Transcript: Mayor Adams Holds Public Hearing For Intro. 1031-A And Intro. 1070-A And Bill Signing For Intro. 1070-ATY

December 4, 2023

Mayor Eric Adams: Good morning, everyone. You all look like you y’all didn’t have a good weekend. [Laughter.] I did, it was a lot of fun. Even with the rain.

And good morning to our city. Today I am holding hearings on two bills, one that would bring housing planning to New York City and the other that provides tax credits to companies engaged in biotechnology.

The future of housing is the future of our city. We know that we're dealing with a real housing crisis, and it's about inventory. We have to build more. We have to properly use the amount that we have here, we have to make sure we can fast track people into affordable housing.

So many of these issues we face as a city are rooted in the ongoing housing shortage. The inventory is just not matching the population and the needs. And we hear it all the time, all of the elected officials will tell you the same thing, that it's one of the top issues in this city, affordable housing and a place to stay.

And this is making life increasingly difficult for those who stay in our city, and we know right now that too many New Yorkers are struggling with rent, and far too many New Yorkers are at risk of poorly having the right housing accommodation, and poverty and homelessness is something that we must address and we must be equitable about doing it.

Affordable housing is, you know, personal to me. I say this story over and over again, the challenges that my mom had when we were growing up. And those challenges have not gone away, there's a little Eric out there right now wondering about a roof over his… Or, Erica, over her head.

We need more homes, more apartments and more development, and this bill shows that New York City is a City of Yes, something that Deputy Mayor Maria Torres-Springer talks about all the time, how do we build more and how do we move towards that moonshot of 500,000 units of housing.

And so Intro. 1031-A requires city agencies to create and submit it a fair housing assessment and plan every five years. We believe this bill is crucial, and we want to really thank the councilperson for putting this forward for us.

We also have another bill. New York City is a [21st] century city. This is a city where innovation happens, and you're seeing more and more under this administration, from the use of robots, to drones, to camera technology, to artificial intelligence. It is something that we believe that technology must be used to run cities smarter, faster, and more cost effective.

And like we said, in New York we want to ensure that we can help tap into the talent, support working people and create jobs and expand research, discover startups, commercialization and innovation in the city, and that is exactly what we're doing with Intro. 1070-A.

Intro. 1070-A provides a tax credit to biotechnology companies, and so this is a crucial bill to welcome people here in the city. We've been meeting with business leaders for the last few months, about 22 of them now, and really encouraging them to know that this is a city where business happens, where business grows and great startups are a place to be here in this city.

We're finding that we're outpacing the entire country with early first round of startups, and we want to continue that progression. More jobs in the private sector than in the city's history right now in this city. We want to keep that pace going.

And so I want to thank Speaker Adrienne Adams, Councilmember Jennifer Gutiérrez for their partnership, and I will now open up the floor to the public before I sign the bill, and I'll turn it over to the councilwoman.

Jennifer Hawks Bland, CEO, NewYorkBIO: Thank you, Mr. Mayor. Good morning. My name is Jennifer Hawks Bland, and I am the CEO at NewYorkBIO, the leading advocacy organization for life sciences in New York. I am thrilled and honored to stand here today by the mayor in support of the reinstatement of the biotechnology tax credit.

This incentive is vital to ensuring that New York companies continue to grow and show that New York is a national leader in life sciences. The tax credit will help create job opportunities for all New Yorkers of different backgrounds, advance critical research and provide tremendous economic incentives.

The credit is both unique and important in that it is targeted for startup companies with tremendous growth potential. New York has a rich startup culture, and these companies are creating the future cures, treatments, devices and therapeutics that will enhance the health of New Yorkers and the world. I am confident that the city's investment will result in important advancements across the industry, and NewYorkBIO is ready to support those companies as they grow here.

Thank you to the City Council for passing the bill; Mr. Mayor for signing it today; and, I look forward to our continued collaboration with NewYorkBIO and the life sciences industry. Thank you.

Mayor Adams: Thank you. Thank you very much. And I believe Maria's our next speaker.

Maria Gotsch, President and CEO, Partnership Fund for New York City: Good morning. I'm Maria Gotsch, I'm President and CEO of the Partnership Fund for New York City, which is the investment arm of the partnership for New York City. To do something ambitious and sustainable takes time and persistent effort, and making New York City a leader in life sciences is one of those ambitious initiatives.

And Mayor Adams and the City Council and their teams have not only been great champions of life sciences in New York but they continue to make important investments to turn this goal of becoming a leader into a reality.

This New York City biotech tax credit is an important addition to the landscape. It is a key signal that the city is committed to life sciences, and it provides needed help to those early stage companies when they need it most; and particularly, at that time when they're making that critical decision about do they stay in New York or do they go somewhere else.

And the good news is the city's investments in life sciences are paying off, and New York is showing the world that we are not just a leader of biomedical research at our universities but that we can create companies with life and planet saving products.

Life science companies are attracting private sector capital— which is a big goal of the administration— at an increasing rate. Two New York City life science companies, Pfizer and Regeneron, were instrumental in pulling the world out of the Covid-19 pandemic, and that work happened here in New York; and as was mentioned, jobs and economic output are on the rise as well.

So, Mayor Adams, congratulations on the progress, and thank you for your terrific support of the sector. And also to the City Council, the partnership looks forward to continuing to work with you and your team to make New York City not just "a" leader but "the" leader in life sciences. Thank you.

Mayor Adams: Thank you. Thank you. Last speaker. Follow [inaudible], have something nice to say.

Joe Landolina, CEO, Cresilon: Thank you, Mr. Mayor. So, my name is Joe Landolina. I'm the CEO of Cresilon, which is a mid stage biotech company based here in New York. And I'm truly thrilled to be here today in support of the renewal of the New York City tax credit, which I believe is a pivotal investment in our city's future.

So, 13 years ago I started Cresilon out of an NYU dorm in Brooklyn, driven by a vision to save lives and an invention that stops bleeding instantly. Despite the absence of a robust biotech community in the city, and as a New Yorker myself, I knew that New York was the city that we wanted to build our company in.

And with the support of the original biotech tax credit— which the company Cresilon took for over five years— Cresilon was able to commission the only sterile bio manufacturing facility in the five boroughs of New York, allowing our groundbreaking hemostatic technology to save the lives to date of more than 45,000 patients in the veterinary industry, globally.

Just this June, we achieved a significant milestone by receiving our first FDA clearance for use in human use which will allow us to expand into both trauma care and surgery eventually. And today we celebrate the renewal of the New York City biotech tax credit, which is a lifeline for companies like ours, empowering us to invest in R&D, infrastructure and talent that allow us to lead the world in lifesaving technologies.

But this biotech tax credit isn't just about us, it's about New York City reclaiming its natural advantage in the bioscience industries. Cresilon is proud to be at the forefront of this movement, and we remain dedicated to helping shape an innovative future for New York City's biotech ecosystem. Thank you, Mr. Mayor, and thank you, everyone else that helped this.

Mayor Adams: This is a real success story in a business in New York. Congratulations.

We will be signing Bill 1031-A at a later date. Today we will be signing Bill 1070-A. I want to turn it over to the councilwoman to say a few words. 

City Councilmember Jennifer Gutiérrez: Good morning. I know you're all here, you're all here. [Laughter.] I know, I get it. I get why you're [like], I totally get it now.

Okay. Well, I want to start by saying that this legislation reinstates the biotech tax credit, a move that not only encourages the growth of qualified, emerging tech companies focused on biotech within our city but also signifies a crucial step towards making New York City more welcoming and protective of local manufacturing. Biotech companies play a significant role in advancing science, improving healthcare, addressing environmental challenges and driving economic growth.

This tax credit can help companies grow right here in our city to create new life saving vaccines or work on bioremediation projects to clean up polluted areas. The possibilities are endless.

The credit lays out clear eligibility criteria for companies requiring an annual revenue under $10 million and ensuring that at least 75 percent of their workforce is based right here in New York City. This strategic targeting aims to bolster local employment and nurture our city's talent pool in the field of biotech manufacturing; and if you don't know, a girl loves manufacturing and wants more of it.

In my role as chair of the city council's Committee on Technology and as a councilmember representing the third largest industrial business zone in the city, I deeply understand just how important it is that we are supporting manufacturing, the biotech sector and fostering an environment conducive to technological innovation which diversifies and strengthens our industrial zones.

By encouraging investment and providing incentives to qualified emerging technology companies, we will expand the growth of this vital manufacturing sector, create new job opportunities for those that have been left out of this workforce, and establish New York City as a frontrunner in biotechnology.

I want to give a huge thank you to Committee Counsel Michael Twomey who helped get this bill over the finish line; of course, Speaker Adams; all of my colleagues who supported this bill; and Mr. Mayor for signing my bill today. Thank you so much.

Mayor Adams: Thank you. Congratulations.