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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
PR- 088-11
March 17, 2011

MAYOR BLOOMBERG ANNOUNCES CITY RECEIVED 18 SUBMISSIONS FROM 27 ACADEMIC INSTITUTIONS FOR NEW APPLIED SCIENCES CAMPUS

Top-tier Universities from Around the World Respond to "Once-in-a-Generation Opportunity" to Build or Expand an Applied Sciences and Engineering Research Center in New York City

City to Seek Refined Proposals and Select an Institution by End of 2011

Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg, Deputy Mayor for Economic Development Robert K. Steel and New York City Economic Development Corporation President Seth W. Pinsky today announced the City received 18 responses from academic institutions seeking to develop and operate a new applied science and engineering research campus in New York City. Twenty-seven institutions were involved in submitting proposals – formally, Expressions of Interest – in response to an invitation, issued by Mayor Bloomberg in December, to join the Administration’s efforts to diversify the City’s economy and boost the growing technology sector. After reviewing the responses, the City will issue a Request for Proposals by this summer and will aim to select a proposal by the end of 2011.

“We were enormously optimistic that this once-in-a-generation opportunity would draw the interest of top caliber universities from New York City, the region and the world, and the number and breadth of responses is as strong an endorsement of the idea as we could have hoped for,” said Mayor Bloomberg. “The institutions that responded recognize the historic opportunity this initiative represents – to grow a presence in the world’s most dynamic, creative and globally connected city. For New York City, it’s an opportunity to increase dramatically our potential for economic growth – a game-changer for our economy. The day when a new campus opens its doors is still far down the road, but the quality of the initial responses is an incredibly promising sign that it can and will become a reality.”

The institutions that submitted responses are:

  • Åbo Akadmi University, Finland
  • Amity University, India
  • Carnegie Mellon University with Steiner Studios
  • Cornell University
  • Columbia University and the City University of New York
  • The Cooper Union
  • École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne, Switzerland
  • Indian Institute of Technology Bombay, India
  • Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology, Korea
  • New York University, Carnegie Mellon, the City University of New York, the University of Toronto, and IBM
  • The New York Genome Center, with Albert Einstein College of Medicine, Columbia University Medical Center, Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, Mount Sinai School of Medicine, New York University, Rockefeller University, and the Jackson Laboratory
  • Purdue University
  • Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute
  • Stanford University
  • The Stevens Institute of Technology
  • Technion-Israel Institute of Technology, Israel
  • The University of Chicago
  • The University of Warwick, United Kingdom

“We want New York City to grow as the 21st Century capital of innovation, and helping develop a new or expanded applied sciences and engineering school may be one of the most impactful things we can do to ensure that happens,” said Deputy Mayor Steel. “Many of the world’s leading tech companies grew out of top applied science programs, and we want the next generation of companies and jobs to start up here in New York. We recognize it’s an enormous undertaking and we have a lot of work ahead of us. But the commitment of support from many of New York City’s philanthropic, civic, political and business leaders, combined with this unmistakable response from the academic community, further solidify our confidence in the venture.”

“We believe science and technology to be critical to the future of the global economy. The universities that responded, including our local institutions, are among the world leaders in these fields, having done ground-breaking research, spun off pioneering companies and created hundreds of thousands of jobs, not just for high-tech engineers but for all skill and income levels,” said New York City Economic Development Corporation President Seth W. Pinsky. “The number and quality of these responses constitute an enormous vote of confidence in this important initiative and represent the first page of what we believe will ultimately become a new chapter in our City's economy.”

The responses contained proposals for hundreds of millions of dollars in private investment and significant increases to the number of applied sciences and engineering graduate students to be based in New York City. They included a variety of ideas about what types of science might be studied at the new campus, ranging from environmental sciences to neuroengineering. Many of the proposals included wet or dry labs as well as space for teaching, housing, and recreation. The universities indicated an interest in the Navy Hospital Campus at the Brooklyn Navy Yard, the Goldwater Hospital Campus on Roosevelt Island in Manhattan, sites on Governor’s Island, Farm Colony on Staten Island as well as a number of privately-owned sites.

In December 2010, the City released a Request for Expressions of Interest, indicating the use of City-owned land – including the four sites named above – and a significant capital contribution could be available, in addition to the respondent’s investment.

In February, representatives from institutions from four continents visited New York City to learn more about the initiative. The information session included a reception with Mayor Bloomberg at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, breakfast in the Governor’s Room at City Hall, presentations and Q&A at the New York Stock Exchange, and tours of potential sites.

New York City is home to more than 626,000 post-secondary students – more than the population of many major cities – and more than 4,200 graduate engineering students. While the City’s more than 100 academic and research institutions are renowned worldwide, unparalleled growth opportunities exist within the science and technology fields, in which there is a global competition. As the demand for talent outpaces supply around the world, New York City’s success increasing its pool of engineering faculty, graduate students and research expenditures will become increasingly important.







MEDIA CONTACT:


Stu Loeser / Andrew Brent   (212) 788-2958

Julie Wood (NYCEDC)   (212) 312-3523



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