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March 25, 2004
Today, at the Jacob Javits Center on
New York City’s West Side, Mayor Michael Bloomberg and
Governor George Pataki announced plans for a new "Convention
Corridor" for the city. These plans will include an expanded
Javits Center (Phase I) plus a new 75,000 seat sports and
convention complex (Phase II). The plan will also include
20 acres of parklands connected to the waterfront. According
to Bloomberg, these plans, located between the western edges
of 34th and 39th streets, will “catapult New York City
into the 21st century. It will play a vital role in diversifying
the economy and transforming the community.”
When the Javits Center first opened in 1986 it was immediately
obvious that the Center’s capacity was not sufficient,
and as Pataki describes, “was a corruptly run, inept
institution.” Major exhibitions are often turned away
costing the city millions in revenue. Last year alone, 63
major shows were turned away from use of the Javitz Center
due to lack of adequate space. In the plan’s first phase,
the Javits Center will double in size taking it from its national
ranking of 18th in overall capacity to 5th.
The new sports facility, called the New York Sports and Convention
Center, designed by Kohn Pedersen Fox with Heinlein, Schrock
& Stearns, will be a sustainable design capable of generating
a major portion of its own power. The NYSCC will include restaurants,
a community theater, a museum, and hotel facilities. The construction
of a sports stadium in Manhattan is meant not only as the
new home of the New York Jets but also as evidence to the
International Olympics Committee that New York City is capable
and worthy of hosting the 2012 Olympics.
The Convention Corridor is a glittery and imminent supplement
to the already existing Hudson Yards Master Plan to redevelop
the underutilized, semi-industrial zones of the West Side.
That plan has its own provisions for eventually rezoning the
area, renovating public transportation lines, attaining air
rights for the construction of substantial new housing and
office space above unsightly rail yards, and generally reintroducing
commerce to a somewhat destitute area mere blocks from the
city’s hub.
Community groups concerned about violent changes to their
neighborhood complain that the construction projects will
require demolition of much of the area and lead to displacement
of locals, as well as diverting tax revenue from more pressing
issues. City spokesperson Jennifer Falk noted that the Convention
Corridor plan includes no provisions for condemnation, though
the Hudson Yards redevelopment may hinge on razing some 141
buildings.
For his part, Mayor Michael Bloomberg declared the plans
to be a huge boon for the city, “beginning a process
that will create hundreds of thousands of jobs in construction,
tourism, and new businesses, large and small…The total
transformation of the area will make all of New York more
vibrant and economically sound for generations to come.”
The first phase of construction – with financing already
in place – is slated to begin in the spring of 2005.
The Phase I expansion will cost $1.4 billion dollars. Contributions
will come from the City, State and private funding, as well
as the hotel industry, which has agreed to a $1.50 per room
surcharge that will generate $500 million. Phase II’s
financing will come from City, State and the New York Jets
who will invest $800 million, the largest private contribution
to a sports facility.
Randi Greenberg
and Ilan Kayatsky
For more coverage of this development,
see our May issue.
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