Company Equitable Companies/Equitable Life Assurance Society
Date Announced 9/7/1995 (deal closed 5/9/1996)
Project Site 1290 6th Ave, 787 7th Ave, 135 W 50th St, 2 Penn Plaza, 1755 Broadway, 21 Penn Plaza, 30 Rockefeller Center
Competing Sites White Plains, Harrison, Albany or Rochester
Maximum  City Subsidy $10,301,500

City Amount Tied to Job Retention

 $7,800,000

City Amount Tied to Job Growth

$1,500/employee to a cap of $1,500,000

$1,000,000 in sales tax recruitment benefits
Type(s) of City benefits Sales tax breaks -- Up to $10.3 million in combined retention, growth, and recruitment benefits.
Benefits from New York  State ?
Total Benefits Allowed ?
Benefits Distributed to Date (according to LL69 Report FY 2002) $8,265,000
 
Promised Job Retention 1,750
Job recruitment 234
Projected job growth 440
Total Jobs 2,419
Jobs Reported in LL69 Report FY 2002 2,076
Layoffs  
Length of Contract 16 years
 
Project Purpose Following the deal, the Equitable committed to consolidating its operations from six Manhattan locations rather than moving upstate. The subsidy came at a time when the insurance industry is in decline -- Equitable once had 8,000 employees in the area but the subsidy agreement only required the company to retain its then-current 1,750 workers in the city. Criticism was particularly pointed given the 1988 deal that funneled $212 million to Chase Manhattan Bank, which then began a series of layoffs.
Clawbacks The company can be penalized if the workforce falls below 1,750.
Background/Since then... ?
Corporate Notes The Equitable (now called AXA Financial and 60% owned by the French insurance giant AXA) is planning to sell its investment banking firm Donaldson, Lufkin & Jenrette, which received a $29.5 million package in 1994, to another subsidy recipient, Credit Suisse First Boston.
Comments Critics questioned whether Equitable was ever serious about leaving the city. State Senator Franz Leichter asked  'What corporate executive wouldn't say I'm going to move some jobs? They all do this because there's so much money laying around." And according to a senior managing director at Edward S. Gordon Co., a real estate broker, "When someone is serious they bring out construction people, architects and consultants and arrange tours for their employees. Equitable did not do much more than drive by the sites."
A note on sources -- Information in this deal comes from GJNY's examination of project agreements obtained through Freedom of Information Law requests, as well as news reports, minutes and notes taken at board meetings, and communication with our allies. The entries are a work in progress. For more information about the documentation behind GJNY's database, or to let us know about any developments that are not yet reflected here, please contact us at gjny@ctj.org or (212) 414-9394.
Date last updated: 8/12/03