Group of 35
Final Report

Preparing for the Future:
A Commercial Development
Strategy for New York City

U.S. Senator Charles E. Schumer
Hon. Robert E. Rubin
Honorary Co-Chairs

June 11, 2001

At the urging of U.S. Senator Charles E. Schumer, the Group of 35 Task Force (the "Group") was formed in early 2000 to address the growing shortage of commercial office space in New York City. The Group includes City and State leaders in the fields of business, real estate, planning, academia, government, and labor. The Group's efforts were lead by Honorary Co-Chairs Schumer and former Treasury Secretary Robert Rubin, as well as Co-Chairs Robert M. Harding, New York City Deputy Mayor for Economic Development and Finance; William J. McDonough, President and CEO of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York; Mitchell Moss, Director of the Taub Urban Research Center at the New York University; and Kathryn Wylde, President and CEO of the New York City Partnership and Chamber of Commerce. These members and the other leaders of the Group met several times to discuss the key issues and tasks the staff and I were to accomplish while undertaking this project. To help in our efforts we called on the expertise of numerous other people who participated through five Technical Advisory Committees: Incentives & Zoning, Infrastructure, Real Estate, Biotech and Technology. In addition, Sharon Greenberger, Vice President for Economic Development at the Alliance for Downtown New York, has been an advisor and invaluable resource to the Group from the outset.

Under the direction of the Group and the advisory committees, and with the assistance of several sub-committees, focus groups and numerous interested parties, the staff of the Group of 35 presents the following report: Preparing for the Future: A Commercial Development Strategy for New York City.

The report is intended to inform key public and private decision makers on the issues facing the growing office-based sector of the economy. It provides a comprehensive blueprint of the actions that will be needed to ensure that New York City has enough space to accommodate anticipated future growth.

It has been my pleasure to work on this exciting and important project.

Sincerely,

Eric J. Deutsch
Executive Director
The Group of 35

next