Skip ahead to content

Home

manufacturing

Manufacturing Roundtable Highlights Need for Data, Policy

News posted April 12, 2010

Earlier this year, the Pratt Center's Adam Friedman participated in a roundtable at the Surdna Foundation on policy in support of the manufacturing sector in the United States. Surdna has now published a summary of the manufacturing roundtable, highlighting the need for coherent national policy and better data. Participants stressed the essential role of manufacturing in national economic recovery, competitiveness and growth, and in maintaining a strong middle class. The paper proceeds to explore ways that philanthropy can strengthen federal policy by supporting collaboration among researchers and innovators nationally.

For the Pratt Center's assessment of the role of manufacturing in New York City's economy and the need to support the sector, see Friedman's "Transforming New York City's Manufacturing Landscape," featured in the Drum Major Institute's recent book on New York City's economic future. Or listen to Friedman talk about manufacturing on WNYC Radio's Brian Lehrer Show.

Read more

Transforming the City's Manufacturing Landscape

posted January 6, 2010

"Transforming the Manufacturing Landscape," by Pratt Center Director Adam Friedman, is now available, part of the Drum Major Institute's new book From Disaster to Diversity: What's Next for New York City's Economy? Listen to Friedman discuss the future of the city's industrial jobs in New York City on WNYC's Brian Lehrer Show.

Read more

Rezoning New York

Media posted September 29, 2009

  • Source: The Brian Lehrer Show, WNYC Radio
  • Date: September 29, 2009
  • Link: external link icon Rezoning New York

Read more

Gowanus Summit: Responsible Development

Project last updated June 3, 2009

The Pratt Center has helped  convene the Gowanus Summit; a coalition of civic, housing and community development, manufacturing, and labor groups to establish ground rules for the area surrounding Brooklyn's Gowanus Canal. Our work there aims to make sure that new development meets the needs of area residents and sets high standards for local quality of life.

Read more

Industrial Land Squeeze

Map posted May 27, 2009

When Mayor Bloomberg came into office in 2002, New York City had 12,542 acres of land where manufacturing businesses could legally operate. Today, thanks to zoning changes, it has fewer than 10,746, and another 1,800 acres would be converted to other uses under proposed rezonings  If the planned rezonings go through, New York
City will have lost 20 percent of all its manufacturing space in the span of just a few years.

Read more

Protecting New York's Threatened Manufacturing Space

Issue Brief posted April 16, 2009

When Mayor Bloomberg came into office in 2002, New York City had 12,542 acres of land where manufacturing businesses could legally operate. Today, thanks to zoning changes, it has fewer than 10,746, and another 1,800 acres would be converted to other uses under proposed rezonings. This Pratt Center Issue Brief assesses the loss of manufacturing land, looks at its impact on local businesses and job opportunities, and recommends measures for preserving what's left.
 

 

Read more

Pratt Center eNews - Summer 2008

News last updated September 4, 2008

In this Issue:

  • A Message from Pratt Center Sustainability and Environmental Justice Director Joan Byron
  • Mapping New York's Dwindling Manufacturing Land
  • Promoting Public Plazas
  • Downtown Brooklyn Report Supports Affordable Housing Advocacy
  • Energy Matters Launches
  • Seeking Policies to Support Independent Businesses
  • Meet Pratt Center's Summer Interns
  • Contribute

Read more

Hunts Point Rezoning

Testimony last updated June 17, 2008

Testimony to the City Council Committee on Zoning and Franchises Special Hunts Point District, Bronx (C080248ZMX)

Joan Byron
Director, Sustainability and Environmental Justice Initiative
Pratt Center for Community Development
June 17, 2008

My name is Joan Byron; I am the Director of the Sustainability and Environmental Justice Initiative of the Pratt Center for Community and Environmental Development. The Pratt Center works for a more just, equitable, and sustainable city for all New Yorkers, by empowering communities to plan for and realize their futures. We are especially proud to have supported the work of Hunts Point and other South Bronx organizations since the early 1990s in the many battles they have fought for environmental justice; Hunts Point bears more than its share of the burdens of the infrastructure and land uses that make New York City's density and vitality possible, to the daily cost of the people who live, work, and breathe in the shadow of highways, electric power plants, sewage treatment and sludge pelletization facilities, and dozens of waste transfer stations and waste handling facilities.

Read more

Support of Resolution 141

Testimony last updated September 19, 2006

Testimony to the New York City Council Land Use Committee In Support of Resolution 141, to Create "Industrial Employment Districts"

Brad Lander
Director, Pratt Center for Community Development
September 19, 2006

Chair Katz, members of the committee, thank you very much for this opportunity to present our testimony in favoring of maintaining a diverse economy and good jobs in manufacturing. My name is Brad Lander and I am the director of the Pratt Center for Community Development, a university- based organization that works for a more just, equitable, and sustainable city for all New Yorkers by helping communities to plan for and realize their futures.

We believe that if the City is serious about maintaining and strengthening in its manufacturing sector -- both for the diversity it brings to our overall economy, and for the good jobs it provides to New Yorkers, especially those with more limited education or English proficiency -- then it is essential for the City to adopt the proposed industrial employment district legislation. Morevoer, if we are truly serious about the goals and efforts of the Industrial Business Zones developed by the Bloomberg Administration, which we support, then we must make these zones a true feature of the City's land use system, that will last beyond one particular administration.

Read more

Willets Point Request for Proposals

Testimony last updated June 1, 2006

Statement Calling for the Cancellation of the NYC Economic Development Corporation's Willets Point RFP

Paula Crespo
Pratt Center for Community Development
June 1, 2006

The Pratt Center for Community Development is honored to be here with such a wide range of colleagues — diverse groups who care about manufacturing jobs, affordable housing, community planning, and open and transparent government — to call for the cancellation of the NYC Economic Development Corporation's Request for Proposals for Willets Point.

Read more