In August, the Atlanta Regional Commission shepherded a cohort of 135 metro Atlanta leaders to New York City for the annual LINK trip.
For context, when you compare New York City to the Atlanta Region, the scale of differences is wide-ranging:
- By and large, they talk billions, and we talk millions
- They have 8 million residents in the city alone, and we have 5.2 million residents in 11 counties
- And, New York City is “on” 24/7
But this isn’t a tale of two city’s differences because the glaring similarity that our region has to the ‘big apple’ is that we both want a region where everyone can thrive.
The common denominator is livability: Creating a region where residents can live affordably, work with dignity making a living wage, and maximize public assets without major health or air quality threats.
Deputy Mayor Torres-Springer pointedly stated that New York has a livability problem, and they are doing everything in their power to fix it.
Here are some of the major takeaways of this year’s LINK trip to the Big Apple:
Affordable Housing: Do Everything, Everywhere, All at Once
New York City Deputy Mayor Maria Torres-Springer did not waste any time sharing with metro Atlanta leaders that housing affordability and overall livability are clear and present challenges for the ‘city that never sleeps.’
With a vacancy rate of just 1.4%, the city is facing a severe housing crisis, the worst in 60 years. Mayor Eric Adams’ “moonshot goal” of erecting 500,000 new housing units is no locker room cheer for driving momentum. It’s a testament to the seriousness of the housing issue for New Yorkers and why the bold work towards this audacious target is so important.
City of Yes
Torres-Springer explains the housing crisis as the “generational challenge of our time” and informed the LINK delegation of a new ‘City of Yes’ strategy that builds a little more housing in every neighborhood. Simply put, by “clearing the barnacles of rezoning” New Yorkers will greatly benefit from increased housing options, a stronger small business footprint and cleaner air to breathe.
The deputy mayor further described the ‘City of Yes’ as essentially “doing everything, everywhere all at once.” By modernizing antiquated zoning rules and laws, the city will be able to leverage more office space conversions and ease land use and permitting regulations to speed up building efforts. The city’s goal is to convert nearly a third of its 100 million square feet of vacant office space into affordable housing.
Business Improvement Districts Fuel a “New” New York
As New York looks at paving the way for the next 400 years, the city is focused on strengthening its business improvement district (BID) network to drive ‘on the ground’ economic development. Referred to as community improvement districts (CID) in the Atlanta region, there are an impressive 75 CID equivalents in metro New York.
The Atlanta LINK delegation heard from leaders of three of these districts: Times Square Alliance, 125th Street (Harlem) and Downtown Brooklyn Partnership. They shared common economic drivers for sustainable growth: large-scale investments, increased retailer-hotel footprint, and better public space experiences.
On the flip side, business improvement districts in the New York region are not isolated from their share of complications. Office vacancies, sanitation, cultural preservation and housing are all among the varied list of things that the BID community is grappling with.
The antidote? There is no all-encompassing fix, but the future is bright for these districts with the emergence of the “New” New York initiative.
In May 2022, Governor Hochul and Mayor Adams partnered to launch the program in an effort to reimagine New York’s commercial business districts as vibrant destinations, make it easier for residents to get to work, and develop beautiful, permanent public spaces. The charge comes with a host of incentives for commercial investors ranging from updated zoning regulations to innovative financing mechanisms for green and energy efficiency retrofits.
Big Projects Take Big Collaboration, Partnership and… Time
Hudson Yards: When Big Meets Bold
Yes. Big projects take time, collaboration and a vision. The vision for the Hudson Yards Development dates back over 20 years. For such a massive undertaking on the west side of Manhattan, civic leaders adopted a bold strategy of building as much as possible as fast as possible. Not quite the Cinderella story, but the end result was truly magical.
Considered one of the most expensive real estate developments in U.S. history, Hudson Yards is regarded as a major success. Boasting a 99% office occupancy rate and serving as the connective tissue for people traveling to the nearby Hudson River, the $25 billion mixed-use redevelopment did not come without its risks.
First, there was the enormous cost to the city: about $2.2 billion, largely due to major tax incentives. , NYC leaders shared with LINK attendees that there was an urgency to ensure that they had the expertise pull it off. It was a “special case of the right people” working on the right project. There was a corresponding understanding that city planners had a tough job, especially as it related to the slew of rezoning efforts to accommodate this modern monolith. Now rezoned, Hudson Yards boasts 20,000 housing units of which 5,000 designated as affordable.
With transit-oriented development as a backdrop, the extension of the MTA rail line, No. 7 Subway, were glowing examples of city and state officials working collaboratively for a common interest. The development took public space to a new level and has garnered the attention and respect across the globe.
Major Transit Capital Improvements and So Much More
“Without transit, we can’t’ breathe,” echoed one of the panelists during the Transit Major Capital Improvements session on the third and final day of the LINK trip.
The panelists discussed plans for a new light rail line, the Interborough Express (IBX), which is designed to reduce traffic congestion between Brooklyn and Queens while providing connectivity to underserved areas. Built along an existing 14-mile rail corridor, IBX is projected to have 115,000 weekday riders, with an estimated end-to-end run time of 39 minutes.
And speaking of ‘mega projects,’ New York has taken this concept to a new level. There are a host of major developments to include MTA’s largest capital project – East Side Access. Once completed, the Long Island community will have the opportunity to experience 40 miles of new tracks and a new terminal underneath Grand Central.
And the list goes on, from the Second Avenue Subway to the total redesign of Penn Station. Improving mobility is core to New York’s goal of bettering livability and quality of life.
A Future Spawned by Deliberate Intention
A wise person once said, “be loyal to your future, not your past.” The New York metro area is doing just that.
Rebounds and layups aptly describe how the ‘Big Apple’ has upped its game and nearly fully recovered from the economic twists and downturns of the pandemic. According to the experts at the Economic Development Corporation, NYC has added 313,000 jobs since January 2022. Private sector employment is up almost 55,000 jobs. The unemployment rate is steady at 4.8% (tied for the lowest since June 2022). Tourism is expected to reach 64,000 in 2024. And to add trillions to the city of billions, the New York Stock Exchange worth $30 trillion of total market capitalization. Whew!
The past is not haunting the future of New York City, and leaders have taken bold steps to create the future they want. Innovation is the stitching of their fabric with an intentional vision that is three-pronged: Green Economy, Life Sciences, and Technology.
How sway? By 2040, New York economists shared that their goal is to lead the nation with 100% clean electricity and secure 400,000 green economy jobs. To date, New York’s green economy contributes $24 billion to the GDP with a goal of reaching $89 billion by 2040. The life sciences industry has nearly doubled over the past five years with an expected economic impact of $82 billion over the next 10-15 years.
And last but not least, tech. New York is No. 2 in the world when it comes to tech ecosystems. The city has experienced 32% growth in this space over the last decade. Venture capitalists are hedging their bets on AI companies in New York to the tune of $21.4 billion. And to date, there are 40,000 people in NYC with an AI or AI-adjacent skill set.
Let’s just say the future of New York City is bright from our vantage point. The ideological thinking of taking great leaps forward duly describes the mega city. And despite NYC’s challenges – the intentionality, vigor, and rigor of creating a deliberate future while sustaining their legacy industries in media and finance is downright awesome.
Bravo New York! Bravo! Keep inspiring and leading the way for so many across the world.
What’s Next ATL, produced by the Atlanta Regional Commission, is a community resource that explores how metro Atlanta is growing and changing, and how the region is addressing its most pressing challenges.
