During a time of unprecedented development and national attention being paid to our borough, the Staten Island Economic Development Corporation is poised to cover all the bases

by JENNIFER VIKSE • Photos By Robert Nuzzie

At this moment, someone is talking about Staten Island, and he or she is probably not a native. Whether a tourist Googling “Things to do on Staten Island,” an entrepreneur looking for space, a transplant looking for a home, or a business person expanding, our borough is on the lips of more people than ever before.

This is thanks, in part, to the long awaited redevelopment of the Island’s North Shore Waterfront and a generally booming housing market.

“In my 20 plus years, I have never seen this kind of economic development, these kinds of projects in the pipeline, or this much off-island attention,” said Cesar Claro, President and CEO of the Staten Island Economic Development Corporation (SIEDC). “But it really did all start with the New York Wheel, the nearby Empire Outlets, and Lighthouse Point.”

Claro explained that even though these projects on the North Shore were “the spark that got the engine going,” there were years of hard work required to build to the point where the Island began to enjoy metropolitan, national, and even international attention.

Advocating for and overseeing the creation of business improvement districts (BIDs) is one way the SIEDC has been proactive in laying the groundwork—as such districts fostered economic development on both the South Shore and in the mid-Island. City Council funding has allowed SIEDC to create two thus far, as well as to organize merchant organizations and local development corporations in seven neighborhoods in the last five years.

“We were asked to come in and organize the effort,” Claro explained, noting that there are big benefits to BIDs. For example, money generated by the districts goes back into them for maintenance and other needs, and a second benefit is that as a unified group, the businesses that make up the districts have a louder, more cohesive voice.

“These are very well organized, very active organizations, and can advocate together in ways they could never do as individual operations.”

In addition to BIDs strengthening the business community, there are several other projects changing the landscape—all happening at the same time. The senior living development being built at Landmark Colony will allow residents who don’t wish to keep up a house but who don’t wish to leave the community to have a new place to call home. And the expansion of the Staten Island Mall will bring permanent jobs and increased retail opportunities, as well as make it a destination for shoppers, even from off Island.

“What sticks out to me is the diversity of all these projects,” noted Claro. “If you go through them one at a time, they run the gamut. The big three retail projects—Empire [Outlets], the expansion of the mall, and Riverside Galleria [on the South Shore], then we have tourism draws like the New York Wheel as well as family entertainment…then the Matrix development [New Jersey-based developer Matrix Development Group is in the process of purchasing more than 200 acres of industrially zoned land in the West Shore Green Zone for the development of an industrial park]. That’s a significant number of jobs.”

Down at the North Shore Waterfront, Lighthouse Point is a mixed-use property, Claro noted, including residential, hotel, restaurant, and office building applications. This sort of mix is exactly what SIEDC has been advocating for since its own inception. “For many years, our office has been putting out documents and reports calling for industrial on the West Shore and family entertainment in St. George. Now, it’s happening.”

While Claro and the board of SIEDC are thrilled that the borough is having its moment, it wasn’t their work alone that made it happen. “The rest of the city is pretty much built out,” he explained. “We have gotten to the point where Staten Island is the next frontier.” That said, he’s quick to add that SIEDC has a lot of work yet to do, and so has strategically developed its board to be able to deal with what lies ahead.

“There is a lot of work for us, for elected officials, for the city, for the state, in terms of making significant investments to be sure these projects reach their full potential,” noted Claro. “We’ve redesigned the board over the last five years to have key people from all of those sectors. It took 20 years, but we now have the one we always wanted.”

Claro has been at the helm of SIEDC for all of those years. Its current roster is a who’s who of the 40 most influential business leaders on the Island, including three bank presidents, the developers of the New York Wheel and Empire Outlets, the heads of all three local colleges, and two top ranking hospital reps.

“The board is a cross section of the economic life of Staten Island. It was designed to give us expertise in every area of interest here,” noted Senior Vice Chairman Stanley Friedman. “We chose to focus on banking/investments, health, utilities, education, recycling, the St. George developments, small business, and, of course, development.”

“If you compare the board roster next to projects taking place on Staten Island, you will see how SIEDC touches everything,” echoed Phil Guarnieri, President of Empire State Bank and a member of the SIEDC Executive Committee.

With the board in place, the Council is confident that they have positioned itself to be able to help manage all the new development, new services, help new employers, and advocate for the infrastructure that’s going to be needed.

That, of course, includes developers. “We have the best of the best on our board,” enthused Claro. “Our development team alone is responsible for tens of millions in development, millions of square feet of commercial, industrial, and

While Claro and the board of SIEDC are thrilled that the borough is having its moment, it wasn’t their work alone that made it happen. “The rest of the city is pretty much built out,” he explained. “We have gotten to the point where the Island is the next frontier.”

residential development, thousands of jobs already, and many more on the way.” Regardless of new projects coming on line, Claro said that his partners in healthcare will still be among the biggest players in the room.

“Even after these projects are up and running, healthcare will still be the largest employer in the borough. We always want them in the room,” he said, noting that the programming for the ever-popular health expos that SIEDC hosts annually are driven by both Richmond University Medical Center and Northwell Health at Staten Island University Hospital.

“The Expo would not have grown if we did not have SIUH and RUMC on our board,” said Jodi Guagliardo, who manages the Expo for SIEDC.

Dan Messina, PhD, FACHE, LNHA, President and CEO of RUMC, agreed that the partnership is an important one. “The Council is an invaluable resource that brings together business leaders across the spectrum of industries, creating a comprehensive network of resources to help further the strategic goals of my hospital,” he said.

Additional spokes in the wheel of Staten Island’s overall economic health are its three colleges—Wagner College, St. John’s University and the College of Staten Island.

“One of the projects at the forefront of SIEDC’s collaborative initiatives with board members is the 30,000 Degrees: College Readiness for a Stronger Staten Island,” Claro explained. The initiative, modeled after a successful program in Kentucky, brings together leaders in education (from higher education down to prekindergarten) and non-profits, social services, and government in an effort to increase the college readiness of the community. Currently, Staten Island ranks fourth among the five boroughs in terms of the rate of college degrees held by borough residents (only 28.9 percent of the borough’s population has attained a baccalaureate degree or higher). This initiative seeks to increase the number of baccalaureate degrees held by Islanders by 30,000 in the next 10 years.

One of the project’s goals is to enhance university-community partnerships, which address both academic and socioeconomic issues that lead to a per vasive belief that a college degree is unattainable.

“A better educated workforce leads to higher wages, better employment opportunities, and improves the quality of life for residents,” explained Dr. William Fritz, President of the College of Staten Island and SIEDC Board Member. “We are committed to making 30,000 degrees a reality for this community.”

At this time, the Council is additionally concerned with employment and transportation.

“There are multiple employment programs in other boroughs,” Claro noted. “So, we’ll need something here that simply doesn’t exist. Transportation is a big concern. The city is going to be forced to make significant infrastructure improvements in order to address these developments.”

One of SIEDC’s ideas is to build gondolas transporting commuters from Staten Island to Manhattan.

“Some people say it’s pie in the sky,” Claro acknowledged, adding that he and his staff have presented the idea to the Mayor’s staff. “Gondolas move people, and the one thing we all have on our side is that there is no traffic in the air,” adding that communities with fewer residents than Staten Island are or will be implementing such gondolas, including St. Louis, Miami, Tampa, Baton Rouge, and Branson, Missouri.

At the same time, the Council remains committed to a West Shore Light Rail, for which it has staunchly advocated for a decade. The idea recently picked up momentum in the form of $5 million allocated for an MTA study on the project, thanks to New York State Assembly Member Mike Cusick.

“The focus is to determine if light rail is feasible or if there is a better alternative. We firmly believe that there is no better alternative. We’ve studied this for 10 years and have talked to experts from all over the country. We haven’t seen anything better,” said Claro, noting that the light rail has fundamentally changed several nearby New Jersey communities for the better.

For Claro and the board at SIEDC, what’s happening now and over the immediate next few years is the culmination of many years of hard work by countless people, but such work is far from over.

“We’ve always done long-term planning, but we’re really knee-deep in it now,” Claro said with a smile. “There’s so much value in having all of this talent on hand now.”

Staten Island Economic Development Corporation
900 South Ave #402
718.477.1400 / siedc.org