in New York - all without the need for costly and disruptive street construction.

We're announcing the release of a Request for Expressions of Interest (RFEI) to solicit industry and public input on how these vacant water pipes can be best used and managed by the private sector.

It's a unique opportunity, and an innovative solution, which will help solidify New York's position as the telecommunications Capital of the World for generations to come.