EDC President James Patchett Joins D-LMA At Annual Meeting

Westfield World Trade Center’s Shari Hyman, Howard Hughes Corporation’s Saul Scherl, CBRE’s Bruce Surry and Borough of Manhattan Community College’s Karrin Wilks Elected to Board

D-LMA President Jessica Lappin and EDC President & CEO James Patchett

James Patchett, President and CEO of the New York City Economic Development Corporation, joined the Downtown-Lower Manhattan Association on (D-LMA) March 12, 2019. During his remarks, he touted New York City as a destination for tech companies despite Amazon’s recent decision to pull back from HQ2 in Queens.

“I am excited for the future of the tech industry in this city,” said Patchett. “One World Trade Center has more tech and creative firms than any other building in New York. The city has 9,000 startups. Venture capital funding to startups in the city has increased 1,400 percent since 2007. New York has 2.3 million people with at least a bachelor’s degree. That’s more than Boston, Philadelphia, Washington, Los Angeles, and San Francisco, combined.”

During his remarks, Patchett discussed the particular technology fields where New York holds an advantage over other cities, citing cybersecurity, artificial intelligence, modern manufacturing, biotech, and life sciences. Patchett pointed to related projects in Long Island City and the Urban Tech Hub at Grand Central Tech as signs of EDC’s commitment to these growing sectors.

“These are exciting industries that will continue to grow and we will support them. New York is at the intersection of data science and biotech and that puts the city in a unique advantage. If we take the right steps at this seminal moment, it will put us in a strong position.”

Patchett also emphasized that it is imperative that all New Yorkers have the opportunity to acquire the skills required for the good-paying tech jobs that are coming to the city.

“It is our duty to continue to level the playing field so that a kid from the Baruch Houses knows they can get a job at Google. We will continue to raise the bar so all New Yorkers have the skills for the jobs of the 21st century.”

Prior to his talk, D-LMA President Jessica Lappin opened the meeting with a review of exciting developments in downtown last year.

“2018 was a strong year for Lower Manhattan,” said Lappin. “On the east side, at the Seaport, Pier 17 opened. Over on the west side, 3 World Trade Center opened in June. The 80-story building was more than half leased by the end of the year. The Perelman Performing Arts Center at the World Trade Center is also progressing, with substantial advances in construction and fundraising. Whether it’s east or west, the D-LMA continues to serve as a voice for you, advocating for our neighborhood.”

The Board of Directors, led by Chair Ric Clark, also voted to elect new members to join the D-LMA’s 23-person board. Those elected were Shari Hyman of Westfield World Trade Center, Saul Scherl of The Howard Hughes Corporation, Bruce Surry of CBRE and Karrin Wilks of the Borough of Manhattan Community College. D-LMA also welcomed two new member companies: Colliers International and Hidrock Properties.