The city’s fashion industry generates $9 billion in total wages and contributes $1.7 billion in annual tax revenue, a new report by the Municipal Art Society on the Garment District shows, but it’s losing steam thanks to high rents and competition in manufacturing in other countries, particularly Asia.

“New York risks losing it all unless we focus on our core strengths and learn from our competitors; implement smart strategies; find efficiencies in the existing systems; invest in the human and physical infrastructure; and pool the intellectual, creative and financial resources of all the district’s key constituencies,” said Vin Cipolla, president of the Municipal Art Society. “If we do that successfully, the future of our fashion industry can serve as a model for job creation efforts across the U.S.” – Katherine Clarke [more]

The Municipal Art Society of New York has released its top 11 initiatives for 2011, on which it plans to focus its advocacy and programming efforts this year. First on the list of priorities is completing the redevelopment of Moynihan Station and Hudson Yards, followed by the preserving the Garment District as an “ecosystem for the fashion industry,” crafting a plan for interim housing in case a natural disaster strikes the city and rethinking the future of public housing. Also on the list were NYU’s expansion, the next phase of Mayor Michael Bloomberg’s PlaNYC and Coney Island. Click here for the full rundown. TRD [more]

After 25 years, the Municipal Art Society of New York is swapping its Villard Houses headquarters at the Palace Hotel for the Steinway Hall Building at 111 West 57th Street. The non-profit urban design organization inked a 10-year, 12,749-square-foot lease for the 16th floor of the Warren & Wetmore-designed landmark, where it will replace architecture firm Kohn Pedersen Fox, which is moving to Tishman Speyer’s 11 West 42nd Street. The entire Steinway Hall Building is in the midst of a rejuvenation right now, said Mark Lauzon of Cushman & Wakefield, who represented Steinway in the transaction. He said non-profits and foundations like the Municipal Art Society are flocking there in the wake of the Economist’s relocation to 730 Third Avenue. The asking rent on the new Municipal Art Society space was in the low $50s per foot. [more]

The New York Post looks at renderings of the Atlantic Yards project commissioned by the Municipal Art Society. Since project developer Bruce Ratner has not yet released new renderings reflecting many of the changes made to the project, including the replacement of starchitect Frank Gehry with Ellerbe Becket and the cancellation of Gehry’s design for the project’s arena, MAS commissioned renderings based on a few Becket designs that have been released. In the renderings, only the arena and two residential towers are shown, with temporary parking surrounding them. The MAS said it only portrayed two of 16 planned towers in the renderings because the project’s financing is uncertain. The Empire State Development Corporation is holding public hearings tomorrow and Thursday on Ratner’s scaled-back proposal for the project. [more]

With a City Council subcommittee vote on the Bloomberg administration’s Coney Island plans tentatively scheduled for Monday, city officials are still trying to negotiate the various demands of landlords, developers, unions, low-income housing advocates and others. The New York Observer looks at the major players in the discussions. Thor Equities Chairman Joseph Sitt has been meeting with City Hall officials for three days to try to make a deal for the city to take some or all of Sitt’s land, but there was no deal as of yesterday afternoon. Several unions are asking for wage and development guarantees. Coney Island enthusiasts — members of non-profit groups such as Coney Island USA, the Municipal Art Society and Save Coney Island — are also trying to fight against aspects of the city’s plan out of fear that they would ruin the spirit of Coney Island. [more]

In advance of a meeting tonight about the fate of Admiral’s Row at the edge of the Brooklyn Navy Yard, the Municipal Art Society has prepared a video supporting the buildings’ preservation.