Today, over 75 years later, during our own “Great Recession”, investment in public infrastructure has once again become a crucial stabilizing factor in buoying the New York City economy generally and its construction industry more specifically. In fact, according to the New York Building Congress, this year government expenditures on construction will account for some 60 percent of all construction spending in the five boroughs—up from 46 percent in 2008. And construction spending means more than simply constructions jobs; it also translates to thousands of other middleclass jobs that support the industry: the wholesalers, local retail establishments, even the neighborhood restaurants and delis that provide essential services to the sector.
Though over the long term we look forward to seeing a recovery in privatesector construction activity, in the meantime, we are pleased to be doing our part to keep New York moving forward.
While, of course, the primary goal of our capital spending is to renew the city’s infrastructure and put people back to work, in recent months, we at the New York City Economic Development Corporation have become aware of a secondary benefit of our new-found market position. Specifically, we have begun to see a rise in the number of bids—and bidders—chasing the $2.5 billion in capital projects that we plan to manage over the next five years. Besides the more than 9,800 jobs these projects are expected to create, this is also great news for taxpayers, because increased competition for bids almost always means betters rates for the public. Over the long run this will result in projects completed more quickly and more efficiently.
Going forward, we do not plan on letting up on our pace of building. From the second phase of the criticallyacclaimed High Line on Manhattan’s West Side, to the $76 million in infrastructure improvements underway at Queens Plaza in Long Island City, to the $75 million being invested to reactivate the long-dormant South Brooklyn Marine Terminal, to the $50 million going toward construction of the South Bronx Greenway, to the creation of retail in the long-underserved ferry terminal at St. George in Staten Island, we intend to impact every borough. In this way, we will generate new jobs, improve the quality of life for the citizens of New York City and induce substantial direct and indirect economic benefits. In addition, we will also ensure that when the economic recovery comes in full-force—which we know it will— neighborhoods far and wide will have sites that have been prepared to take advantage of that recovery. In this way, we plan to correct the mistakes made in the 1970s when short-term thinking led to cutbacks in services and infrastructure investments, the effects of which were felt for decades.
In fact, it is largely because of the long-term focus that was a hallmark of New Deal programs like the PWA that ultimately made these programs a success. This kind of long-term focus has also been a hallmark of the Bloomberg administration. We remain hopeful that, over time, the investments that the administration has made since 2002 and is continuing to make across the five boroughs will prove to be as wise as the investments made by our predecessors during the 1930s—and no less indelible.
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Seth Pinsky is president of the New York City Economic Development Corporation.
