Dear Commons Community,
In the past couple of weeks, we have had some good news for New York City. First, holiday gift buying is better than last year which has helped fuel a few blips up in the local economy. Second, Cornell University will be developing a multi-billion dollar new school for science and engineering on Roosevelt Island. Third, it was announced that New York City will reach its longstanding goal of attracting 50 million tourists in a year. Mayor Michael Bloomberg stated that the city is expected to surpass that total by the end of the year. The 50 millionth tourist is expected sometime this week.
When the mayor first announced the goal in 2006, the most recent yearly total was under 43 million. He projected it would take until 2015 to reach 50 million visitors. In 2008, he moved the deadline up to 2012.
The city’s official tourism arm, NYC & Company, projects tourists will spend $32 billion in the city this year, helping to support about 320,000 jobs.
Congratulations to our Big Apple!!
Tony