Annual Report 2007

Visionary Leadership

And then there is the public sector, which accounts for more than half of all construction annually. In addition to ongoing maintenance projects, the various agencies charged with building New York City’s infrastructure have embarked upon an era of expansion unseen in decades, buoyed by a new era of regional cooperation and mutual dependence.

In his first State of the State address, Governor Eliot Spitzer produced a road map for his administration as well as for his top officials in his new administration, including Metropolitan Transportation Authority Executive Director and CEO Elliot Sander and Port Authority of NY&N J Executive Director Anthony Shorris. Governor Spitzer said,

We are one community and it is important for us to work together on every aspect of public policy as time goes by.  Jon S. Corzine Governor of the State of NewJersey

“We must construct the first segment of the Second Avenue subway and plan for the full extension to Lower Manhattan. We must also complete the planning process to replace the Tappan Zee Bridge and move forward on the East Side Access project to connect Long Island and Queens commuters to Grand Central Terminal. And we must have the vision to expand Stewart Airport to become the fourth major airport in the Downstate region and to serve as an economic engine for the Hudson Valley.”

During a 2006 address to the New York Building Congress, Governor Jon Corzine talked of shared responsibility in building the regional economy. “ We are one community and it is important for us to work together on every aspect of public policy as time goes by. There are currently 60 million people within four hours traveling distance of this great marketplace of New York and New Jersey,” he said, adding, “We anticipate enormous growth in those numbers in the years ahead.”

Rendering of new Yankee Stadium
Bank of America Tower, 1 Bryant Park (Bernstein Associates Photographers)
Rendering of future Brooklyn Bridge Promenade