NYC IS NETFLIX CITY, USA
$100M expansion here
It’s lights, camera, action for New York’s economy.
Netflix will invest $100 million in the city by 2024, building six soundstages in Brooklyn and adding 127 jobs to its existing 32 in Manhattan, officials announced Thursday.
The streaming-video titan’s new corporate offices will cover 100,000 sprawling square feet at 888 Broadway.
That’s in addition to the 161,000 square feet that Netflix has leased for the soundstages and support space at 333 Johnson Ave. in Bushwick.
“The expansion of a cutting-edge company in New York once again demonstrates the Empire State is open for business,” said Gov. Cuomo in announcing the deal.
Netflix stands to collect up to $4 million in state tax credits if it provides enough jobs over the next five years and maintains them for another five.
Cuomo has been sensitive about portraying New York as a friend of business since Amazon pulled out of a deal to open a second headquarters in Long Island City in February.
He blamed state Senate Democrats and Queens progressives for scaring off the omnipresent company.
Amazon would have received $3 billion in incentives as part of the deal. In return, the e-commerce giant promised to create 25,000 high-paying jobs and invest tens of millions of dollars in its surrounding neighborhood.
“Amazon is a problem. The consequences of Amazon are even worse. It destabilized our ability to attract businesses to New York,” Cuomo said last month.
He made a desperate lastditch effort to lure the company back — conceding it was a long shot.
“I hope that they reconsider. Up until now, we haven’t seen any change in their position. It would be helpful if the state Senate said that they would approve it; that would be helpful,” he said.
“But, in the meantime, I haven’t heard any changes.”
Netflix has more than 139 million subscriptions in some 190 countries and has already shot several series in the city, including “Orange Is the New Black.” “Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt,” and “Russian Doll.”
State Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli reported Wednesday that the five boroughs were home to a record-high 4.55 million jobs in 2018, an increase of 820,400 since 2009.