Empire State Development meetings

It’s been a summer of love for the Mid-Hudson region, with natural beauty that’s a year-round highlight for residents and tourists who visit the area’s many parks, historic and cultural sites. The area’s ideal location—with proximity to New York City and major Northeast destinations—also makes it a draw for businesses. During the past three months, the Mid-Hudson region has added new attractions, hosted milestone concerts and broken ground on a leading food manufacturer’s hub—while continuing to serve as a headquarters for several Fortune 500 companies and a home to pioneering research and innovation. Amy’s Kitchen, a leading organic food manufacturer, broke ground June 21 on a new 389,000-square-foot facility in Orange County that will be the company’s East Coast hub, creating 680 new jobs. The specialty frozen food manufacturing facility in Goshen will be one of the largest manufacturing plants built in New York State in decades. Amy’s Kitchen, a family-owned and privately held company founded in 1987, makes more than 250 organic products and invests in local organic farms to produce them. State support for the facility includes up to $6.8 million in performance-based incentives—tied to job creation and investment commitments—as well as a low-cost power allocation from the New York Power Authority.     The day before the Amy’s groundbreaking, a new $3 million Dutchess Welcome Center opened at the eastern approach of the Walkway Over the Hudson State Park. The 1,800-square-foot Poughkeepsie Center opened as the 1.28-mile Walkway, once an unused railroad bridge, marks its 10th anniversary.  Next steps for the Welcome Center, which features tourism information and showcases local products, include a new pavilion.

Earlier this month, Governor Cuomo announced his nomination of veteran business executive Eric Gertler as ESD President and CEO—while continuing Howard Zemsky’s role as chair of the ESD board. The changes are effective as of Sept. 3. Gertler, the current Executive Chairman of U.S. News and World Report, has been an ESD board member since 2018 and accompanied the Governor earlier this summer on a solidarity trip and trade mission to Israel. The Governor called Gertler an “innovative leader” uniquely qualified to lead ESD based on his unique mix of experience “at the intersection of business, media and government.” That experience includes oversight of Ulysses Ventures, a multi-strategy investment fund based in New York City and prior leadership experience at the New York City Economic Development Corporation and the Center for Economic Transformation—and as an author, newspaper publisher, foundation trustee and university board member. Gertler, a graduate of Brown University, also holds degrees from the Sorbonne and the Institut d'Etudes Politiques in Paris and has a J.D. from American University. Howard Zemsky, who continues as Chair of ESD, echoed the Governor’s confidence in Gertler’s leadership. In a note to ESD staff, Zemsky said “Eric is a flat-out fabulous choice to head ESD. He brings ‎extensive and relevant private sector experience closely aligned with our mission, including private equity and venture capital investing. Add to that his experience with municipal economic development as EVP with NYC Economic Development Corporation under Mayors Bloomberg and de Blasio, again aligned with our goals of growing the tech and life science economies.” Zemsky praised Gertler’s “engaged, prepared and insightful” ESD board service and, “most importantly,” the fact that “Eric places the highest priority on ethics and integrity, on leadership by example and on the importance of respect and decency.” Zemsky said he looks forward to their ESD partnership, which remains focused on “accomplishing great things for the economy and for the people of New York State.” He also described his tenure at ESD, which began in 2015, as “the honor of a lifetime for me.” Gertler is already busy gearing up for the transition, with planned trips to ESD and regional offices around the state, and is voicing his “boundless faith” in New York State’s economic potential “as we continue to attract business investment, stimulate new industry, reinforce our existing infrastructure and invest in workforce development.”

The Buffalo Skyway Corridor Competition challenges the nation’s top urban designers, economists, planners and architects to reimagine the corridor—stretching four miles from  downtown to Lackawanna—drawing inspiration from the community’s unique waterfront landscape, responding to the community’s collective vision for the City, building upon current momentum and significant investments, and acknowledging the region’s rich history while ensuring that past mistakes are not repeated. Teams were challenged to share solutions that could be implemented with a degree of affordability, feasibility and technical achievability (particularly regarding accommodating anticipated traffic) and superior design quality. The top submission will be awarded a $100,000 prize, second place will be awarded $50,000 and third place will be awarded $25,000.  We received over 100 submissions under Part 1 of the Competition – which included “summary-level” submissions that were screened against the “affordable, feasible, and achievable” criteria to get to 20 teams that were invited to submit final presentation boards and proposals under Part 2 of the Competition.    Sixteen of the top 20 teams submitted final proposals --- and are now available to view online. 1. Skyway 2.0 This submission bills itself as a “future-proof design for the skyway corridor.”  It envisages a gradual development of the area through a systematic implementation of complementary stages that address the Inner Harbor, Outer Harbor North and Outer Harbor South.  The Skyway Bridge remains in this proposal and is gradually used for a light rail extension.  In addition, other pedestrian bridge connections would be implemented between the Inner and Outer Harbor areas.    2. Skyway River Loop (Second Place) This submission says it will “Keep the Skyway and reinforce the heart of Buffalo.”  It proposes keeping the Skyway, lighting and painting it, and reframing it for new use.  Skyway River Loop is about making connections to the existing neighborhoods and supporting their further development and use.  A bridge connection to the Outer Harbor would be restored at Michigan Avenue; various underutilized ramps from the Skyway would be removed in selected areas to allow for new development, and a series of open space and public building investments would be made to support access and infill development. 3. Olmsted Remixed The vision of this proposal is preserving the “Skyway’s capacity for ships, trucks, and commuters while creating new waterfront connections for recreational users.”  It calls for keeping the Skyway—and its traffic—high above the city’s shipping lanes and waterfront parks—and creating new multi-modal connections under and alongside it, as well as under a portion of I-190.  The proposal also calls for a new local lift bridge connecting Canalside to the Outer Harbor. 4. City of Lights: Re-View Our Waterfront (WINNER) The concept for Skyway and Route 5 Corridor here is “actually quite simple; remove the barriers separating the City of Buffalo from its waterfront.”  Removal of the Skyway (Church Street to Prime Street) along with the access ramps makes 12 acres available for development in downtown and Canalside. The Skyway bridge over the Buffalo River would remain and be re-purposed as “Skyway Park,” an overlook/trail and sculptural element.  South of the bridge, the Skyway’s elevated expressway section would be removed, and the land redeveloped for mixed uses. 5. Queen City Harbor (Third Place) This submission proposes a strategy that “capitalizes on this historic opportunity to remove the notorious ‘Skyway’ and extend the positive legacies of Buffalo’s artistic, cultural, and industrial past directly into an intelligent, beautiful, and ennobling future. This vision depends on a robust program of mixed use, and primarily residential, development in and around the Queen City Harbor.  It would repurpose a series of the Skyway’s concrete piers for solar and wind power generation structures.  A new double lift bridge would cross the Buffalo River and City Ship Canal at Main Street, and a series of dense, urbane infill projects would be realized near Canalside and on the Ship Canal portion of the Outer Harbor. 6. Rustbelt Resurgence The main objective of this design proposal is to “connect the inner and outer harbor regions without the need for individualized transportation, while comfortably providing all aspects of the inhabitant’s everyday needs.”  This vision promotes active mobility and transit-oriented development and involves a series of phased access improvements—such a light rail extensions and an autonomous bus system on the Outer Harbor—with the goal of essentially eliminating the need for the Skyway by the end of its useful lifespan has run its course in 2040.  The Skyway’s concrete piers would then be used to support a tramway to the Outer Harbor. 7. Sky Scape This proposal for “Buffalo’s New Front Porch” reuses the existing infrastructure as a way of activating and better connecting an existing waterfront.  It totally reimagines the Skyway as a space for the public and a car-free multimodal corridor, incorporating the structure into new facilities such as, but not limited to offices, a rooftop garden, a new hotel with restaurants, a skyway bar, retail stores, and a 400-seat theatre complex for lectures, theatre, and concerts.  This plan terminates the Skyway at a redesigned Outer Harbor Drive interchange and provides the opportunity for revitalization of several arterial routes leading to downtown Buffalo. 8. Highways to Parkways This plan envisions the Skyway Corridor to be “redeveloped through multiple mixed-use neighborhoods, each with an intimate relationship with public open space by designing with nature and driven by new modern infrastructure networks.”  The plan removes the Skyway, adds a new double-lift bicycle bridge over the Buffalo River and City Ship Canal at Main Street, a replacement to the Michigan Avenue lift bridge over the Ship Canal, and replaces a portion of I-190 with an Olmsted parkway. 9. Olmsted Parkway This proposal is inspired by Olmsted’s vision of connecting his earlier parks to the north.  This vision replaces the elevated expressway portion of the Buffalo Skyway with an Olmsted Parkway, Olmsted Park, and real estate development on land previously occupied or made less usable by the Skyway.  The Olmsted Parkway would replace the Buffalo Skyway –and in some segments also Fuhrmann Boulevard—from Ridge Road north to the Buffalo River.  A new Buffalo River lift bridge would be constructed to connect the new parkway on the Outer Harbor with Main Street. 10. The Sapphire Necklace The centerpiece of this proposal is to remove the Skyway and Rte. 5 entirely from I-190 through the Outer Harbor and south to Tifft. With it fully gone and replaced by a “grand boulevard along Ohio Street, the entire corridor will transition to being some of the city’s premier living, entertainment and recreational venues with nature preserves, havens for fish and other water life.” 11. REC – Customize Your Experience REC stands for Recreation, Experience and Circulation.  This plan strengthens the value of the space and its relations with its environment through flexible and sustainable design solutions.  It promotes repurposing the Buffalo Skyway in a manner “designed holistically to elaborate contemporary approaches, integrate the latest technologies and preserve the site’s unique cultural and natural values as well as Buffalo identity.”  The Skyway structure itself would be redesigned to become an attraction in itself, with features added such as landscaped walkways, festival structures, suspended offices, galleries, and ateliers. 12. Making Sense of the Outer Harbor This proposal envisions “major improvements with minimal change to the transportation network while making sense of the Outer Harbor though urban design.”   The essential elements include the removal of the bridge and elevated portions of the Skyway, and construction of a new lift bridge extending from I 190 over the Buffalo River at Erie Street and connecting to an at-grade “Hamburg Turnpike” limited access expressway, with beneficial consequences for development and reimagining the area. 13. Vision for Skyway Corridor and relocated NY Route 5 highway As part of this vision, traffic that currently travels on the Skyway Corridor as far south as the Union Ship Canal will be diverted onto a new highway and Fuhrmann Boulevard will be reduced to one traffic lane in each direction within the Corridor.  The Skyway bridge structure would remain standing and be adapted to new purposes for the next few years, beyond which its long-term future may be determined by a decision process. 14. Buffalo Up! This plan’s vision is to create a sustainable transport system for the Skyway Corridor that makes a major contribution to the corridor’s livability by replacing the existing highway. This system would apply intelligent transport systems (ITS) strategies to existing routes thus increasing their efficiency and build a sustainable transport network through the corridor.  Over time, the Skyway would be phased out, first by reducing its lane capacity to provide pedestrian/bicycle access, and later fully removing vehicular access through adding a Michigan Avenue lift bridge and other pedestrian connections. 15. Erie Green This plan involves a complete redesign of the Buffalo Skyway from a limited access highway to an integrated urban boulevard employing a multitude of transportation modes.  Multi-use paths will both run parallel to major roadways and meander throughout green space. The plan also envisions a new multi-modal bridge crossing between Downtown Buffalo and the Outer Harbor. 16. Buffalo SkyBeach This submission plans to put Buffalo on the map as a tourist destination.  This year-round venue will also provide a “strong boost to tourism from nearby Toronto, and will give the ‘snowbirds,’ who traditionally fly south for the winter, a slice of Miami Beach in Buffalo as a convenient alternative destination.”  It calls for a post-industrial transformation of the Skyway structure to a glass-enclosed structure (a “linear dome”), creating a programmable civic space full of tropical plants, beaches, recreation, art, and cafes, all enabled by sustainable technology.

Expansion Enables College to Double Program Capacity Project Furthers State's Workforce Development Efforts by Creating Pipeline of Skilled Workers Photos Available Here Governor Andrew M. Cuomo today announced the grand opening of the Gene F. Haas Center for Advanced Manufacturing Skills on the campus of Hudson Valley Community College in Troy, Rensselaer County. The 37,000-square-foot facility has doubled the total enrollment capacity in the college's Advanced Manufacturing Technology degree program to 288 students, and will help meet the demand for skilled labor at Capital Region manufacturers. "When we invest in our workforce, we are creating a stronger New York by showing companies that we have the skilled labor they need to grow," Governor Cuomo said. "The Gene F. Haas Center for Advanced Manufacturing Skills at Hudson Valley is the latest example of how the state is supporting projects that train and prepare New Yorkers for the jobs of today and tomorrow." "We want to make sure individuals are trained for manufacturing jobs as demand continues to increase across the state," said Lieutenant Governor Kathy Hochul. "Hudson Valley Community College's new Center for Advanced Manufacturing Skills will train students with the skills they need for jobs of the future in the Capital Region and beyond. We are committed to investing in programs to help close the skills gap, ensure financial independence, and meet businesses' needs to expand and grow." Read the full press release here.