Roosevelt Island 1 (Photo credit: ShellyS)

The New York City Planning Commission‘s land use review process has approved a 2014 groundbreaking on Cornell Tech. The Roosevelt Island campus hopes to help educate future engineers and technology experts to stop the hindering of the tech scene stemming from lack of qualified developers.

The development plan now faces final approval by the City Council and if it is approved  is predicted to open in 2017.

The Next Web

Cornell NYC Tech Campus

As Roosevelt Island prepares for the rise of the new Cornell NYC Tech campus, not everyone is happy. Crain’s New York Business reports residents are concerned about construction and traffic. In order to cut down on traffic and the resulting air pollution, Cornell is considering barge use for delivering materials. A new ferry service to ease commuting is also under consideration.

Residents also wonder what will happen to rents. Much of the island’s housing is under the state’s Mitchell-Lama affordable housing program. But some buildings are opting out of the program for market rate rents, a shift that could gain momentum after the school is established. Another issue is where will patients from Goldwater Hospital go after it closes. The 75-year old long-term care facility, which has polio patients from the 1950s, will be demolished in 2014 to make way for the campus.

Crain’s New York Business

Cornell NYC Tech Campus

Cornell NYC Tech’s $2 billion campus might also be a shelter in the storm. After Hurricane Sandy flooded low-lying parts of the island, residents proposed the campus incorporate a shelter for the community. Crain’s New York Business reported that many of Roosevelt Island’s 14,000 residents are elderly and disabled and would have difficulty evacuating in an emergency.

Ellen Polivy, president of the Roosevelt Island Community Coalition, told Crain’s that if evacuation is not feasible, people need a safe environment, saying, “Someplace where there is water for three days, electricity, food. If there’s a storm, we want to figure out a way we can be at the Cornell campus.”

Cornell is reportedly reviewing the request and looking at ways to expand transportation options.

Crain’s New York Business

Cathy Dove

Dove, the former associate dean for engineering for Cornell’s College of Engineering, was one of the first four people to work on the proposal for the tech campus proposal, and expects the Roosevelt Island campus to be completed by 2037. The first building will be located near the F train stop. The school will start enrolling students for fall 2013, and was recently approved to offer five degrees in science, technology and engineering. Plans for construction approval is set for October, and only after that can construction begin. Dove also mentioned that the school may re-brand itself, seeing as the name CornellNYC Tech has not been as well received as originally hoped.

Crain’s New York Business

Cathy Dove, an associate dean at Cornell’s college of engineering, will become the school’s new vice president. Craig Gotsman will serve as the founding director of the Technion-Cornell Innovation Institute, a partnership with the Technion-Israel Institute of Technology.

Huttenlocher called  the new graduate school is an unprecedented opportunity, saying, “It’s a startup within a university.”

DNAInfo

Image via Wikipedia

Stanford University withdrew its bid for NYs applied sciences and engineering campus because the city continually changed the terms of the offer, according to The Stanford Daily, rebutting media reports that the university was unprepared for the city’s tough negotiating tactics.

The University unexpectedly withdrew its bid on Dec. 16, although it was considered the frontrunner. In a press release, the school had said, “it would not be in the best interests of the University to continue to pursue the opportunity,” without providing any details or explanation.

The New York Times reported that Stanford had no experience building in New York and “recoiled” at the idea of meeting the city’s terms after its proposal was submitted. Cornell University, on the other hand, expected the negotiations. The Times quoted a city official as saying, “Stanford could not or would not keep up.

Last week John Hennessy, Stanford’s president, said that the city’s requirements would increase both risk and cost, decrease long-term benefits and ultimately compromise the university campus and Lisa Lapin, a Stanford spokesperson, told The Daily that nothing about the RFP was firm. “The city was making changes to all of the terms of the project.” The city required Stanford to go ahead with the project even if the city revoked the $100 million it promised to the competition winner.

The city reportedly also changed the amount of land they promised. Originally Stanford thought they would receive land that extending from one side of Roosevelt Island to the other. But the city reduced the amount, requiring the university to purchase additional land if they wanted to build their original campus design.

There were also environmental concerns. Provost John Etchemendy told The Daily, “They wanted us to indemnify them for anything they had done, anything that had happened. So for example, if somebody sued about exposure to chemicals 20 years ago, we would have been liable; and that’s an example.” The push to ramp up the school quickly was another reason Stanford rescinded their bid. “We would not compromise our faculty hiring standards,” Hennessy told The Daily.

“If we could not succeed in achieving everything that NY wanted, then we would have had a campus 3,000 miles away that would end up being an albatross around our neck,” Etchemendy said.

The Stanford Daily

The Bloomberg administration has helped to foster the tech spirit and heighten innovation. According to The Atlantic Cities, its new Applied Sciences initiative aims to boost tech R&D, spark job growth, foster entrepreneurial endeavors and diversify the area economy by establishing a state-of-the-art applied sciences and engineering campus in the center of NY.  The city announced last month its choice to partner with Cornell University and the Technion-Israel Institute of Technology to create the “NYCTech” campus on Roosevelt Island, with phase one of the campus build-out to develop 300,000 square feet by 2017, though the two universities aim to start classes at a temporary site this September.

The city expects that the new campus will create up to 20,000 construction jobs; up to 8,000 permanent, well-paying jobs for a broad range of skill levels; 600 new companies; and billions in additional economic activity, the Atlantic maintains.

The Atlantic Cites

Image via Wikipedia

Last month’s announcement that Cornell University and Technion won the bid to create a state of the art technology campus on Roosevelt Island was a confirmation that the  Israel Institute of Technology is as respected abroad as it is at home.  According to The Jewish Week, Technion has generated a wealth of Israeli technology business. More than 70 percent of Technion’s graduate work in the high-tech field, while nearly one half of the 121 Israeli companies listed on the NASDAQ are headed by the school’s graduates. About 4,000 startups surround the university.

The school opened in 1923 with 17 students. By 1948, when Israel was established, the school established electrical and mechanical engineering departments and helped developed the country’s infrastructure. Its aeronautical engineering department became the backbone of Israel’s air force and aerospace industry.

Paul Feigin, Technion’s senior vice-president, told The Jewish Week that the university won the bid because of its practical plan to court high-tech giants and startups, based on its own success.  IBM, Microsoft, Intel, Yahoo and Google have all built R&D centers near the university and employ many students and graduates.

The Jewish Week

Cornell University

“We have always said that project feasibility was a major criteria in our selection process, and this innovative agreement shows that our purpose is to get this game-changing project in the ground quickly while getting the most benefits for taxpayer dollars,” said a spokesman for New York’s Economic Development Corp.

MetroFocus

The program, titled “MetroFocus Special: Tech Campus NYC,” will air tonight at 7 p.m. on WLIW 21 and on Saturday, December 24  at 7:30 a.m. on WNET 13.

MetroFocus

Image via Wikipedia

Following the city’s announcement on Monday that Cornell will be receiving funding and property on Roosevelt Island to build an applied science campus in NY, the university expressed eagerness in jump-starting the initiative by making preparations to begin offering classes in fall 2012, an entire year before the 2 million square foot site can even be completed. The campus will be aimed at attracting tech-minded individuals and innovation in new technology/engineering will be the university’s primary focus, an article in Wired emphasizes.

The decision for Cornell to have a tangible presence in NY comes after Stanford’s recent withdraw from the competition. As an institution, Stanford simply doesn’t require a presence in NY as Cornell does, Wired avows. Its longstanding ties to Silicon Valley already help it attract students, businesses and investors looking to build the next Google. Cornell may have comparable notoriety, but with its main campus in Central NY,  it doesn’t have the same kind of reputation, Wired maintains.

A brand new university presence like Cornell’s will have palpable economic benefits for the city itself. Wired speculates that real estate will flourish, creating employment, capital development, and attracting new talent to the region, which is, of course, entirely independent of the degree to which the intersection of original research, young entrepreneurs and venture capital can create new NY-based businesses and industry. A new campus provides the opportunity to disseminate the wealth within the metropolis;  all of NY may feel rejuvenated because of the university’s new presence, and could truly hone its own as a result of the many positive repercussions.

Wired

Image via Wikipedia

In the wake of the update late Friday that Stanford University had pulled its bid to build an applied science technology campus in NY,  the news leaked this morning that later today in a press conference, the Bloomberg administration will officially announce Cornell University as the winning school.  As part of the winning bid Cornell, which is teaming with Technion-Israel Institute of Technology, will likely build its proposed campus on Roosevelt Island, which according to BloombergBusinessweek, will contain “two million square feet for almost 2,000 students.”

The central NY ivy league unversity also announce on Friday that the school received an anonymous $350 million gift  to support its bid.

BloombergBusinessweek

Image by Getty Images via @daylife

The bid to put a new applied science campus in NY spearheaded has become a priority project for the city’s Regional Economic Development Council, an initiative led by Governor Andrew Cuomo. The council works to spark economic growth in NY and hopes to accelerate the review and approval process by gaining state support. The state has numerous responsibilities concerning the upcoming decision, as state education officials need to accredit an out-of-state institution that wants to grant degrees in NY, and the Roosevelt Island Operating Corp., controlled by the state, will need to make some approvals as its top contenders, Cornell and Stanford, have requested to build there.

Image by Lisy via Flickr

by Al Barbarino

Tech executives say the hype created by Applied Sciences bid is inspiring newfound confidence in the NY tech industry – and in the Bloomberg administration.

The competition to create a world-class engineering school in the city received proposals from 27 institutions around the world after it was introduced in December 2010. As the final bid deadline loomed this past Friday, at least six academic behemoths battled it out with competing proposals, industry entrepreneurs basked in the hoopla surrounding the highly publicized contest.

“I’m super excited about it,” said Vinicius Vacanti, CEO of yipit.com, a daily coupon site.  “It’s fantastic for entrepreneurs in New York to feel like the city is interested and supporting them.”

Stanford University’s plan to build on Roosevelt Island will cost an estimated $2.5 billion – more than two times what they had originally proposed.  Cornell University, teaming with Israel’s Technion, proposed a 2.12 million-square-foot Roosevelt Island campus, while Columbia’ University wants to tack the school onto their 17-acre campus being built in West Harlem.  Meanwhile, NYU hopes to fix up the former MTA headquarters in Downtown Brooklyn, at 370 Jay Street; one of its academic partners, Carnegie Mellon, joined forces with Steiner Studios with a proposal to create a digital media lab in the Brooklyn Navy Yard.

The Bloomberg administration is offering up to $100 million and free land – on Roosevelt Island, Governors Island or at the Brooklyn Navy Yard – to the institution selected to build the university.

“If they’re willing to put so much money into this it means that the city is important to them,” said Inaki Berenguer, co-founder of pixable.com, an online photo and video-sharing company.  “So for everyone that’s here they know that there’s a future in this area if they stick around.”

Mayor Bloomberg has appeared at tech events across the city – like IBM’s THINK forum – touting the initiative as one that will help New York surpass with Silicon Valley as the premier tech city in the country.

“For a long time Silicon Valley has been the place for startups and New York City has startups, but we didn’t have anything that made that big splash,” said Pritesh Damani, CEO of Winito Inc., a sports management website.  “Now we are seeing that splash.  Many of my friends are starting their own startups and before it wouldn’t be such an easy transition.”

Despite the optimism, concerns exist.  Vacanti hoped that by now the administration would have capitalized on all the media attention by asking esteemed professors from participating universities to come teach in existing city schools – a sort of “work-study” for professors.  That hasn’t happened yet. Some were also leery about all the hype, saying the administration could get cold feet and pull the plug.  Others were hesitant to rally behind the plan because it might not bring in the number of jobs, talented people and companies here that the administration hopes.

“I like that the administration is very ambitious,” said Alex Buran, CEO of Translation Services USA.  “How optimistic and enthusiastic am I about it?  I don’t know.  It’s still a wild card and a gamble.  I’m going to remain on the skeptical

Image via Wikipedia

Google founders Larry Page and Sergey Brin are rooting for Stanford University in its bid to build a major engineering and applied science campus on Roosevelt Island. The two Stanford alums believe the university stands out and plays a major part in the tech industry as it spawned companies such as HP, Cisco, and Yahoo. According to DNAinfo, Page explains “I think the culture of Stanford with regards to entrepreneurship and high tech industry have been really amazing.”

Alongside front runner Cornell and other universities, the Palo Alto-based school hopes to win the bid in order to help position the city as another Silicon Valley. The Google praise comes at the tail end of the submission deadline, which is tomorrow, October 28.

DNAinfo

Image by wallyg via Flickr

While universities such as Stanford and Cornell are competing  for an opportunity to build an applied science campus in NY, Coalition for Queens founder Jukay Hsu intends to join the conversation with a panoramic model.

According to the NY Daily News, Hsu has created a scale model that is a physical representation of what Willets Point, Queens, the “shabby warren of body shops” near CitiField, would look like if transformed into a technology hub. Hsu’ s model, which will debut at the Queens Museum of Art today, is intended to galvanize support from schools like Stanford and Cornell, but representatives from both universities told NY Daily News that their preferences for a satellite campus is Roosevelt Island.

Queens lawmakers, however, are resolute in having their voices heard and are passionate about the potential for the satellite campus to be built in their community.

“When the time is right, when we have the proposal ready, I am going to make the pitch to the governor,” Sen. Jose Peralta told NY Daily News.

NY Daily News

Image via Wikipedia

This week, Cornell University upped the bracket on its bid to build a new applied science campus in New York by joining forces with the Technion-Israel Institute of Technology.  If chosen by the Bloomberg administration, the schools would create the Technion-Cornell Innovation Institute in which Cornell would own the campus and it cost more than $1 billion. According to Crain’s New York Business, the 50-50 collaboration proposes a graduate program that will be “focused on commercialization in areas where the city has a competitive advantage, such as mobile and social technology, health care, the  built environment and finance.”

Beginning in 2012 with a full-scale campus in the city, the institute would then spread to a Roosevelt Island campus that would accommodate 2,000 gradate students. The courses required would prepare students for entrepreneurship, to be early-stage investors and provide expertise in the tech industries.

Crain’s New York Business

Image via Wikipedia

In an announcement this morning Mayor Bloomberg made official the details of the city’s RFP for universities across the world to submit proposals to build a science/engineering campus in NY. Given during a speech at the Crain’s Future of New York City conference, the mayor not only detailed the proposal, but took a shot at Silicon Valley saying “During the 1980s and 90s, Silicon Valley—not New York—became the world capital of technology startups, and that is still true today. But if I am right, and we succeed in this mission, it won’t be true forever.”

According to Crain’s New York Business, the city is offering real estate on Governors Island, Roosevelt Island or at the Brooklyn Navy Yard “at virtually no cost, and is pledging up to $100 million in infrastructure upgrades.”  In return, the city expects the contribution from the winning campus to be “matched several times over,” but of the locations, it is rumored that Roosevelt Island is the most attractive, due to its proximity to Manhattan and its public tranist options.

Proposals are due in October, with the Bloomberg administration choosing the winner(s) by the end of the year, with ground breaking to take place as early as 2013.  According to Crain’s, Cornell University, which has been deemed one of the most interested parties in the bid, sent “a large contingent to hear the mayor’s Tuesday speech” and has put together a task force for the bid  “including Irwin Jacobs, the co-founder of Qualcomm; Andrew Tisch, co-chair of Loews Corp.; and Abby Joseph Cohen, a partner at Goldman Sachs Group Inc. All are Cornell alumni.”

Crain’s New York Business

Stanford is joined by 26 other institutions, including Cornell University and Columbia University, who responded to the New York City Economic Development Corporation’s request for proposals to build innovation centers on four possible locations in the city.

Stanford University News

Previous:

>Is Stanford University Creating an Engineering Campus in NYC?