New York City has been a beacon of business and commerce in the United States and across the world dating back to the 19th century. That beacon remains bright as the city continues to recover from the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001.

Earlier this year, architect Daniel Libeskind won the competition to redesign the site of the World Trade Center in Lower Manhattan. The proposal calls for a 1,776-foot complex and memorial.

There are other signs that Lower Manhattan is rebounding. Deutsche Bank and the New York Board of Trade in recent months have announced plans to operate in the downtown area.

In deciding to move its U.S. headquarters from Midtown Manhattan to Lower Manhattan, Deutsche Bank is committing to help the area’s economy rebuild and boost local and state efforts to attract more businesses and jobs to downtown, according to the company.

Some Deutsche Bank’s 5,500 employees have made the move to the 1.6 million square foot building at 60 Wall St., with the remainder expecting to join them sometime this year.

The move was the result of an agreement between Deutsche Bank and the World Trade Center Job Creation and Retention Program, which provides grant support for businesses relocating to Lower Manhattan. Under the agreement, Deutsche Bank will maintain at least 6,500 jobs in New York City over a 10-year period. At least 5,500 jobs will be in Lower Manhattan, with the remaining 1,000 or more jobs located at the bank's existing facilities in midtown.

"Having a bank of Deutsche Bank's stature make this kind of commitment reinforces our message that New York will forever be the world's preeminent city, and Lower Manhattan forever the capital of the financial world," said Charles A. Gargano, chairman of the Empire State Development Corp. “We're working to bring more investments and jobs downtown."

The New York Board of Trade (NYBOT), which lost its entire 4 World Trade Center trading facility in the attacks, singed a 10-year lease agreement in February with the New York Mercantile Exchange to move into its building in the World Financial Center. The move will bring 3,200 jobs back to Lower Manhattan.

NYBOT had been operating out of a facility in Long Island City, Queens, since Sept. 17, 2001.

The NYBOT will occupy more than 45,000 square feet of trading and office space. Its new trading floor, scheduled to open in September, will be shared with the Comex Exchange, the precious metals division of the Mercantile Exchange.

The floor will cover roughly 13,100 square feet and contain 13 trading pits, similar to NYBOT’s original trading floor.

The Mercantile Exchange has embarked on a multi-staged plan to rebuild the Comex pits and booths, and build NYBOT’s s new trading floor, both using the latest in floor and booth technologies.

Healthcare Company Settles in Tarrytown

Empire State Development is also helping a high-tech healthcare company get situated in Tarrytown. Innotech USA Inc. will create 176 new jobs and invest $2.3 million to establish new operations in the city.

Innotech is eligible to apply for a $300,000 capital grant from Empire State Development for machinery and equipment costs.

The company, which makes laser devices for the healthcare industry, is rapidly growing. It expects to have 180 workers within three years.

Acorda Therapeutics will also be eligible for a capital grant after announcing its intention to increase its operations in Hawthorne. One hundred new biotech jobs will be created and 20,000 square feet of space will be added to the existing 30,000 square feet of space. The new jobs more than doubles Acorda's current 60-employee work force.

Acorda is expanding to bring its new spinal cord injury therapy B a drug, Fampridine-SR B, through final Phase III FDA approval. Once approved, Acorda will begin manufacturing the drug in Hawthorne.

Acorda Therapeutics is eligible to apply for a $370,000 capital grant from Empire State Development.

“The state has seen the growth of the industry, and we intend to keep the momentum going by providing the assistance that biotech and related companies need to develop and prosper," Gargano said.

Another initiative, the Gen*NY*sis (Generating Employment through New York State Science) program, is designed to maximize the research and development potential of life science research being conducted at public, not-for-profit and private academic research institutions throughout the state.

In the New York City area, Long Island Biotechnology Cluster in Cold Spring Harbor is attempting to create biotech education programs, analyze biological data, create treatments for genetic illnesses, and research the use of high-powered brain imaging for diseases.

OSI Pharmaceuticals, Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory, North Shore-Long Island Jewish Institute, Hofstra University, SUNY Farmingdale and Malloy College are associated with the cluster.

In the Bronx, the Biotechnology Research Center is attempting to build on Einstein College of Medicine’s already recognized strengths in biotechnology research and development.

- Ken Krizner, Managing Editor