Initiative Background

In December 2010, Mayor Bloomberg launched an initiative to build a new applied science and engineering school to foster innovation and create new industries here in New York City.

Applied Sciences Initiative Background Information
February Request For Expression of Interest (RFEI) Information Session: Growing Applied Sciences: A Game Changer for NYC (pdf) [NYCEDC]
“Mayor Bloomberg Announces Initiative to Develop a New Engineering and Applied Sciences Research Campus to Bolster City’s Innovation Economy” [NYCEDC]

In March 2011, 27 academic institutions submitted 18 Expressions of Interest to develop the new campus in NYC. “Mayor Bloomberg Announces City Received 18 Submissions from 27 Academic Institutions for New Applied Sciences Campus” [NYCEDC]

These consortia are:
Åbo Akadmi University, Finland // Amity University, India// Carnegie Mellon University with Steiner Studios// Cornell University //Columbia University and the University of New York // The Cooper Union// École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne, Switzerland // Indian Institute of Technology Bombay, India // Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology, Korea // New York University, Carnegie Mellon, the City University of New York, the University of Toronto and IBM // The New York Genome Center, with Albert Einstein College of Medicine, Columbia University Medical Center, Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, Mount Sinai School of Medicine, New York University, Rockefeller University, and the Jackson Laboratory //
Purdue University // Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute // Stanford University // The Stevens Institute of Technology // Technion-Israel Institute of Technology, Israel // The University of Chicago // The University of Warwick, United Kingdom

Campus Sites

New York City Economic Development Corporation offered four three potential sites for universities to consider in the first Applied Science NYC initiative.

Goldwater Hospital at Roosevelt Island, Governors Island, Farm Colony on Staten Island⁽¹⁾, Navy Hospital at Brooklyn Naval    Yard

NYCEDC has made clear that NYC has no preference for any site within NYC. Respondents can propose any site, including privately-owned, and with any design.

⁽¹⁾ Upon the City’s RFP issuance on July 19, 2011, Farm Colony was no longer provided as a potential site as it was not appealing to the first respondents in March, 2011. “Mayor Bloomberg Announces Request for Proposals for New or Expanded Engineering and Applied Sciences Campus in New York City” [NYCEDC]

Why was Queens not considered?

Queens is ideally and uniquely situated within New York to realize the potential of Mayor Bloomberg’s initiative and it should be included a potential campus site for Applied Science NYC initiative. Helping a university to anchor a new campus and foster a new Silicon Valley in Queens is a once in a lifetime opportunity to improve education, create well-paid jobs and new industries that would realize the potential of Queens and New York.