Amanda Burden gave a speech and was questioned by Crain’s journalists Greg David and Stephan Friedman.
Ms. Burden gave the goal of saving manufacturing lip service, but wasn’t too excited about the garment district. Interestingly, she said they were developing an industrial policy to support manufacturing. I thought this was a poor choice of words.
Burden said that developing Downtown and the Far West Side were not incompatible goals. compared to the immediate construction plans for Lower Manhattan, the Far West Sidevs development goals are being framed over a 40 year period of time. The reporters expressed the skeptical view that the Far West Side plans are not that real and are window dressing for the city’s bid to get the Olympics.