Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg, Cornell University President David J. Skorton, and Technion-Israel Institute of Technology President Peretz Lavie today announced an historic partnership to build a two-million-square-foot applied science and engineering campus on Roosevelt Island in New York City. The selection of the Cornell/Technion consortium – which pairs two of the world’s top institutions in the fields of science, engineering, technology and research – marks a major milestone in the City’s groundbreaking Applied Sciences NYC initiative, which seeks to increase New York City’s capacity for applied sciences and dramatically transform the City’s economy. Cornell/Technion’s proposal was among the many strong proposals that were submitted to the City from a number of world-class institutions around the globe as part of the City’s groundbreaking competitive process. The Cornell/Technion consortium was ultimately selected due to the large scale and vision of their proposal, the long and impressive track-record of both institutions in generating applied science breakthroughs and spinning out new businesses, the financing capacity of the consortium, the focus of the consortium on the collaboration between academia and the private sector, and the overall capacity of the partnership to execute the project. In addition to the Roosevelt Island site, the City will also provide $100 million in City capital to assist with site infrastructure, construction, and related costs. This is the first selection announcement for the Applied Sciences NYC initiative. Productive discussions are ongoing with other respondents – Carnegie Mellon, Columbia and a New York University-led consortium – and the possibility of additional science and engineering partnerships in the City is still open. Mayor Bloomberg made the announcement at Cornell’s Weill Cornell Medical College, and was also joined by Deputy Mayor for Economic Development Robert K. Steel, New York City Economic Development President Seth W. Pinsky, Congresswoman Carolyn Maloney, State Senator José M. Serrano, Manhattan Borough President Scott Stringer, Council Member Jessica Lappin, as well as other civic and business leaders.
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