Downtown Alliance Unveils Tech Initiative

NEW YORK CITY-The Alliance for Downtown New York on Thursday introduced LaunchLM, an initiative intended to advance the burgeoning technology community in Lower Manhattan. It will be headquartered within the Hive at 55, the co-working space with Rudin Management's 55 Broad St. that has been a hub of such growth.

Mayor Michael Bloomberg introduced LaunchLM ads part of a speech Thursday on New York City's post-9/11 renewal. “This new initiative will advance the tech community in Lower Manhattan by creating venues for those in the industry to congregate, collaborate, and share resources and ideas,” Bloomberg said in prepared remarks.

Bloomberg added that “This is just the latest in our efforts to create the kind of community where the young people who dominate the tech industry want to live and work. We've also supported the Downtown Alliance's tech incubator, the Hive at 55 Broad Street, which has been a huge success, and we've created competitive grants to encourage tech companies to move or expand Downtown—and many have.”

More than 600 tech companies have set up shop below Chambers Street. They've been joined by PaperLess Pot, the Flatiron School and Droga5 over the past year, joining other companies already in the area such as the Control Group, LiveIntent, Nielsen, Red Hat, Sapient, WeWork, SinglePlatform and Stack Exchange.

“Lower Manhattan has a rich history as a center for innovation, and with this new initiative we can cement New York as the place to be in today's digital age,” says William Rudin, vice chairman and CEO of Rudin Management and a member of LaunchLM's leadership council. “The launch of this initiative will further invigorate the existing technology community in the district and encourage companies to relocate here in the future. This is a landmark moment not just for Lower Manhattan, but for all of New York City.”