Sizeable and painful as they are, New York City's budget problems are temporary. Long-term, our economic prospects are bright. New jobs and business growth will boost our economy and provide the tax revenues to pay for the City services we need. And there are plenty of reasons to be confident about the city's economic future.

Last Monday, for example, Pfizer, Inc., the world's largest pharmaceutical company, announced plans to create 2,000 new jobs in New York City and retain the 5,500 workers it currently employs in Manhattan and Brooklyn. Over the next 12 months, Pfizer will add 1,000 employees here, with another 1,000 jobs to come during the next five years. This is the biggest corporate expansion in New York in nearly two years, and it's a major vote of confidence in our city's future.

On the same day, the completely refurbished Millennium Hilton Hotel, located directly across from the World Trade Center site, re-opened. It's back in business less than 20 months after the devastating attack on 9/11--a remarkable achievement that's especially good news for the 300 hotel employees who have returned to their old jobs. In the months ahead, New Yorkers will see more progress downtown, as we begin building new mass transit stations and revamping streets, parks and open spaces.

Across the harbor on Staten Island, we're moving forward with plans to redevelop the Homeport-a 36-acre site on the island's north shore that's been largely fallow since a naval base there was decommissioned in 1995. By this time next year, a task force composed of Staten Island's elected leaders, community residents and top Administration officials will have come up with a comprehensive plan for bringing businesses and jobs to the Homeport site-and also for opening up the Homeport waterfront for public use and enjoyment.

Later this month, there'll be the first of a series of public meetings on the plans we're developing with Brooklyn elected officials, community leaders and business groups to spur growth in Downtown Brooklyn. We envision building new housing and more than 5,000,000 square feet of new office and commercial space-projects that will generate an estimated 8,000 construction jobs and thousands more permanent jobs in Brooklyn.

In the Bronx, we've broken ground for a new $85 million fish market at Hunts Point. It will replace the old Fulton Fish Market and bring 350 construction jobs and 600 permanent jobs to that community. In Queens, we're cooperating with community groups and elected officials to improve the business environment in the borough's three major commercial districts: Flushing, Long Island City, and Jamaica. And we're moving ahead in all five boroughs with a $3 billion plan to build and preserve 65,000 units of badly needed housing for New Yorkers.

We're working hard to create homes, jobs and economic growth in every part of New York. They're essential to the city's long-term health. And those efforts will pay off, because there's still no place like New York to live, work and do business.