Empire State Development (ESD) is the umbrella organization for New York's two principal economic development
public-benefit corporations, the New York State Urban Development Corporation (UDC) and the New York Job Development Authority (JDA).
The
New York State
New York, also called New York State, is a state in the northeastern United States. Bordered by New England to the east, Canada to the north, and Pennsylvania and New Jersey to the south, its territory extends into both the Atlantic Ocean and ...
Department of Economic Development (DED) is a department of the
New York government that has been operationally merged into ESD.
ESD gives its mission as promoting the state economy, encouraging business investment and job creation, and supporting local economies through loans, grants, tax credits, real estate development, marketing and other forms of assistance.
History
The Division of Commerce was created in 1941 and incorporated several state bureaus and the Bureau of Industry.
It was replaced in 1944 by the Department of Commerce.
The New York State Urban Development Corporation (UDC) was created in 1968 by the New York State Urban Development Corporation Act.
On August 31, 1987, the Omnibus Economic Development Act created the state Department of Economic Development (DED).
In 1975, the UDC was reorganized and its mission expanded from developing
housing
Housing refers to a property containing one or more Shelter (building), shelter as a living space. Housing spaces are inhabited either by individuals or a collective group of people. Housing is also referred to as a human need and right to ...
to economic development.
In 1995, the functions of the DED and the UDC were consolidated, along with the Job Development Authority (JDA) and the Science and Technology Foundation (STF).
UDC's directors decided that the corporation would do business as the Empire State Development (ESD).
Some functions of JDA and STF were folded into ESDC and DED, respectively, and the collective entity was branded as Empire State Development (ESD).
In November 1999 the STF was abolished, and in 2011 the New York State Foundation for Science, Technology and Innovation (NYSTAR) was merged with DED.
In its early years the UDC was responsible for "the last significant program of publicly assisted housing in the United States". At the time it was primarily aimed at urban renewal in New York City, although its bonds were to be used statewide. Virtually all state subsidized housing built since 1968 was financed through the corporation. In the first years of the UDC, its aim was to facilitate large-scale low-income housing developments in urban neighborhoods that had traditionally been white and middle-class. In 1970, ''
Business Week
''Bloomberg Businessweek'', previously known as ''BusinessWeek'' (and before that ''Business Week'' and ''The Business Week''), is an American monthly business magazine published 12 times a year. The magazine debuted in New York City in Septembe ...
'' claimed that the UDC was "emerging as the most powerful state agency in the country for coping with urban growth."
By 1974 the investment climate had cooled and in 1975
Governor Hugh Carey asked the Legislature to appropriate $178 million for the UDC, and by 1977 the UDC was able to reenter the financial markets.
In 1975, the corporation was reorganized and its mission expanded from developing housing to economic development. The finances were reorganized and the corporation assumed a less aggressive development stance, and its mission was refocused to finance other ambitious state projects and has been used frequently by governors to implement projects that circumvent formal Legislative or voter scrutiny.
The move away from a housing mission began in the late 1970s and early 1980s with such projects as the
Jacob K. Javits Convention Center and improvements to the
Apollo Theater
The Apollo Theater (formerly the Hurtig & Seamon's New Theatre; also Apollo Theatre or 125th Street Apollo Theatre) is a multi-use Theater (structure), theater at 253 125th Street (Manhattan), West 125th Street in the Harlem neighborhood of U ...
. Among its projects was a doubling of the
New York state prison system, improvements to
Love Canal, construction of the Jacob K. Javits Convention Center, revitalization of
42nd Street (Manhattan), revitalization of
Niagara Falls, New York, construction of
Battery Park City
Battery Park City is a mainly residential planned community and neighborhood on the west side of the southern tip of the island of Manhattan in New York City. It is bounded by the Hudson River on the west, the Hudson River shoreline on the nor ...
, development of
Roosevelt Island
Roosevelt Island is an island in New York City's East River, within the Borough (New York City), borough of Manhattan. It lies between Manhattan Island to the west, and the borough of Queens, on Long Island, to the east. It is about long, wit ...
, as well as planning for construction of a new
Pennsylvania Station and for development of
Governors Island
Governors Island is a island in New York Harbor, within the Boroughs of New York City, New York City borough of Manhattan. It is located approximately south of Manhattan Island, and is separated from Brooklyn to the east by the Buttermilk ...
. While the UDC ultimately was to have big successes with such projects as
Roosevelt Island
Roosevelt Island is an island in New York City's East River, within the Borough (New York City), borough of Manhattan. It lies between Manhattan Island to the west, and the borough of Queens, on Long Island, to the east. It is about long, wit ...
and
Battery Park City
Battery Park City is a mainly residential planned community and neighborhood on the west side of the southern tip of the island of Manhattan in New York City. It is bounded by the Hudson River on the west, the Hudson River shoreline on the nor ...
it was to encounter major problems in its
inner city
The term inner city (also called the hood) has been used, especially in the United States, as a euphemism for majority-minority lower-income residential districts that often refer to rundown neighborhoods, in a downtown or city centre area. Soc ...
developments and its efforts to build minority low-income housing in white middle-class neighborhoods. The Corporation still maintains a housing portfolio that currently includes mortgages for 20,200 housing units valued at $650 million in total.
Mario Cuomo was the first to begin ambitious use of it to get around official scrutiny for public projects. In 1981 voters voted against a $500 million bond issue for expansion of the state prison system to handle increased prison populations arising from the
Rockefeller drug laws. At the time New York had 32 adult prisons. Cuomo was to use the bonds to build another 38 prisons — most upstate.
George Pataki used the corporation to distribute $20 billion in federal aid following the
September 11, 2001 attacks
The September 11 attacks, also known as 9/11, were four coordinated Islamist terrorist suicide attacks by al-Qaeda against the United States in 2001. Nineteen terrorists hijacked four commercial airliners, crashing the first two into ...
to help rebuild lower Manhattan and build the 9/11 memorial. A subsidiary,
Lower Manhattan Development Corporation, and the
World Trade Center Memorial Foundation were set up for those purposes. Rebuilding was financed by
Liberty bonds. Whether the lack of public scrutiny has helped or hurt the development process can be debated.
An audit released in May 2006 by New York comptroller
Alan Hevesi reported that the Corporation loses track of its subsidiaries. At the time the corporation reported 70 active subsidiaries, but the audit showed there were 202 subsidiaries still legally on the books (98 of which were definitely inactive). The audit did not consider this a serious oversight but the corporation stated that it intended to dissolve the inactive corporations.
In 2007, under Governor
Eliot Spitzer, an Upstate ESD headquarters opened in
Buffalo in recognition of the different economic challenges posed in the upper and lower (NYC region) parts of the State. Two chairs were appointed, one for ESD Downstate and the other for ESD Upstate. The ESD board also authorized the creation of another subsidiary, Upstate Empire State Development Corporation, to concentrate on Upstate issues. In 2008, Governor
David A. Paterson brought the two components of ESD back together again, emphasizing that New York is truly “One State”. The former Upstate and Downstate offices now work together to ensure that New York's economic development strategy benefits the entire State, while being mindful of the specific resources and special challenges of each region.
In January 2011, Governor
Andrew M. Cuomo appointed
Kenneth Adams as ESD President & CEO and DED Commissioner. Mr. Adams was confirmed by the Legislature on April 5, 2011. In May 2011, Governor Cuomo appointed
Julie Shimer as Chair of ESD. She was confirmed by the
New York State Senate
The New York State Senate is the upper house of the New York State Legislature, while the New York State Assembly is its lower house. Established in 1777 by the Constitution of New York, its members are elected to two-year terms with no term l ...
in June 2011.
State control over projects in
New York City
New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...
has often involved turf conflicts between the New York City mayor and the governor (including the fact that the state authority is exempted from city zoning rules). Many of the projects have had significant impacts on neighborhoods and resulted in
white flight
The white flight, also known as white exodus, is the sudden or gradual large-scale migration of white people from areas becoming more racially or ethnoculturally diverse. Starting in the 1950s and 1960s, the terms became popular in the Racism ...
and charges of
reverse discrimination
Reverse discrimination is a term used to describe discrimination against members of a dominant or majority group, in favor of members of a minority or historically disadvantaged group. Reverse discrimination based on race or ethnicity is also c ...
. As an example, the UDC's construction of the
Harlem State Office Building in 1969 aroused intense opposition from the neighborhood which wanted the resources applied in other ways.
Ada Louise Huxtable called the fight "Rockefeller's Vietnam". The term "urban development" took on a negative connotation and in 1995 UDC was renamed the Empire State Development.
During the
coronavirus pandemic
The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...
, ESD was accorded a leading role in delineating what businesses would be considered
essential in New York State. In a late 2020 ''
per curiam'' decision of the Supreme Court, ''
Roman Catholic Diocese of Brooklyn v. Cuomo'', ESD categorizations of essential services were noted for excluding religious services while, at the same time, not being limited to services which can be considered as essential. Avi Schick, former President of ESDC (2007–2009), criticized the corporation as acting beyond its purview in determining what constitutes essential activities, particularly as it relates to religious practice.
Structure
Since 1995, four entities have been operationally merged and referred to as Empire State Development (ESD):
[
* Urban Development Corporation (UDC), d/b/a Empire State Development (ESD)][New York State Urban Development Corporation Act, Chapter 174 of the Laws of 1968][
**In 2017, the UDC had operating expenses of $1.282 billion, an outstanding debt of $12.895 billion, and a staffing level of 351 people.
* Department of Economic Development (DED)
* New York Job Development Authority (JDA), d/b/a Empire State Development (ESD)
**In 2017, the JDA had operating expenses of $2.96 million, an outstanding debt of $10.068 billion, and a staffing level of 4 people.
* Science and Technology Foundation (STF)
Although ESD officials have programmatically consolidated the DED, UDC, JDA and STF, they have not legally consolidated the agencies. The commissioner of the DED is the chairman of the boards of UDC, JDA and STF, but those boards continue to operate as separate bodies.
The UDC is allowed to operate through subsidiaries.][New York State Urban Development Corporation Act ( L. 1968, ch. 174) § 12] Each subsidiary has its own board of directors.[ , there were nine subsidiaries of ESD:.]
Operations
The UDC is empowered to issue bonds and notes, grant loans and tax exemptions, acquire private property, exercise eminent domain
Eminent domain, also known as land acquisition, compulsory purchase, resumption, resumption/compulsory acquisition, or expropriation, is the compulsory acquisition of private property for public use. It does not include the power to take and t ...
, create subsidiaries, and exempt projects from/override local laws, ordinances, codes, charters or regulations (e.g., zoning).[ As with all New York state public-benefit corporations, it can issue bonds without a voter referendum, bypassing the NY's state constitution limits. the UDC reported outstanding debts of $11 billion.
, major projects included the:][
* Atlantic Yards Project
* Aqueduct Race Track Civic Project
* ]Belmont Park
Belmont Park is a thoroughbred racing, thoroughbred horse racetrack in Elmont, New York, just east of New York City limits best known for hosting the Belmont Stakes, the final leg of the American Triple Crown of Thoroughbred Racing (United Stat ...
Redevelopment Study
* Buffalo Billion
* City-by-City Projects
* Columbia Manhattanville Project
* Midtown Rising
* Radisson Community
* Victoria Theater Redevelopment
A procurement
Procurement is the process of locating and agreeing to terms and purchasing goods, services, or other works from an external source, often with the use of a tendering or competitive bidding process. The term may also refer to a contractual ...
opportunities newsletter, ''The New York State Contract Reporter'', contains notices of procurement contract opportunities and is published by the Department of Economic Development.[ Economic Development Lawbr>article 4-C]
/ref>
See also
* Dormitory Authority of the State of New York
* I ❤ NY
* New York Local Government Assistance Corporation
* New York State Environmental Facilities Corporation
* New York State Housing Finance Agency
* Municipal Assistance Corporation
* State University Construction Fund
References
*
*
*
External links
*
New York State Urban Development Corporation
in the New York Codes, Rules and Regulations
Department of Economic Development
in the NYCRR
New York Job Development Authority
in the NYCRR
New York State Science and Technology Foundation
in the NYCRR
New York State Contract Reporter
Empire State Development
on Open NY
Empire State Development Corporation
recipient profile on USAspending.gov
{{Authority control
Public benefit corporations in New York (state)
World Trade Center
State departments of economic development in the United States
Economy of New York (state)
*
Government procurement in the United States
Love Canal