Piers of New York City

The city is looking to clean up another neglected bit of New York’s infrastructure: its many piers and wharfs, the Wall Street Journal reported.

The long-neglected wooden structures need further maintenance, in light of rising numbers of microscopic water worms, and other problems, city officials told the Journal. The New York City Economic Development Corp. issued a request for proposals yesterday for ways to inexpensively fix up the piers. [more]

EDC's Seth Pinksy and the Harlem site

The city’s Economic Development Corporation is seeking ideas for how best to develop a Harlem site that could bring to the neighborhood some 85,000 square feet of residential, community and retail space.

The 13,500-square-foot site, where there is currently a BP gas station, is situated at 2040 Frederick Douglas Boulevard, at the northwest corner of Central Park. The EDC has put forth a request for expressions of interest (RFEI) for the property, which the agency hopes will be “transformed into a new residential or community facility space that could complement the existing neighborhood,” an EDC spokesperson said. [more]

Online reviews company Yelp.com opened its new Manhattan office today at 104 Fifth Avenue, between 15th and 16th streets, the same office building where Apple is located. The 9,500-square-foot space is already home to over 65 full-time employees — 20 of whom joined Yelp just this past month — and includes local and brand sales executives and a marketing team.

Mayor Michael Bloomberg and Yelp CEO and co-founder Jeremy Stoppelman attended the opening along with City Council Speaker Christine Quinn, New York City Chief Digital Officer Rachel Sterne, the mayor’s Media & Entertainment Commissioner Katherine Oliver and Economic Development Corporation President Seth Pinsky. – Katherine Clarke… [more]

The city’s Economic Development Corp. issued two requests for proposals yesterday for the pavilion and outdoor spaces planned along the Downtown East River waterfront. Three pavilions are up for grabs — in the Pier 15 commercial and Maiden Lane pavilion and in the Pier 15 maritime pavilion — and could be used as recreation or market space, or as a food and beverage stand, though the EDC said it is open to other proposals that would attract residents and visitors to the area as well. The Pier 15 commercial pavilion will be a 3,500-square-foot space at the intersection of South Street and Maiden Lane, below the FDR Drive, and the 1,000-square-foot Maiden Lane pavilion is already under construction. The Pier 15 maritime pavilion will contain 2,250 square feet. Tenants would be responsible for building out the internal space once the pavilions, slated for completion in 2011, are constructed. [Crain's]

The New York City Industrial Development Agency has granted preliminary approval for incentive packages for the expansion of two industrial companies in Queens. The program would give Dinas Distribution Corporation and PA Austin sales and real estate tax incentives valued at up to $1.5 million and $1.2 million, respectively. The NYCIDA, which the New York City Economic Development Corporation oversees, said that the two groups would create 45 new jobs immediately and around 20 more over the course of three years. The two projects will also generate around $7.4 million in tax revenue in the next 25 years, according to a statement from the group. “These two companies are perfect examples of the types of companies the NYCIDA was created to assist,” Seth Pinksy, NYCIDA chairperson, said. TRD… [more]