Read enabling legislation for Liberty Bonds from Congress.

Liberty Bonds at-a-glance! Click here for breakdown of city and state allocations.

Commercial Liberty Bonds -- News

8/2/2006 -- The Liberty Development Corporation gave final authorization for $57 million of Liberty Bonds for the National Sports Museum, a for-profit museum which will be located at 26 Broadway in Lower Manhattan.

4/25/2006 -- A new financial plan to redevelop Ground Zero was agreed upon by the major players in the rebuilding effort—the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, Silverstein Properties, and New York City and State. As part of the agreement, Silverstein Properties will receive $2.5935 billion of Liberty Bonds to build Towers 2, 3, and 4, while the Port Authority would receive the remaining Liberty Bonds to build the Freedom Tower.

9/26/2005 -- The Liberty Development Corporation unanimously approved the allocation of $1.65 billion in Liberty Bonds for Goldman Sachs, with the city and state agreeing to split the bond issuance.

8/23/2005 -- The Battery Park City Authority approved the lease arrangement for Goldman Sachs' proposed headquarters, to be located on Site 26 of Battery Park City. The 65-year lease agreement does not require Goldman's annual payments in lieu of property taxes to be based upon the assessed value of the building and the applicable property tax rate.  Instead, the ceiling was set at just $10.71 a square foot, or $21.4 million.  Goldman will also pay a one time lease payment of $161 million, $3.5 million for a new library, $1 million for a community center, and $900,000 a year to support Battery Park open spaces.

8/19/2005 -- The Battery Park City Authority announced that its next board meeting is scheduled for Tuesday, August 23, 2005 at 9:00 am, in the Authority's offices, One World Financial Center, 24 Floor.  The meeting is open to the public for observation, and will presumably address a lease agreement with Goldman Sachs for Site 26 in Battery Park City North.

8/17/2005 -- The Liberty Development Corporation will hold a public hearing on the $1.65 billion in Liberty Bonds announced this week for a new Goldman Sachs headquarters.  The hearing will take place on Wednesday, September 7 from 5:30 - 7:30 pm at the Museum of Jewish Heritage, at 36 Battery Park Place in Classroom A&B on the first floor in Lower Manhattan.

The notice states that project materials will not be available until noon on September 6 for public review.  To request copies of materials and to register to testify at the hearing, contact Frank Corcoran at 212.803.3124.

8/16/2005 -- The Battery Park City Authority board meeting was cancelled shortly before it was scheduled to begin.  After days of media speculation regarding the specifics of the Goldman Sachs agreement, Good Jobs New York has still not obtained documentation pertaining to this deal despite numerous requests.

8/15/2005 -- The Liberty Development Corporation approved $1.65 billion in Liberty Bond financing for Goldman Sachs' new headquarters and a $25 million grant under the federally-funded World Trade Center Job Creation and Retention Program.  Click here to read the story in The Bond Buyer.

8/15/2005 -- At 3pm, the Battery Park City Authority quietly announced a board meeting for the following day, presumably regarding a lease agreement with Goldman Sachs for Site 26 in Battery Park City North.

8/12/2005 -- The New York Times reported that Goldman Sachs may receive at least $150 million in new city and state tax credits, as well as $1.65 billion of Liberty Bond financing, for locating its new headquarters across the street from the former World Trade Center site.  Contrary to reports, these bonds have not been approved and there will be public hearings regarding these subsidies.   Read GJNY's testimony from September, 2004, regarding Goldman Sach's initial application for $1 billion in Liberty Bonds.

To be notified about these and other subsidy related hearings, email dsteinberg@goodjobsfirst.org.

1/2005 -- The NYC Industrial Development Agency (IDA) gave final authorization for $475 in Liberty Bonds to be issued for 7 World Trade Center. This was up from the original $400 million request given initial approval in 2003.

4/19/04 -- A mixed-use Forest City Ratner project involving Pace University and NYU Downtown hospital is seeking up to $243 million in commercial Liberty Bonds to fund retail space, a parking garage, an art gallery, a hospital and a dormitory. Up to $131 million in Liberty Bonds for housing are being sought to finance a luxury apartment tower. The NYS Liberty Development Corporation is expected to issue a declaration of intent for the commercial bonds Thursday, May 20, 2004.

Read about this project in The New York Times (5/19/04) and (4/20/04), The New York Post, and the Downtown Express.

3/18/04 -- The NYS Liberty Development Corporation will sell up to $700 million in taxable bonds to finance a controversial private power plant in Astoria. The company hopes to refinance $400 million of that amount with tax-exempt Liberty Bonds sometime in the next few months. Read about it in the Bond Buyer.

11/13/03 -- The Liberty Development Corporation, a subsidiary of the Empire State Development Corporation, approved $38.9 million in commercial Liberty Bonds for a hotel and restaurant co-developed by actor Robert DeNiro at 377 Greenwich Street. The public hearing for this project was Monday, November 11th.

9/10/03 -- IDA public hearing to take place at 10:00 am at 110 William Street on proposed allocation of $80 million in commercial Liberty Bonds to InterActiveCorp, the internet firm that supports services such as Expedia, Ticketmaster, and Match.com, to build a new office building at 11th Ave and 18th Street.

8/30/03 -- Special IDA public hearing announced to get input on Durst application for $650 million in Liberty Bonds plus tax breaks for midtown office tower. The tower will be anchored by Bank of America, which is also applying for tax breaks.

Read testimony from:

State Assemblymember Scott M. Stringer
City Council Speaker Gifford Miller
Good Jobs New York
New York Industrial Retention Network

7/30/03 -- The Liberty Development Corporation (LDC) gave preliminary approval to $32 million out of the state's nearly $3 billion in commercial Liberty Bonds for a hotel and restaurant project developed by 377 Greenwich LLC, a company controlled by Ira Drukier and Richard Born.

7/17/03 -- The New York Times reports on efforts to use Liberty Bonds to finance two Times Square developments:

• Forest City Ratner seeks $400 million to construct a new New York Times headquarters;

• Douglas Durst seeks $700 million for a proposed Times Square tower that would house the Bank of America. (The Bank of America might be seeking additional subsidies for the project, despite having had a previous deal terminated for failing to meet employment requirements.

This report was confirmed the following week by The Bond Buyer.

4/24/03 -- $10 million in Liberty Bonds proposed to be allocated for new convention center in the South Street Seaport. These bonds will be issued through the State's newly created Liberty Development Corporation, a subsidiary of the Empire State Development Corporation. Read Newsday account for more details.

1/14/03 -- $400 million Liberty Bonds approved for 7 WTC by the Industrial Development Agency (IDA) to finance the re-construction of lease-holder Larry Silverstein's building, which was destroyed following the attacks of September 11, 2001.

At perhaps the most contentious IDA public hearing ever held at 110 William St, IDA staff were questioned about the details of the 7 WTC deal and about the public process surrounding decision-making at the IDA. For the first time, public hearing attendees were permitted to take away documentation about a proposed project. At the board meeting the following day, IDA President Andrew Alper announced changes that included allowing the public access to project applications and cost-benefit analyses six days before public hearings. 

Read about it in: The New York Post, Newsday, The Daily News, Bloomberg, The Bond Buyer, GlobeSt.com, the Associated Press

Commentary in The New York Post in December helped spark debate around the public's access to information about IDA financing deals.

9/9/02 -- $113.9 million in Liberty Bonds approved by the IDA to finance a new building at the Atlantic Terminal in downtown Brooklyn owned by F. C. Hanson and anchored by the Bank of New York.

Although this project will provide great potential benefit to downtown Brooklyn, the project raises concerns about how commercial Liberty Bonds may increase  pressure on housing prices for low and middle income residents in the neighborhoods where commercial Liberty Bonds are used.

Read about it in: The New York Times, Newsday, The Daily News, The Bond Buyer, GlobeSt.com

8/7/02 -- Commercial portion of Liberty Bonds announced as part of joint City-State Liberty Bond program for all $8 billion. 

• Read the joint New York City and State press release and view the program brochure on the Economic Development Corporation website. 

• View program guidelines and eligibility requirements on the Liberty Bond page of the EDC website