Promoting fair and effective use of economic development resources after September 11, 2001

About GJNY

Who's applying for a subsidy this month?

Database of NYC's biggest subsidy deals

What is a Community Benefits Agreement?

Who controls NYC's development funds?

GJNY Publications

Archived News

GJNY in the News

What they are saying about corporate giveaways

Subsidies proposed for New York City's first biodiesel plant. Learn more about the project.

City lets Metropolitan Life escape its subsidy commitments. Read GJNY's response.

  City proposes $37.5 million in tax breaks for development of a Diamond Tower in Midtown. Learn more about the project.

City enacts subsidy transparency policies. Read about the improved transparency measures approved by the board of the NYC Industrial Development Agency on September 12, 2006.

Groundbreaking is held for Gateway Center at Bronx Terminal Market. Learn more about taxpayer subsidies for the project.

City proposes massive subsidy program for commercial projects in the Hudson Yards area.  

• Read about the plan to offer tax breaks and use PILOT payments to service the debt needed to finance the extension of the 7 Line. 

• Read about other proposals put forth by the IDA this month (August).

• Testify at the August 3 public hearing.

GJNY releases report detailing the new agreement to redevelop Ground Zero and the cost of the Lower Manhattan commercial subsidy programs approved last year. Read "Marshalling Subsidies."

GJNY testifies before Congressional Committee on Homeland Security about the allocation of post-9/11 rebuilding funds. Read GJNY's formal testimony submitted to Congress, or an abbreviated version presented at the hearing.

New York State legislature approves largest subsidy deal in State history. Learn more about the $1.2 billion subsidy to Advanced Micro Devices.

News on the redevelopment of Ground Zero and the effectiveness of Lower Manhattan business incentive programs.  Click here for more information.

Both the Yankees and Mets plan on building new stadiums by 2009.  Click here to learn more about proposed taxpayer subsidies for the Yankee Stadium project and to read GJNY's report.  Click here to learn more about proposed subsidies for the Mets Stadium project.

Click here to read An Open Letter from Civic Groups in New York on 9/11 and Katrina.

Proposed Goldman Sachs subsidy for Lower Manhattan resurfaces. Click here for more information on the full subsidy package and to read GJNY's testimony.

Forest City Ratner Corporation and several community groups release a “Community Benefits Agreement” on the proposed Brooklyn Atlantic Yards project (June 27, 2005). Read about it in the Daily News.

Updated and revised CBA publication (May 2005): Community Benefits Agreements: Making Development Projects Accountable

City and State Tax Breaks

City Council holds hearing on Brooklyn Atlantic Yards project. Read GJNY's testimony.

City Council holds hearing on linking economic development and community development. Read GJNY's testimony.

City Council passes subsidy transparency legislation - Intro 373-A. Click here for details.

GJNY's exposé on Zone Equivalent Area (ZEA) program leads to removal of wasteful tax credit from State budget. Former beneficiaries include Giuliani Partners, Ernst & Young, Morgan Stanley, Fox News and others

City Council holds two hearings on property tax breaks. Read GJNY's testimony on:

Payments In Lieu Of Taxes (PILOTs) and their possible use for the proposed West Side Stadium and

Madison Square Garden's property tax break

NYC Economic Development Corporation posts city's 2004 subsidy disclosure report on its website after GJNY releases online version of city's subsidy disclosure report.

Reconstruction News (detailed coverage of post-9/11 development available at Reconstruction Watch)

The Lower Manhattan Development Corporation will hold a public hearing on how to spend its remaining Community Development Block Grant funds on Wednesday, April 27th 6:00 pm

City Council holds hearing on proposal to convert unused WTC Tax Credits to resources for a rail link to JFK Airport and Long Island. Read GJNY's testimony (November 8, 2004)

Recent Publications

GJNY's expose on the proposed Yankee Stadium project: Loot, Loot, Loot for the Home Team: How the Proposal to Subsidize a New Yankee Stadium Would Leave Residents and Taxpayers Behind.

GJNY releases Reconstruction Watch report The LMDC - They're in the Money; We're in the Dark: A Review of The Lower Manhattan Development Corporation’s Use of 9/11 Funds (August 2004)

Good Jobs First releases a ground-breaking national study on over $1 billion in subsidies to Wal-Mart: Shopping for Subsidies: How Wal-Mart Uses Taxpayer Money to Finance Its Never-Ending Growth (May 2004)

GJNY releases the first public analysis of corporate retention contracts negotiated by NYC in the 1990s: Know When to Fold 'Em: Time to Walk Away from NYC's "Corporate Retention" Game  Read Press Release on Bank of America Public Hearing and GJNY Report (February 2004)

Resources for Understanding Major NYC Development Projects 

Downtown Brooklyn - Forest City Ratner Corp. is working to bring the New Jersey Nets to a proposed new stadium in Brooklyn.

Catch up on the local news with coverage in the Brooklyn Papers. Read updated information on Community Benefit Agreements (CBAs) or learn about how Los Angeles got the most out of a new stadium complex in 2001 with a CBA for the STAPLES Center.  

Manhattan's Far West Side - Read about the April 2004 breakfast forum on Far West Side financing hosted by the Fiscal Policy Institute & GJNY

Read details and news coverage of public financing plans ($3.67 billion) for Far West Side announced in February 2004, including information about Tax Increment Financing (TIF).

Updated January 03, 2007