NYCEDC

During his State of the City address, Mayor Eric Adams on Thursday announced plans to open a $20 million biotech innovation hub at the Brooklyn Navy Yard. The "first-in-the-nation incubator" would include 50,000 square feet of office, lab, and programming space for biotech startups and companies at the former shipyard, as THE CITY first reported.
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Neighborhood Tours

NYC’s first professional soccer stadium will open in Queens

A conceptual rendering, courtesy of S9 Architecture

November 16, 2022

NYC’s first professional soccer stadium will open in Queens

New York City's first professional soccer stadium will be built in Queens, officials announced Wednesday. The major mixed-use development is proposed for Willets Point, across the street from Citi Field. In addition to a 25,000-seat stadium for the New York City Football Club, the 23-acre project also includes a hotel, thousands of affordable housing units, and a new public school. As first reported by the New York Times, the stadium is expected to be completed by 2027.
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People’s Theatre Project will run NYC’s first immigrant research and performing arts center

Photo by kathryn on Flickr

May 20, 2022

People’s Theatre Project will run NYC’s first immigrant research and performing arts center

The Upper Manhattan-based People's Theatre Project (PTP) will run the city's first research and arts center dedicated to immigrants and the immigrant experience in New York. On Thursday, Mayor Eric Adams announced the selection of the PTP Company, an immigrant and women-led nonprofit, to own and manage the Immigrant Research and Performing Arts Center (IRPAC), which is expected to open in Inwood in 2027. The city will grant the company $15 million to put towards the creation of the new 17,000-square-foot center, which will be developed by LMXD, MSquared, and Taconic Partners.
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Events & Things To Do

New York City’s first net-zero energy library opens on Staten Island

All images courtesy of The New York Public Library

March 17, 2022

New York City’s first net-zero energy library opens on Staten Island

The New York Public Library on Wednesday opened its 14th branch on Staten Island and the first net-zero energy library in New York City. Located in the Bricktown Commons shopping center on the South Shore in Charleston, the $17 million, 10,000-square-foot building was designed by Ikon 5 Architects to be energy efficient, with solar panels providing nearly 100 percent of the energy the building will use. Managed by the city's Economic Development Corporation with the Gilbane Building Company, the new branch offers patrons a variety of amenities, including dedicated spaces for adults, teens, and children and flexible multi-purpose rooms for programs and classes.
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South Brooklyn Marine Terminal to become one of nation’s largest offshore wind ports

Image courtesy of Equinor

March 3, 2022

South Brooklyn Marine Terminal to become one of nation’s largest offshore wind ports

Mayor Eric Adams on Thursday announced an agreement that will transform New York City's South Brooklyn Marine Terminal into one of the country's largest offshore wind ports. As part of the deal made with the city's Economic Development Corporation, Equinor, and the Sustainable South Brooklyn Marine Terminal, L.P., the terminal will become a power interconnection site for the Empire Wind 1 project, with heavy-lift platforms being built on the 39th Street Pier for use as wind turbine staging. The terminal's transformation will help the city meet its climate goal of having 100 percent clean electricity by 2040.
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See NYC’s sweeping master plan that promises climate resilience for Lower Manhattan

Image credit: NYCEDC

January 4, 2022

See NYC’s sweeping master plan that promises climate resilience for Lower Manhattan

By Michelle Cohen

New York City has taken an important step toward protecting one of the country’s largest central business districts from the costly and destructive effects of climate change. The city's Economic Development Corporation and the Mayor's Office of Climate Resiliency recently released the Financial District and Seaport Climate Resilience Master Plan. At a projected cost of up to $7 billion, this environmental blueprint for the Lower Manhattan shoreline imagines a resilient waterfront that can withstand severe storms and rising sea levels.
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New rental with 400 units of affordable housing and a grocery store opens in Jamaica

Rendering courtesy of Omni New York

December 2, 2021

New rental with 400 units of affordable housing and a grocery store opens in Jamaica

A new rental with nearly 400 affordable apartments and a low-cost grocery store officially opened in Jamaica, Queens this week. Located at 92-23 168th Street, Archer Green was developed by Omni New York and designed by ESKW/Architects. The development has 389 total apartments across two towers, one at 23 stories and the other at 20 stories, and will be home to an ALDI grocery store and 15,000 square feet of community space.
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Affordable Housing

Bedford Union Armory recreation center officially opens in Crown Heights

Photo credit: Brett Bayer

October 28, 2021

Bedford Union Armory recreation center officially opens in Crown Heights

The transformation of a former armory in Brooklyn into a recreation center is now complete. Located in Crown Heights, the Major R. Owens Health & Wellness Community Center opened its doors on Wednesday, bringing a new 60,000-square-foot community center with an indoor swimming pool, three basketball courts, a soccer field, dance studios, and space for local nonprofits to the neighborhood. The long-awaited project also includes 415 units of housing, expected to open in 2023.
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New minor league baseball team officially headed to Staten Island next year

Richmond County Bank Ballpark, photo by Doug Kerr on Wikimedia

July 26, 2021

New minor league baseball team officially headed to Staten Island next year

America's pastime will return to Staten Island next year. Mayor Bill de Blasio announced on Friday a plan to reopen the former Staten Island Yankees stadium with a new minor league baseball team. The Richmond County Bank Ballpark did not open in 2020 because of the coronavirus pandemic. This year, the waterfront stadium sat empty after Major League Baseball removed the "Baby Bombers" from its parent team as part of a reorganization of its farm system.
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Uncategorized

A self-filtering floating pool is officially coming to the East River

A plan to build a swimming pool on the East River is finally moving forward after being in the works for over a decade. In an Instagram post published on Saturday, the nonprofit +POOL announced the group had received confirmation from the city to proceed with due diligence on their project: a floating, self-filtering pool on the south side of Pier 35 on the Lower East Side.
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Plans for abolitionist memorial in Downtown Brooklyn park delayed again

Renderings by Hargreaves Jones, courtesy of NYCEDC

January 26, 2021

Plans for abolitionist memorial in Downtown Brooklyn park delayed again

After being in the works for nearly two decades, plans to build a public park in Downtown Brooklyn with a memorial to the neighborhood's abolitionist history are delayed once again. The Public Design Commission last week tabled a conceptual proposal from artist Kameelah Janan Rasheed after preservationists and community members during an intense public hearing criticized both the design for missing details and the city's lack of transparency.
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Events & Things To Do

New ‘one-stop shop’ network helps NYC small businesses reopen and recover amid COVID-19

Photo by Eden, Janine and Jim on Flickr

October 1, 2020

New ‘one-stop shop’ network helps NYC small businesses reopen and recover amid COVID-19

A new initiative launched this week that aims to help New York City's 230,000 small businesses stay afloat amid the coronavirus pandemic. The NYC Small Business Resource Network connects business owners with specialists from each borough who will provide advice and access to available resources regarding challenges like loan and grant opportunities and legal and accounting services. The program aims to serve owners in the hardest-hit communities, with a focus on minority-, women-, and immigrant-owned businesses.
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Policy

NYC opens new lab that will process COVID-19 tests within 48 hours

Image: Matt Monath Photography

September 24, 2020

NYC opens new lab that will process COVID-19 tests within 48 hours

A lab dedicated to processing New York City coronavirus tests within 24 to 48 hours officially opened on Thursday. The "Pandemic Response Lab" is located in the Alexandria Center for Life Science on First Avenue and East 29th Street in Manhattan. The lab, led by the city's Economic Development Corporation and run by robotics company Openetrons, will expand testing capacity citywide while also providing a quicker turnaround time to get results from samples collected at NYC Health + Hospitals sites.
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Policy

New program asks architects to help design outdoor dining spaces for NYC restaurants

Credit: Ed Reed/Mayoral Photography Office

September 2, 2020

New program asks architects to help design outdoor dining spaces for NYC restaurants

Outdoor dining has offered a much-needed lifeline to many New York City restaurants struggling because of the coronavirus pandemic. But creating a space on city streets and sidewalks that is both inviting to diners and meets the city's safety standards comes at a cost. To help restaurants reopen, the city's Economic Development Corporation partnered with NYCxDesign, the American Institute of Architects, and the Center for Architecture to launch an online network that connects restaurants with architects and designers willing to provide design help for free.
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Steiner Studios to open film and TV hub at Bush Terminal in Sunset Park

Credit: Synoesis

August 13, 2020

Steiner Studios to open film and TV hub at Bush Terminal in Sunset Park

Steiner Studios will open a second film and television production facility in Brooklyn, city officials announced Thursday. The city's Economic Development Corporation and the Mayor's Office of Media and Entertainment selected Steiner to open a 500,000-square-foot production space at Bush Terminal in Sunset Park, as part of the Made in New York Campus, currently being transformed into a garment manufacturing and media production hub. The studio has operated a facility across 50 acres at the Brooklyn Navy Yard since 2004, one of the largest production spaces outside of Hollywood.
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New Developments

Renderings released for massive Sunnyside Yard project that will bring 12,000 affordable apartments

All renderings by the Practice for Architecture and Urbanism (PAU)

March 5, 2020

Renderings released for massive Sunnyside Yard project that will bring 12,000 affordable apartments

By Michelle Cohen

According to the master plan for the 180-acre Sunnyside Yard development in Queens, the former storage and maintenance hub for Amtrak’s Northeast Corridor, New Jersey Transit, and Long Island Rail Road will include 12,000 affordable apartments, making it the largest affordable housing development to be built in NYC since the middle-income Co-op City in the Bronx was completed in 1973 (h/t Wall Street Journal). The plan by the New York City Economic Development Corp. (EDC) outlines a $14.4 billion deck over the train yard on which the complex would be built. Half the housing in the development would be rental apartments for low-income families earning less than 50 percent of the area median income, with the other half set aside for affordable homeownership programs through Mitchell-Lama. The Practice for Architecture and Urbanism (PAU) was identified to lead the planning process, and they have just released renderings and maps of the massive development.
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BQX streetcar plan rears its head, as city announces public meetings and updated timeline

Rendering via NYCEDC

January 10, 2020

BQX streetcar plan rears its head, as city announces public meetings and updated timeline

The city is once again inching forward with its plan to bring a streetcar to run between Brooklyn and Queens, a problem-plagued $2.7 billion proposal first presented five years ago. The New York City Economic Development Corporation on Thursday launched a new website for the Brooklyn Queens Connector (BQX) with information about public community meetings planned for February and March. According to the website, the city expects a draft environmental impact statement (DEIS) on the project to conclude in the spring of 2021, with the final statement ready by that fall. But questions about the logistics of constructing the streetcar's 11-mile route and its growing price tag.
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Transit

Construction begins on Fort Greene’s newest cultural center at 300 Ashland Place

Renderings courtesy of TEN Arquitectos and Andrea Steele Architecture

December 5, 2019

Construction begins on Fort Greene’s newest cultural center at 300 Ashland Place

The city’s Economic Development Corporation (NYCEDC) and Department of Cultural Affairs (DCLA) is starting construction on a new cultural center housed within the 32-story tower at 300 Ashland Place in Fort Greene. The new L10 Arts and Cultural Center will span across 50,000 square feet and host a range of institutions, including new gallery and performance spaces for the Museum of Contemporary African Diasporan Arts (MoCADA), three cinemas for the Brooklyn Academy of Music (BAM), rehearsal studios and performance space for 651 ARTS, and a new branch of the Brooklyn Public Library.
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Events & Things To Do

The city introduces a new branding initiative to unite NYC’s public markets

Photo of the Arthur Avenue Retail Market by Leonard J. DeFrancisci via Wikimedia Commons

November 11, 2019

The city introduces a new branding initiative to unite NYC’s public markets

By Michelle Cohen

The New York City Economic Development Corporation (NYCEDC) last week unveiled a new brand strategy for the city's network of six public markets, which includes a multilingual ad campaign, a dynamic new website and social media presence, direct mail campaigns and more, all of which are designed to consolidate a network of historic markets under one city-wide brand. It's all part of the organization's comprehensive initiative to promote NYC's public markets--including Essex Market, the Bronx's Arthur Avenue Market, and Williamsburg's historic Moore Street Market--as "world class destinations for both local residents and tourists."
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City Living

Affordable housing complex at former Bronx juvenile jail site breaks ground

Rendering by BLA and WXY

November 5, 2019

Affordable housing complex at former Bronx juvenile jail site breaks ground

The city on Monday broke ground on a five-acre mixed-use project that will bring more than 700 affordable apartments, open space, and manufacturing space to the Bronx. The Hunts Point complex, called the Penninsula, will sit at the site of the former Spofford Juvenile Detention Center, which closed in 2011 following reports of cruel conditions. Construction will now kick off on the project's first phase and includes space for industrial and light manufacturing businesses and 183 deeply affordable housing units.
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City seeks operator for long-planned memorial and cultural center at Harlem’s African burial ground site

Image of 126 Street Bus Depot courtesy of NYCEDC

October 22, 2019

City seeks operator for long-planned memorial and cultural center at Harlem’s African burial ground site

The city’s Economic Development Corporation (EDC) is now accepting bids for the long-planned redevelopment of the East 126th Street Metropolitan Transportation Authority Bus Depot into a memorial and cultural education center honoring the historic African burial ground found in the early 2000s at the site. In collaboration with the NYC Department of Cultural Affairs, the EDC has released a request for expressions of interest looking for a non-profit organization to operate the cultural center and outdoor memorial in Harlem.
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Uncategorized

City seeks nonprofit to run NYC’s first cultural institution dedicated to immigrants

Inwood Hill Park, courtesy of Dana on Flickr

September 6, 2019

City seeks nonprofit to run NYC’s first cultural institution dedicated to immigrants

The city is seeking proposals from nonprofits interested in running a new immigrant research center and performing arts center in Inwood. The city's Economic Development Corporation and the Department of Cultural Affairs (DCA) released a request for expressions of interest on Wednesday for a nonprofit organization to "design, construct, and operate" the Northern Manhattan Immigrant Research and Performing Arts Center (IRPAC). The neighborhood boasts a diverse community, with 49 percent foreign-born as well as the city's highest concentration of residents of Dominican descent.
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East Williamsburg’s historic Moore Street Market is getting a $2.7M makeover

Images courtesy of NYCEDC

August 22, 2019

East Williamsburg’s historic Moore Street Market is getting a $2.7M makeover

City officials have announced that a major renovation is coming to East Williamsburg’s Moore Street Market, one of Brooklyn’s oldest public markets. $2.7 million will go toward improving the 15,000- square-foot facilities at 110 Moore Street. The market, which opened in 1941 and is also known as La Marqueta de Williamsburg, currently houses 15 vendors—fresh produce, seafood, groceries, specialty foods, and even a barbershop—and offers year-round events including cooking classes and small business seminars.
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Uncategorized

Temporary “pop-up park” opens at future site of Willoughby Square Park

Images courtesy of EDC

July 10, 2019

Temporary “pop-up park” opens at future site of Willoughby Square Park