Staten Island’s New York Wheel denied state funding

New York Wheel rendering and Kathryn Wylde
New York Wheel rendering and Kathryn Wylde

The $330 million Ferris wheel project in Staten Island lost out on state funding from Governor Andrew Cuomo’s economic development program yesterday.

The project failed to provide any economic benefit, state officials said, whereas the 824 projects accepted into the program apparently did meet that requirement. Nearly $58 million of the total $715.9 million in state grants awarded yesterday went to developments in New York City.

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The New York Wheel, as the attraction is dubbed, is expected to rise 625 feet on the St. George’s waterfront and create 700 full-time jobs and 400 construction jobs. The City Council approved the wheel, as well as BFC Partners’ Empire Outlets mall project, in late October, as previously reported.

“I was really surprised it was not on the list,” Kathryn Wylde of Lower Manhattan-based investment fund Partnership for New York City told the New York Daily News. “It really is the first big magnet for tourism on Staten Island.” [NYDN]Mark Maurer