Building Congress Event
Construction Industry Breakfast Forum
Building Congress Forum with Kenneth Adams
Empire State Development (ESD) President, CEO and Commissioner Kenneth Adams said that he and Governor Andrew Cuomo are determined to make New York State more business friendly, during a June 8 New York Building Congress breakfast forum at the Hilton New York.
“We once were the largest economy in the U.S. and home to the most Fortune 500 companies. Not anymore,” Mr. Adams said, noting that New York had been surpassed by both Texas and California. “We have lost our edge, and we have to reform” the State’s business process.
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He said that ESD, under his watch, will strive to eliminate impediments to business growth and investment throughout the state. In addition, the Cuomo administration is seeking to rein in what Mr. Adams called “staggering property taxes,” adding, “As the Governor has said, New York has no economic future as the tax capital of the nation.”
Mr. Adams updated the design, construction and real estate leaders in attendance on a series of important local projects in which ESD is playing an important role. These projects include Columbia University’s $6.3 billion expansion of its Manhattanville campus; the ongoing renovation and expansion of the Javits Center, which will include the East Coast’s largest green roof; and the $5 billion Atlantic Yards project in Brooklyn. He noted that construction of Barclays Arena is slated to open in August of next year, while the development’s first residential tower is slated to break ground by the end of this year.
