Speaker 1:
From the library of the New York Stock Exchange at the corner of Wall and Broad streets in New York City, you're Inside the ICE House, our podcast from Intercontinental exchange on markets, leadership and vision and global business. The dream drivers that have made the NYSC and indispensable institution of global growth for over 225 years. Each week, we feature stories of those who hatch plans, create jobs and harness the engine of capitalism. Right here, right now at the NYSC and at ICE's exchanges and clearing houses around the world. And now welcome Inside the ICE House. Here's your host, Josh King of Intercontinental Exchange
Josh King:
Over the nearly three years of this podcast, we've periodically assumed the role of observer of our own backyard. The backyard where Alexander Hamilton wrote his first report on the public credit, delivered Congress, also sitting nearby at Federal Hall on January 9th, 1790. On the show we've had Jessica Lappin, President of the Downtown Alliance talking about revitalizing the exchange district of Wall and Broad streets. And more recently, certainly more urgently, we've had Kathy Wylde CEO of the Partnership for New York City talking about her extraordinary report on getting the whole of New York City back to life in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic. All of these reports from Hamilton's to Lappins to Wylde's are about making a bet on the country, and more specifically, the city that serves as its financial epicenter.
Josh King:
I got a Zoom call last night from friends, enjoying a late night drink on the roof of their apartment building downtown, and my wife and I welcomed with great anticipation the news that as of September 30th, the city will once again allow in restaurant dining at 25% capacity, just as the late autumn months, give way to the chill that will make those rooftop drinks or street level alfresco dining, which I have to say have been quite lovely, not so lovely with the snow falling.
Josh King:
As New Yorkers, either born and bred, or in my case, transplanted from Boston, we are all in on the effort to rebound from a six month gut punch that has left our city more on its heels than at any time, since President Jerry Ford told us to draw up dead. The memorable wood from the New York daily news on October 29th, 1975, when he gave a speech denying federal assistance, to spare New York City from bankruptcy today, as back then, we are all in. It's a phrase that started with poker, but permeates the sports world. It's a shorthand way of saying that while my odds may seem long to you, I think I'm holding a winning hand.
Josh King:
You got to have some intestinal fortitude to make that statement. And you've also got to have the right odds. For example, the New York Yankees now sit in third place in the American League East, having a nearly 80% chance of making the post season. Meanwhile, my Boston Red Sox now dwelling in the divisions cellar have a less than 1% chance of doing anything except watching the playoffs from their couch. Our guest today, James Patchett shares my pain for the Red Sox, but also my gut that the odds are in New York City's favor over the long run, a bet that hasn't lost its initial stake in over 400 years, serving as a hub of global commerce. James is joining us today to talk about how his organization, the New York City Economic Development Corporation is going all in a New York City. Our conversation with James Patchett on the All In NY campaign, why betting on New Yorkers is playing with the house money and the corporation's plan to create a better, fairer New York. That's all right, after this.
Speaker 3:
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Josh King:
Our guest today, James Patchett is President and CEO of the New York City Economic Development Corporation. Prior to his appointment in 2016, James served as Chief of Staff to the Deputy Mayor for Housing and Economic Development, Alicia Glen, where he helped oversee more than 25 city agents season played a pivotal role in preserving thousands of affordable homes. Before entering public service, James was Vice President in Goldman Sachs's Urban Investment Group. James, welcome Inside the ICE House and to the New York Stock Exchange.
James Patchett:
Thanks for having me.
Josh King:
James, you just rang the opening bell of the New York Stock Exchange from the bell podium to highlight the New York City Economic Development Corporations, All In NYC campaign. Why did you choose the New York Stock Exchange to launch this important message? And what was it like being up on the bell podium?
James Patchett:
Well, honestly it was incredibly inspirational to be out here this morning. I think there's really no better place, a more iconic place than the stock exchange to be talking about the resilience of New York City. That's really what this campaign is about. It's about underscoring the pride that New Yorkers have in our city. You just talked about it, we've all read these headlines that talk about, maybe New York City's over. Maybe we're not going to come back. And I think New Yorkers are looking at those headlines and saying, that's not my experience.
James Patchett:
Sure, this has been a challenging time. And there's no question. This is hard for New Yorkers. It's hard for our small businesses, but at the same time, we all love our city. We believe in our city, we believe in the resilience of our city and we're all in on it. That's really what this campaign is about. It's about an opportunity to give New Yorkers that voice, to be able to come out there and say, "Whatever happens with Washington, whatever happens with this pandemic, we're going to stand up. We're going to fight for our city and we're going to keep bouncing back like we have every time before."
Josh King:
We've bounce back every time before James, you're a bit younger than me, but hope and optimism, two traits that you're hoping to grow in the city were core traits for fans of the Red Sox until this century. How does someone who grew up in New Jersey and Ohio during the heyday of the nineties, Yankees and Indians end up a Boston fan? Then we'll get to New York.
James Patchett:
So I was a Mets fan as a kid in New Jersey, we went to Shea Stadium all the time, but those were great memories. And I was a baseball player as a kid, loved baseball, like heart and soul. I had every baseball card of the 86 Mets when they won the World Series. We moved to Ohio when I was about 11. And that was before MLB TV or any of the ability to stay connected to your team. I couldn't become a Reds fan, even though I was close. Because they were in the National League. I'd periodically go to games and play the Mets.
James Patchett:
But during the time I was in Ohio, I lost touch with an entire generation of Mets players because I just, I wasn't there. And I didn't know any of the new players after the team turned over and when I was about 12 years old, I went with my mom on a mother, son trip to Boston. And we went to the magical place that is Fenway Park and had a chance to take any game. And I ended up moving there for college and then I stayed there afterwards. And so I became a Red Sox fan after going to the game, because I was just such a lover of baseball. They became my American League Team. And then when I moved to Massachusetts, I just was all in on the Red Sox and I have a have been ever since.
Josh King:
And in 86 you had Tom Seaver wearing that Red Sox uniform. So there was that Mets, Boston connection. You're in Ohio, James curious, you're at Amherst. You're eventually going to go to Stanford to get your MBA. What about your upbringing created this person who would probably do his turn, spend time in finance at a place like Goldman Sachs and then turned to public service. Was this sort of a focus on giving back that your parents gave you?
James Patchett:
Well, both of my parents came from very middle class backgrounds. My mom's father was a auto mechanic. My dad's parents were both teachers, small town Midwest. So they always taught me about the importance of giving back to the community. And I think that probably most manifested itself when I was in high school, I became very involved with habitat for humanity and started an entire effort at our local church to go out and help build homes. And it was so inspiring to be able to use your hands, to help people. And it was just my way in saying, "Boy, I can directly help people. And one of the most important ways you can help people is with housing." So I became very focused on the value of housing and affordable housing and how important it is in people's lives.
James Patchett:
When you put a roof over a family's head, who's never had one that they, they owned before. The amount of faith that gives them in themselves and in their ability to succeed is unmatched. And so my career at Goldman and afterwards has focused a lot on housing and then by extension into jobs and all of the other critical things that are necessary to make an economy function for all the people. And so that's how I viewed my career is just how can we build homes and other opportunities for people who need them?
Josh King:
So you're at Goldman in the urban investment group. And how did you make that switch then? What was the calling or to work in mayor De Blasio's administration?
James Patchett:
Well I just have always been someone who cared about the place where I lived. The woman who became the deputy mayor was the head the day before been running our group at Goldman Sachs. And so she called me up and said, "Hey, can I convince you to come over?" And I was pretty reluctant in first because obviously the opportunity at Goldman to be able to invest in communities all over the country was really inspirational, but it seemed like a once in a lifetime opportunity to be able to make a difference directly in the city I was living in at a scale that was really unprecedented.
James Patchett:
I mean, the opportunity you mentioned, which was to preserve 5,000 units of affordable housing, it's die town. I mean, you can't do projects of that scale anywhere that impact that many people other than in the public sector. And so it was a really unique opportunity to be able to be in the public sector and make a big difference. I never thought I'd find myself still sitting here six years later, but the opportunity to run economic development for the city of New York, it was something that I couldn't pass up. And now here we are in one of the greatest threats to our economy of all time. And it's really hard to step away from that.
Josh King:
You're in City hall. I'm curious how familiar you were at the time with the NYC EDC. And I guess for our audience who may not be familiar with how an organization like the Economic Development Corporation interacts with the city itself, give the elevator speech for how the organization was formed and what its main function is right now.
James Patchett:
So the EDC is a really unique organization. It's a not for profit organization, the very diverse board, but the President, myself right now is appointed by the mayor. It's our mission to build and preserve an equitable economy in the city of New York. We have a lot of tools to do that. We have over 60 million square feet of real estate that we're constantly investing in. That's everything from our industrial parks, all the way to 42nd Street between 7th and 8th Avenue, all those Broadway theaters there are are our tenants. We invest in industries that are going to make a huge difference to the future of our economy, to diversifying our economy, whether in the tech economy, the life sciences opportunities, where we've seen a lot of growth in the city, our advanced manufacturing industries. And finally we do infrastructure projects and partnership with the city. So we have a large capital construction group and we'll do infrastructure projects that are meaningful steps for economic development.
James Patchett:
So that's really the role of EDC, but of course over the last six months, like everybody else, we've totally transformed ourselves. We've been a large scale producer of personal protective equipment by local manufacturers in the city. We've produced half a million test kits for use at local hospitals to make sure New Yorkers can get tested quickly. We built 3,000 ventilators. It's just the things that we've learned over the last six months, it's been a total night and day shift from the work that we were doing before, but it was because of those relationships we had with the private sector, the industries that we were developing and our experience working with biotech companies that we were able to step into the breach.
Josh King:
As I and my colleagues slowly, but with hopefully increasing rapidity, get ready to come back to our offices, downtown, Midtown, one of the issues that a lot of us talk about, whether we're on that rooftop, having a drink and thinking about whether we're going to use city bike or the subway or Uber to get from our apartments or outside of the city into our buildings is transportation. One of the hallmarks of your tenure at EDC has been improving ferry service between the boroughs, something that thousands of workers on Wall Street depend on. What impact has COVID and the subsequent drop in ridership and fund availability had on your plans to return even more of the city's ferries to their past glory?
James Patchett:
Well, I think that one of the great things about the ferry system is that it's something that makes New Yorkers comfortable. Even during the pandemic. We've seen that our ridership has done really better than most other forms of transit except for cars. And that's great because it is a much more environmentally sustainable way for people to get around the city. So we're very lucky to have had a lot of ridership over the summer.
James Patchett:
In fact, Labor Day just a couple days ago, had our highest ridership of the entire year. And it's actually not that far off what we've had in previous Labor Day's. So we have really seen a significant increase in ridership on the ferries and people are, , up on the upper deck, they're enjoying being outdoors and they're getting all over the city. In fact, we actually just added a new connection a couple weeks ago from a story Astoria in Queens to the upper east side of Manhattan. So we're continuing to invest in the ferries, obviously like everyone, we've had a challenging time to get through the depths of March and April, but we're all in on the ferries. We're all in on New York City.
Josh King:
Another major project of the EDC has been the restoration and development of the Brooklyn Army Terminal located in the shore of the borough that you call home in Brooklyn. What's the breakdown between the organization's work by location? How are projects identified by your office to pursue?
James Patchett:
So Brooklyn Army Terminal is a great example of that. It's a place where we have invested it in this former army terminal to make it a home, to all kinds of diverse businesses. We have over 4,000 people working there every day. A lot of people in manufacturing, a lot of people in food distribution, and food development. There's a really exciting ecosystem there, different types of businesses. And what we see is an opportunity to ensure these businesses can stay in New York. And I'll tell you the last six months have really shown us how important it is that we can still make things in New York City. I think a lot of people said, well, manufacturing is over in New York City, but having the ability at small scale with that expertise, that creativity, that ingenuity that comes with New Yorkers, having that right here in the city turned out to be invaluable during this COVID period.
Josh King:
You talked about the production of PPE over the last six months. I read this article James, that's posted on the EDC website by your COO Rachel Loebe on some of the pivots that your team made since the beginning of March. I'm curious what it felt like for you, Rachel, your team in March to think about what your mission had been and how long did it take you to sort of reboot your sort of vision, retool the office and sort of get everyone focused on a different set of missions from what you'd been doing January and February leading up to that?
James Patchett:
Well, the mission was the same, right? The mission was about making sure that New York's economy is strong and diverse, and that there's an equitable set of opportunities for the people of the city. How we were doing it was very different. One minute we're thinking about how we can develop a new real estate project. And then overnight we're talking about how we can take advantage of the many connections we have with local businesses to make sure our hospital workers are protected. But yeah, we were creating jobs. We created over 3000 jobs as a part of our PPE efforts. We built over 7 million face shields for New Yorkers and frontline workers, 3000 ventilators. I mean, it's an incredible effort and it was made possible just because really the talent and dedication of the people on our team and the relationships that we've developed over the last few years. I was really inspired by that work.
James Patchett:
And when I think about being all in on New York City I'm all in and I know New Yorkers are resilient, just because of the work I've seen with my own team. Turning on a dime overnight and saying one minute I'm running an incubator focused on a maker space. And the next minute that is going to be a place where we produce test kits to get out to local hospitals. I mean there were days in the depths of this where we were literally day by day making test kits to ensure we didn't run out in local clinics around the city. And it was only because of this incredible connection we were able to develop between our relationship at Montefiore and Albert Einstein in the Bronx, our local maker space. It's just really incredible relationships that turned into what has now half a million test kits that have been produced and gone the hands of medical professionals to, and sure New Yorkers get tested.
Josh King:
I mentioned that Governor Cuomo announced that starting at the end of the September, the restaurants can reopen with a number of safety protocols, including that 25% occupancy level. I certainly have both on the one hand really enjoyed the different alfresco experiences in lower Manhattan, the village and the west village, east village. Also been struggling with how much it's eaten up on our parking spaces. How is that going to help the city return to normal?
James Patchett:
Well, I think the first and most important thing to underscore is the incredible progress we've made on the health indicators. So as of today seven day rolling average, we have 22 cases per hundred thousand people in the city of New York. That would make us, if we were a state, the fourth lowest infection rate of any state in the country, in league with Vermont, Maine and New Hampshire. So when people are out there who are not in New York City, reading the headlines about what's happening in New York, I don't think people think, "Oh yeah, it's about as safe to walk around in New York as it is Vermont." But that is what the data shows. And so that is because of the incredible efforts around testing at large scale. And also the fact that New Yorkers have really they've been through this. So they know what to do.
James Patchett:
It's one thing to be asked to wear a mask when you've never met anyone, who's had COVID, but when your neighbors have been sick, you know this is a real thing. And so New Yorkers are taking this very seriously and that's why we have been able to keep this infection rate down for so long. And I think that's what makes it possible to be able to take slow, gradual steps towards reopening. It's all about keeping close watch on the health and doing the most critical things when they're necessary. And I think indoor dining is a great example of that. It's the health indicators remain low, we're taking gradual steps, 25% reopening. We know we're all facing the colder months. We got to get ready for that. And I think it's a really important turning point, but more than anything, it's a demonstration of where we are on the health indicators in the city.
James Patchett:
Outdoor dining is pretty inspirational. I mean, just as a New Yorker, I walk around this streets... I was out to dinner last night in my neighborhood, man, I'm sitting surrounded by marigolds having a beer from Kenya eating some fabulous food at a beautiful late summer evening. And these are experiences that are new to New Yorkers that are positive. And I think there will be opportunities to make the city a better place over time. We can make it a more equitable place. We can take some of these changes that we've learned the hard way and make them more permanent. So I think that there will be positive of things that come out of this. Although, I mean, we can't ever discount the significant toll this has taken on our economy and our people.
Josh King:
You think outdoor dining is here to stay?
James Patchett:
I think it has to be. I mean, I think outdoor dining, the mayor's already announced it's coming back next year. I think the fact that people are able to put their own permits and do them online. I mean, that's why we have 10,000 restaurants doing outdoor dining. I mean, that's more than re the number of restaurants in most other cities. You have 10,000 places where you can go have a drink and a delicious meal outside, especially this time of year. I mean, it's a pretty fantastic experience.
Josh King:
Talking about getting your permits online and other things, other sort of simple things that you can learn about and do alfresco dining was just a creative solution to making sure that New York's famous culinary industry could partially navigate the shutdown. We know how many people are out of work. We know how many restaurants have shut down permanently or at least for the long term. But I'm curious, you're on the front lines of this. What are some of the other just in incredibly simple, innovative ways that New York businesses and residents have rose to the challenge in what you've seen?
James Patchett:
That's part of what All In NYC is about. It's about how you can take practical steps as an individual New Yorker to support your city and your people, the people of the city. So going out and having a meal at a local place, that's a big deal for restaurants right now who are really struggling. And I think New Yorkers just taking those small steps, doing small things that they can do, like putting on their mask and going outside and prioritizing going to local businesses is one of the biggest things people could do.
Josh King:
James, this week, the New York times published an article titled New York City could use a champion who will step up? Do you agree with this? And who do you think has already stepped up to lead?
James Patchett:
I think every New Yorker is stepping up in their own way. I think again, that's part of what All In NYC is about. It's not about any individual person stepping up and I think, look, we've been knocked down. There's no question, but New York has been knocked down before, certainly after September 11th and what happened? New Yorkers roast the occasion. They said, this is our city. We're going to make sure it comes back.
James Patchett:
And this is what All In NCY is about. It's about a campaign to give New Yorkers pride and something, to be able to say... When I read that article in the New York Post that said New York is a horrible place to be, I know that's not true. I know it. And that upsets me and it upsets fellow New Yorkers too. We have our challenges, no doubt. But we have an opportunity to express our pride in our city. There are a lot of great things about the city. There are people who have lived here their entire lives. They're not going anywhere. They are all in a New York City. And we're committed to the city. We got to keep focusing on how much can be done to ensure that New York continues to be the resilient place it's been for, as you said, over 400 years.
Josh King:
And 400 years to come James. After the break, James Patchett, President and CEO of the New York City Economic Development Corporation and I will discuss why business and alike should be all in, on New York City and how that will result in an even stronger Gotham. That's coming up right after this.
Speaker 3:
In our time of greatest need. We want to thank the true heroes around the world for stepping up, for taking care of us, and keeping us safe. With your expertise, your commitment, your sacrifice, and your selflessness. We'll work together to create a brighter future. And we thank you for reminding us what really matters. From all of us, thank you.
Josh King:
Welcome back. Before the per James Patchett, President and CEO of New York City Economic Development Corporation, and I were discussing the role of the NYC EDC and the launch of the All In NYC campaign. James, since April, both media and government officials have raised the alarm about the unprecedented urban flight, particularly from places like New York City. The jury is still out on COVID's actual impact, but even before 2020, the city had seen several years of steady decline in its population. What impact do you think either a short term or long term reduction will have on the city's ability to recover and plan for the future?
James Patchett:
I think the key here and what's often missed is it's not the question of if, it's just a question of when. I mean, New York City has been a city of immigrants for over a hundred years. We have more than 3 million immigrants in the city from over 150 countries. People are always coming in and out of New York City. And frankly, if you look at the statistics first, I dispute whether the population has actually been falling, there's some argument about whether the census was actually capturing accurately the population.
James Patchett:
But second, I think the more important point is it's immigrants that continue to come into our city that make it so vibrant and are what keeps our population up. I mean, New Yorkers are always going to be coming in and going out. That's part of the experience, but there are many more New Yorkers who are here to stay and are committed to the city. And I see this as a real opportunity for the city to continue to build on its strengths, to show the resilience of New Yorkers and get through this crisis, which frankly is a challenge everywhere.
Josh King:
We've had a couple conversations on this show about New York coming back, and also just people who are so familiar with the history of the exchange in 225 years crash of 87, 911, super storm Sandy, which was so devastating to lower Manhattan. And yet, the fiscal crisis that I mentioned earlier with President Ford, in each of those cases, you could say the effect was kind of localized and it didn't call into question all the things that do make New York City great. As you look at 2020, how do you think it's different and the same from these past crises the city has faced?
James Patchett:
I mean, I think every one is unique, right? I mean, I remember after September 11th, I was initially pretty reluctant to go in a skyscraper. A lot of people still feel that way. People who were here that day. So, I mean... And super storm Sandy, it was coastal cities can't survive. The fiscal crisis it was people are fleeing the cities and therefore they're not going to be able to survive from a financial standpoint. I mean every crisis is its own thing. And I mean, we can't ignore 1918 when there was literally a pandemic in New York City and guess what came immediately after? The roaring twenties. So there's certainly a parallel to every past event and we can't minimize the significance of COVID on the city's economy and its people, but I'm totally confident in the ability the city to come back.
James Patchett:
I mean, New York has been a major economic powerhouse for over 400 years for a lot of fundamental reasons, right? Fundamentally New York is at the mouth of the Harbor, of the New York City Harbor, one of the deepest on the east coast. The mouth of the Hudson river, there's more fortune 500 companies headquartered in New York City than any other city in north America. We're ranked number two in terms of tech ecosystems in the world behind Silicon valley. I mean, these are incredible strengths. And none of the companies I talk to, none of the tech companies I talk to are saying we're out of New York City. To the contrary, they're all in on New York City.
James Patchett:
I mean, you have companies who are the most able to work remotely, who are the ones who are signing leases right now. You have the Facebooks and Amazons of the world who are actively signing leases in New York City, because they know that their workforce wants to be here. And that workforce, they're going to be temporarily displaced. They're going to be working from their homes in the Bronx and Brooklyn and all over for a while, but they're going to be out there supporting their own local businesses. And then they're going to be back because this is New York City. And that's what we do.
Josh King:
It's what we do. Recently, James neighborhoods in the upper west side successfully petitioned the Department of Homeless Services to stop using hotels in their area at risk for at risk or homeless New Yorkers. How difficult is it balancing the unequal needs of an urban population?
James Patchett:
There's no easy answers to any of these questions. I think urban places present unique challenges in general, but they also present unique opportunities, right? I think having a bunch of people together in the city, that's what makes New York City a great place. That's why cities have value. It's because of the diversity of people. It's because of the collisions and experiences you have walking around. It's because we have over 150 languages spoken in New York City.
James Patchett:
Everyone recognizes that diversity breeds creativity. That's why New Yorkers are able to be so creative, come up with such great ideas to start businesses. It's why tech companies want to be here. It's why people want their sales forces here, so they understand the diversity populations that they're selling to. All of those are strengths of New York City. And they're directly a result of its density and its population. And that's going to continue be a strength for the very long term.
James Patchett:
The notion that cities are over is an absurd concept. I mean, cities have been around for thousands and thousands of years, and we have been through many, many worse health crises than this one as a human people before we actually had the medical ability to understand what was going on. And so look, we have to take this very seriously, but on the other side of this, I mean, New York City get going to be standing. It's going to be standing strong.
Josh King:
I'm curious, you launched the All In NYC campaign from the podium of the New York Stock Exchange today. One of its goals is to correct some misunderstandings out there about the safety of the city. I'm curious, how did you settle on All In as the name for the campaign and what are the various facets that are going to be tasked toward correcting some of those misunderstandings?
James Patchett:
So this campaign was developed by our partners at New York City and Company, which is the city's tourism bureau. And it's really a campaign to talk about. What's the focus of tourism right now? It's New Yorkers. It's New Yorkers going out to support their local institutions. It's why there were lines around the block when people wanted to go to the MET for the first time when it reopened a couple weeks ago. It's why the Natural History Museum opened yesterday, people are lining up to go there too. People are wanting to go out and be in the city. And this is just an opportunity to underscore the incredible value that New Yorkers can bring to their own city. We don't... Right now, we're not in a position where we want people from all over the world coming into the city, which is a challenge for our tourism industry, but it's New Yorkers being all in on New York City.
Josh King:
One of the things that I got a credit card refund for in March or April, in addition to several plane trips and hotels that we had booked were theater tickets to see Matthew Brodrick in Plaza suite in the theater district. I heard the New York Times daily episode with Michael Paulson, the theater critic of the New York Times. Talk about the extraordinary efforts that were undertaking just to get a small production of Godspell back on the stage in the Berkshires. Talking about that parcel of real estate that you oversee in the theater district, how do you foresee one of the staples of New York City tourism theater coming back online?
James Patchett:
Well, actually I was with the chair of the New York City and company board this morning ringing in the bell and he oversees a large theater company in the Broadway district. And I think the reality is it's all about making sure that we have the best safety protocols in place. It's about ensuring that there's the best ventilation available, that we rapidly scale up testing, and that we prepare to reopen those theaters when it's safe to do so. I think we're not at that place right now, and that's really challenging for a lot of workers, but I have no doubt that people are going to rush back in droves the moment it is safe to go to Broadway. I know, I sure will.
Josh King:
As we wrap up our conversation, James, what we've been talking about so far in the show been focused so much on 2020 and focusing on New York's recovery. But the city has never just been happy with returning to the status quo. How do you think investment, for example, in the life sciences industry that the EDC has led will pay dividends for the city, not just during a health emergency, but going forward several years?
James Patchett:
I think there's a lot of things that we have to learn from this, right. One is we've been investing in life sciences for the last few years because we think there's an opportunity for growth there. I mean, no one now questions why we're investing in health and life sciences, right. Obviously that's critical to our economic growth and our security as a city. Same thing goes for our investments in advanced manufacturing. The ability to make things locally, as I mentioned is obviously critical. And the ability to be self-sufficient in all of these respects is increasingly important in the world today.
James Patchett:
I think we'll see a lot of really positive focus on issues that people didn't focus on as much as they should have before. I think equity is a great example of that. COVID has really shown us how significant the public health disparities are across different neighborhoods. That's a result of a variety of factors, including economic factors. This is an opportunity to tackle those public health issues, head on as opposed to ignoring them, which I think has been the reality of what has been the general zeitgeist for decades. So we're trying to address these issues head on, ensuring that we're in a strong place permanently. I think there will be really unique opportunities to make New York even better over the long run while ensuring that we address the immediate issues that New Yorkers are facing today.
Josh King:
One of the long term issues that we're certainly going to have to face is maintaining the great diversity of this city. It's been a strength of New York since the 1600's. How's the EDC engaging with minority, women owned, and disadvantaged business enterprises to build on the lineage that we've already established?
James Patchett:
Yeah, I think it's a really important point. I mean, economic development is a real place where we have the ability to ensure that equity and diversity is a critical piece of that. It's a real opportunity to ensure that we have diverse partners working with us on our projects. I mean, I think one of the things that we're doing is ensuring that we have more than 30% of our projects with minority and women owned businesses as our partners. I think that's a critical investment doubling down on that, making sure it goes even farther, but also making sure that we really involve communities and conversations about what our projects are going to look like. How are they going to be responsive to the things that they need? Something we've tried to do well over the last few years, but this is an opportunity to double down on that and make sure that they're not just responding to the loudest voices, but that they're really truly representative of the needs of any community. And really lifting up that diversity that as you said, is a cornerstone of New York City's success.
Josh King:
So James Patchett, all in, what do you think is the best case scenario for New York and the All In campaign?
James Patchett:
All In is really about New Yorkers expressing their own pride in the city. So if this is a tool that New Yorkers can use to go out there and say to the rest of the world and to themselves, that they're proud of their city, I think that's what we're looking for. We just want people to be out loving their city. I know that they do, this is an opportunity for us to do it in a collective way and tell the rest of the world how proud we are to be New Yorkers.
Josh King:
Where can folks who are listening to our show, get more information about the All In New York City campaign?
James Patchett:
I think you just need to go on any social media and use the hashtag All In NYC. That's the best mechanism, follow that thread or post your own post, go out to an outdoor restaurant, say your hashtag All In NYC. And you're supporting the campaign.
Josh King:
All In NYC. Next time my wife and I are having an alfresco dining experience in the west village, we will certainly be posting to social media. James, thanks so much for all your work at the EDC, for coming down to the New York Stock Exchange today to ring our opening bell, to issue that glaring call to be All In New York City. It was great talking to you.
James Patchett:
Thanks. It was a pleasure to be on and to ring the bell was a true honor. Thank you.
Josh King:
And that is our conversation for this week. Our guest was James Patchett, President and CEO of the New York City Economic Development Corporation. If you like what you heard, please rate us on iTunes so other folks know where to find us. And if you got a comment or a question, you'd like one of our experts to tackle on a future show, email us at [email protected] or tweet at us at icehouse podcast. Our show is produced by Pete Asch with production assistance from Steven Romanchek, Ken Abel and Ian Wolf. I'm Josh King, your host signing off from the library of the New York Stock Exchange. Thanks for listening. Talk to you next week. All In NYC>
Speaker 1:
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