| Company | Bertelsmann AG (second package) (never used) |
| Date Announced | 1/1/1999 |
| Site | Broadway @ 55th & 56th Streets |
| Total Subsidy | $28 million |
|
??? |
| Promised Job Creation | ??? |
| Promised Job Retention | ??? |
| Length of Contract | ??? |
| Competing Sites | none |
| Conditions | none |
| Notes | For construction of a 31-story tower to house the headquarters of media/publishing giant Bertelsmann's Random House division. In September 1999, Bertelsmann walked away from the deal after the city added a last-minute condition that the company conduct a full environmental review of the $300 million project. Bertelsmann went ahead with the project without the subsidy, raising the question: If the company decided to build without the subsidy, why was the city offering the aid in the first place? |
| Corporate Notes | Third-largest media company in the world in September 1999. Bertelsmann's New York City-based divisions include RCA Records, Bantam Doubleday Dell publishing and Parents Magazine. |
| Critics | "Turning down a tax break is pretty good evidence that the subsidy wasn't ever needed. I'm sure a lot of these projects could fly without government support" said Diana Fortuna, president of the Citizens Budget Commission, a nonprofit organization. "Our view is that they should be trying to create a good business environment for all businesses." (New York Times, 9/5/99) |
| A
note on sources -- or why many of these profiles appear incomplete.
They are. Good Jobs New York compiled the numbers in these profiles from
press releases and news accounts of the deals. Unfortunately, more
detailed information on these subsidies is very difficult to obtain --
even though it should be readily available to the public. In many cases,
neither the company nor the city nor state released certain information,
particularly the terms of the agreement, i.e., the conditions which the
company had to meet in order to receive the subsidy. It should also be
noted that the value of the subsidy may not end up being equal to the
value estimated at the time of the agreement. And it should not be assumed
that the actual number of jobs retained and created will be the same as
the numbers predicted.
Because the public deserves easy access to information about how taxpayer dollars are being spent, Good Jobs New York will update these profiles as we uncover more information. Good Jobs New York - May 25, 2001 |
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