BP MARKOWITZ STATEMENT ON SELECTION OF CORNELL UNIVERSITY AS “APPLIED SCIENCES NYC” WINNER

“Congratulations to Cornell University and Technion-Israel Institute of Technology on their selection to build an applied sciences campus on Roosevelt Island, which under the leadership of Mayor Bloomberg, Deputy Mayor Steel and EDC President Seth Pinsky, helps sets the stage for an education and research powerhouse that will make Cornell and New York City international leaders in engineering and high tech innovation while creating much-needed jobs for our city. With today’s announcement behind us, let’s now look ahead to the new year and make the case that New York deserves more than one first-rate applied sciences school and that serious consideration be given to New York University’s partnership with Polytech proposed for 370 Jay Street in Downtown Brooklyn—home to more college students than Cambridge, Massachusetts—as well as Carnegie Mellon’s plans for the Brooklyn Navy Yard, which along with DUMBO, is part of our borough’s emerging new Silicon Valley. Both locations offer a unique opportunity to create a job-creating epicenter of learning, research and innovation. I normally don’t celebrate Brooklyn being a runner-up in anything, but considering the importance of this center to the future of Brooklyn and New York City, in this case I would happily make an exception.”