Attorney Michael Rikon, the rendering for Willets Point when eminent domain was pursued and New York City Economic Development Corporation president Seth Pinsky

After a lengthy eminent domain battle over Queens’ Willets Point, local business owners are still demanding that the city pay their legal fees, which tally in excess of $1 million, the New York Daily News reported. According to attorneys for the businesses, the city became obligated to reimburse their opponents’ legal fees after dropping a bid for the site in favor of another 23-acre development parcel near Citi Field last June. [more]

NYCEDC President Seth W. Pinsky

New York City Economic Development Corporation and the Department of Housing Preservation and Development issued a request for proposals to develop 1.65 million square feet of mixed-use real estate on the Seward Park Urban Renewal Area. The RFP calls for 1,000 units of housing — half of them affordable — as well as commercial and community space, and a new and expanded Essex Street Market. The Lower East Side development is expected to create 1,000 permanent jobs and 5,000 construction jobs. “The release of this RFP is the culmination of an unprecedented community planning process,” said New York City Economic Development Corporation President Seth W. Pinsky…. [more]

From left: EDC President Seth Pinsky and a SPURA rendering

In the coming months, the New York City Economic Development Corp. will be seeking proposals from developers to put their stamp on the Seward Park Urban Renewal Area, Curbed reported. [more]

From left: Howard Hughes CEO David Weinreb, EDC President Seth Pinsky and a rendering of the project

Howard Hughes Corp. announced today that it has reached an agreement with the city’s Economic Development Corporation to overhaul Pier 17 in Lower Manhattan, Crain’s reported. Construction is projected to begin next year, and be completed by 2015. [more]

Seth Pinsky

From the July issue: As president of the New York City Economic Development Corporation, Seth Pinsky has worked on projects like the $2 billion CornellNYC Tech applied sciences campus on Roosevelt Island, the redevelopment of Willets Point and the new Yankees and Mets stadiums. Pinsky, who joined the EDC in 2003 as a vice president, was chosen five years later by Mayor Michael Bloomberg to head the agency. A graduate of Columbia College and Harvard Law School, Pinsky previously worked as an attorney in the real estate practice at Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton and as a financial analyst at the investment and advisory firm James D. Wolfensohn Inc. [more]

The city’s Economic Development Corporation wants proposals from developers who would like to build and maintain underutilized industrial plots in three New York City boroughs. These include 95,000 square feet at 2399 Watson Avenue in the Bronx’s Zerega section, 80,000 square feet in East New York, Brooklyn, 53,000 square feet in Sunset Park, Brooklyn and 40,000 square feet in Queens’ College Point Corporate Park at 28th Avenue and 122nd Street. Each site is eligible for sale or lease. [more]

From left: Mayor Michael Bloomberg and Seth Pinsky, president of the city's EDC

Despite having Mayor Michael Bloomberg — who is widely considered to be pro-development — leading New York City for the past 10 years, a top official in his administration says the city is “decades behind” the rest of the world in some construction practices.

“If you talk to people who do construction in places outside of New York, they will tell you that we are in some cases decades behind the rest of the world in the methodologies that we use,” said Seth Pinsky, president of the city’s Economic Development Corporation. [more]

From left: Related Chairman Stephen Ross, Patricia Harris, first deputy mayor, and EDC President Seth Pinsky

Power is becoming more diluted in New York City, according to the New York Times, but at least three real estate players possess some of what’s left. Related Companies Chairman Stephen Ross, Patricia Harris, first deputy mayor, and Economic Development Corp. President Seth Pinsky, were all named among the city’s 21 power brokers. Though traditional centers of influence have given way to the unfiltered voice of the internet, money is the last remaining vestige of the old order of power, as demonstrated by Mayor Michael Bloomberg’s near unmatched influence from City Hall. [more]

The Bronx

Developer Equity One has been tapped to build an 80,000-square-foot commercial project along the Broadway retail corridor in the Bronx, according to a statement from the New York Economic Development Corporation today. The firm will spend $54 million to construct a new, 133,000-square-foot, two-story multi-tenant retail development and a parking facility on the site in the Kingsbridge area. EDC claims the development will create 250 new jobs, some full- and some part-time. [more]

From left: the Brooklyn waterfront and Jeffrey Levine, chairman of Douglaston Development

The entire waterfront of Brooklyn is ripe for new residential development, Crain’s reported. Massive developments are rising, from more predictable spots, such as Williamsburg, down to less likely spots such as Sunset Park, along the east river and ocean, the magazine said.

“Rents and the economy in general have come roaring back since the depths of the Great Recession,” Jeffrey Levine, chairman of Douglaston Development, told Crain’s. Douglaston is building a $300 million, 509-unit rental tower in Williamsburg, at North 4th Street and Kent, near the Edge. [more]