City Cancels $920M NYSE Bond Vote

NEW YORK CITY-The city has cancelled a vote on a proposal to issue $920 million in taxpayer-financed bonds for the construction of a new New York Stock Exchange building at Wall and Broad streets. The bond vote was scratched following remarks made last week by stock exchange chairman Richard Grasso that cast serious doubt on the viability of the proposed 900-foot-tall NYSE tower.

New York Economic Development Corporation spokesperson Janel Patterson tells GlobeSt.com the vote has been removed indefinitely from the city’s Industrial Development Agency calendar. “It is not on the agenda at this point. The project is being reevaluated therefore we decided not to go before the board with that item at this time.”

But sources close to the $1 billion plan to build a 10-story trading floor topped by a 50-story office tower across the street from the current stock exchange site claim that Grasso’s comments Thursday to the Securities Industry Association in Boca Raton, FL knocked the legs out from the already wobbly project. In addition to referring to the current plan as “not a salable transaction,” Grasso also indicated that he is open to the possibility of integrating a stock exchange into the design of a new World Trade Center, reportedly angering Mayor Rudy Giuliani and Mayor-elect Michael Bloomberg.

Bettina Damiani, project director of government and corporate accountability group Good Jobs New York, says that she is not surprised by the move to cancel the vote. “I’m more surprised by Grasso’s comments publicly,” she tells GlobeSt.com.

GJNY has staunchly opposed public funding for the stock exchange building and favors incorporating the NYSE into a new World Trade Center. “[The World Trade Center site] is really an area where public investment does work,” Damiani says. “A 21st Century financial center will anchor the area and make it a viable place to do business again.