Hudson Yards Powers New Neighborhood with First-Of-Its-Kind Hiring Initiative

NEW YORK, NY – March 13, 2019 – Hudson Yards today announced details about the creation of the Hudson Yards Hiring Network, an innovative public-private collaboration designed to identify and recruit talent from New York’s most in-need populations. The initiative has already placed hundreds of New Yorkers in new jobs and expects hundreds of more jobs to be filled over the next few months. Companies and buildings in Related Cos. and Oxford Properties Group’s 28-acre development will bring more than 55,000 jobs to the west side neighborhood, and developers, along with their public partners will continue to recruit applicants from The New York City Housing Authority, as well as veterans, formerly incarcerated and homeless individuals, and people with disabilities.

When Hudson Yards opens later this week it will bring millions of square feet of new modern commercial, residential, and mixed-use space requiring thousands of New Yorkers to staff this significant new project and its buildings – adding to the tens-of-thousands of construction and other jobs already created at Hudson Yards. To accomplish this, the Hudson Yards Hiring Network partnered with four City agencies – Small Business Services/Workforce1, The New York City Housing Authority’s Resident Economic Empowerment and Sustainability, Human Resources Administration, The Mayor’s Office for People with Disabilities, along with 20 of the City’s leading workforce and human services agencies: The Bowery Mission, BronxWorks, CEO Works, Defy Ventures, Doe Fund, Fedcap, Fortune Society, Grant Associates, Green City Force, Henry Street Settlement/Lower East Side Employment Network, The HOPE Program, Hudson Guild, Opportunities for a Better Tomorrow (OBT), Osborne Association, Restoration Plaza, St. Nick’s Alliance, STRIVE International, Urban Upbound, WF1 for Veterans and WINNYC.

Stephen Ross, Chairman of Related, said, “As we open this extraordinary new neighborhood, and center of business, culture, shopping and restaurants, and residences, we want to be sure to offer great opportunities to those in the local community. We are taking special steps to reach out broadly with our significant number of new jobs. We are immensely proud that together we have identified, screened and hired a great workforce of dedicated, talented and enthusiastic New Yorkers.”

Jay Kriegel, Senior Advisor of Related, who joined Fred Knapp, Executive Director of Hudson Yards Manager, to bring this network to fruition, praised the unprecedented partnership, “We are grateful to our 22 public and private partners for joining us in the initiative, the Hudson Yards Hiring Network. Together, we have developed a customized screening system for all job applicants which instantly matches them to available jobs. We are especially grateful to SBS/Workforce1, which is providing a single intake and screening for all job applicants; to SEIU 32BJ, which will provide most of these new workers with high quality benefits, training, support services and representation; and to our private sector partners, SkillSmart, Canon, G4S, ThinkFood Group and Guardian.”

Hudson Yards estimates that, over the next six months, upwards of 600 new jobs will be filled to provide essential services at the development, plus hundreds of additional jobs at restaurants and other campus businesses. Recruits from the hiring network, referred by the 22 agencies participating in the Hiring Network, are being given priority in filling these new jobs, most of whom will be represented by SEIU 32BJ, one of the City’s leading unions.

Hector Figeroa, President of 32BJ SEIU, said, “Thanks to the Hudson Yards project, hundreds of New Yorkers will have a chance to secure good, family sustaining jobs. Union jobs have been proven to be the number one pathway to the middle class for American workers. By creating a system for local workers to fill the hundreds of permanent building service jobs, the project will lift up local workers, their communities and their families alike. As workers begin to fill these security, cleaning and building maintenance jobs, 32BJ SEIU looks forward to engaging these new union members to uphold their rights on the job and work towards good jobs and a supportive environment for all working people.”

Gregg Bishop, Commissioner of the NYC Department of Small Business Services, said, “We’re supporting the Hudson Yards project and helping to ensure that all New Yorkers can benefit from this new development. Through our Workforce1 Career Centers, we’re connecting local talent to these new opportunities.”

ABOUT HUDSON YARDS

Hudson Yards is the largest private real estate development in the history of the United States and the largest development in New York City since Rockefeller Center. The site will include more than 18 million square feet of commercial and residential space, more than 100 shops, a collection of restaurants, approximately 4,000 residences, The Shed, New York’s first arts center to commission new work across the performing arts, visual arts, and popular culture, 14 acres of public open space, a 750-seat public school and an Equinox Hotel® with more than 200 rooms—all offering unparalleled amenities for residents, employees and guests. The development of Hudson Yards will create more than 23,000 construction jobs. Hudson Yards will also have a substantial economic impact on the New York City economy. Once fully operational, the development will contribute nearly $19 billion annually to New York City’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP), accounting for 2.5 percent of the citywide GDP. It will also contribute nearly $500 million annually in City taxes. Companies and buildings at Hudson Yards will bring 55,752 direct jobs to the new West Side neighborhood.

CONTACT:

Related Companies

Joanna Rose / Jessica Scaperotti

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