City's tech gentrification plan wins development award.

New York City's Digital NYC "Wired to the World" program, created by the New York City Economic Development Corporation to expand New York City's successful high-tech industry to neighborhoods in all five boroughs, has just been officially recognized as one of this year's best economic development initiatives by the International Development Research Council (IDRC) Foundation.

"It is very gratifying to win the IDRC Foundation's Global Innovator's Award for our Digital NYC "Wired to the World" program," said Mayor Rudolph W. Giuliani. "This program expands upon successful initiatives such as the Lower Manhattan revitalization plan and the Plug 'n' Go Program, which helped to revitalize Downtown Manhattan and create the high-tech industry in New York City. Digital NYC is establishing special high-tech districts in neighborhoods all over the City and bringing jobs and opportunity to once neglected areas, and I'm pleased that its value has been recognized by this prestigious international organization."

IDRC, the world's association of corporate real estate executives, bestowed its annual Global Innovator's Award, which acknowledges "exemplary work" and "innovative strategies or programs" in strategic corporate real estate and infrastructure management, at an awards ceremony during its World Congress in Orlando, Fla. Michael G. Carey, president of the New York City Economic Development Corporation (EDC), which administers the Digital NYC program, accepted the award on behalf of New York City.

"I think the judges recognized Digital NYC as an outstanding example of what communities need to do to compete successfully in the new economy and respond to companies' changing location requirements," said Tim Venable, program director of the IDRC Foundation. "Digital NYC is an economic development strategy that gives both companies and communities the means to succeed, and it's one that many other places would do well to emulate.

Digital NYC "Wired to the World" is a major component in the Giuliani administration's efforts to accommodate all of the high-tech and new media companies that would like to relocate or expand in New York City. Under Mayor Giuliani's leadership, New York City's high-tech industry, in just a few short years, has grown to more than 4,000 companies that employ approximately 140,000 people and generate more than nine billion dollars in annual revenue.

Digital NYC is meeting the challenges created by such explosive growth by offering hundreds of thousands of SF of affordable, Internet-ready office space in eight special districts throughout the City. This affordable space, coupled with valuable financial incentives, has attracted some of the industry's biggest and most exciting companies, and is ensuring that New York City remains the high-tech capital of the world.

"This prestigious award validates the Giuliani administration's efforts to take a pro-active approach to business development and our willingness to step up to the plate and devise solutions to the demands and challenges that face us as we enter the new millennium," said EDC president Michael G. Carey. "I'm proud to include Digital NYC "Wired to the World" among our many other successful economic development initiatives that are being studied and emulated by cities all over the nation and the world."