June 16, 2026 • 32 mins
Not only have the Knicks brought New York City its first NBA title in 53 years, the team also brought their hometown a lot of money. An estimate by the New York City Economic Development Corporation puts the economic impact of the Knicks’ postseason run at $380 million. In this special NBA Finals episode of The Deal, NYC EDC Interim CEO Jeanny Pak joins Jason to break down the methodology behind the organization’s estimate and why the real number is probably much larger. She also talks about why sports are such a big economic engine for the city and how the EDC is supporting the development of Willet's Point as a sports and entertainment district. And Jeanny shares some numbers about the economic impact of sporting events like the World Cup, the MLB season and the U.S. Open.
Also in this episode, Alex and Jason marvel at the magic of the Knicks’ playoff run and discuss how the NBA can capitalize on this momentum. Plus, Alex welcomes the 2026 Knicks to New York City’s champion's circle and shares a special message for former Timberwolf Karl Anthony Towns.
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Speaker 1 (00:02):
Bloomberg Audio Studios, Podcasts, Radio News.
Speaker 2 (00:12):
Welcome back to the DL.
Speaker 3 (00:13):
I'm Jason Kelly alongside my partner Alex Rodriguez.
Speaker 2 (00:16):
Alex, neither of us.
Speaker 3 (00:17):
Is in New York at the moment, but I was
there a day or two ago. You're headed there. Let
me tell you, it is the most rocking city on
the planet right now because a fifty three year drought
was broken, and broken in some of the most spectacular
fashion I've ever seen in sports. I'm having a hard
(00:38):
time capturing from a cultural perspective, from a business perspective,
from like a soul perspective, what this means for New
York City. What's your take.
Speaker 4 (00:48):
It's still so cool as a New Yorker to hear
the phrase New York Knicks twenty twenty six World champions,
because as you and I, you're a friend, and I
have other friends that are huge Knicks fans. My brother included.
They thought in their lifetime they would never see this.
Even my brother who's sixty one, he doesn't remember the
(01:08):
Willis Reed days and the Walter Frasier. So he was
he was in tears. And if you step out, you know,
I think New York needed a big win that was
far beyond sports and that's exactly what this next team's delivered.
And to see block parties, I could imagine that was
probably how it was in the thirties and forties in
New York, where people will come together with no social media.
(01:30):
But we do have the luxury of social media to
witness this and then look a city that's not easily
moved and easily impressed the next delivered and they were
They did both.
Speaker 3 (01:41):
It was unbelievable. I mean I really witnessed it, sort
of largely through the eyes of my two twenty something
year old sons and my eight year old daughter for
that matter, who were just completely obsessed. All their friends
were obsessed. You couldn't have a business meeting, you couldn't
have a social gathering with out talking about the next
I mean, every single conversation led back to the next,
(02:04):
no matter who it was with. And you know, watching
everyone just engage on such a meaningful and ongoing level,
and then I have to tell you, you know, after all,
this is the deal, this is Bloomberg.
Speaker 2 (02:19):
You know.
Speaker 3 (02:20):
I was in the city on Wednesday night so for
Game four, and I took a city bike from a
viewing party, and I was like hustling to get to
Grand Central to get home for the second half, and.
Speaker 2 (02:34):
There were lines.
Speaker 3 (02:35):
Outside of every bar, like every place you went. I mean,
there was just like everybody was engaged in it. And
so you're talking hundreds of millions in marginal economic impact.
Everything's bigger in New York and this just hit. It
hit on such a high level it's insane.
Speaker 4 (02:56):
I mean it hits every mark right like socially, emotionally,
it brings families together. I mean I've seen people crying
that hadn't seen families for years and they came together
over this next run. And I can just tell you this, Jason,
as a Yankee, not all fifty three years are created equal.
I can tell you this, fifty three years in New
(03:18):
York City is like two hundred and fifty three years.
So I think Jim Dolan is a big winner. I
thought he delivered a great message. I think this is
great for the NBA, for the morale of the city,
and my goodness, and look out for the San Antonio Spurs.
They're going to be around for a long time. And
I'll tell you one last thing here. I was walking
through Central Park last week. And to your point about
(03:40):
everyone talking about it. I went through one little huddle
of firemen and they were talking strategy about how you
attack Kat and Wimby and blah blah blah. Then the
other people. I had a couple ladies who were like
a nurse or something. She was talking to her patient
walking in the wheel chair. He goes, you know, there's
something about that wemb He's a real jerk. And that
was him and I'm like, oh, And then I go
somewhere else and someone is like, the whole city was captivated,
(04:03):
and look, we were there No.
Speaker 3 (04:04):
Nine.
Speaker 2 (04:04):
You were there No.
Speaker 4 (04:05):
Nine when we won. It's a fraction of the euphoria
that you feel in the city right now.
Speaker 2 (04:11):
Yeah, it's crazy too.
Speaker 3 (04:12):
And you know, and later on we're going to hear
from Genie Pack who's the head of the Economic Development
Corporation for New York, and you know, she gets into
some of the numbers and and what they generated.
Speaker 2 (04:25):
So stay tuned for that.
Speaker 3 (04:26):
But you know, I think it's also interesting to think about.
And I'm gonna I would love your perspective on this
because you're literally at the table. I don't think the
NBA could have asked for anything more than this. I
mean it was the with all due respect to your Timberwolves,
who played great in the playoffs, but this was a
(04:47):
This was an unstoppable team, but also running into and
I think you alluded to this, what's probably the team
of the future in the NBA. I mean, certainly Wemby
Victor Webb, nama Is is a superstar in the making,
and their time will come. It looked like for a
minute maybe their time was now, but Jalen Brunson beg
(05:12):
beg to differ Kat obviously a former Timberwolve himself. I
do wonder from your perspective, how does the NBA, for.
Speaker 2 (05:21):
Lack of better term, capitalize on something like this.
Speaker 4 (05:24):
Well, I think they're just going to create so much content.
I can see already ten documentaries being created as we speak.
I had a friend that was recently for Game five
in Hawaii, and he goes every year and he goes
to this particular bar where the finals. Around this time,
there's always you know, forty sixty eighty people. He said,
that was over four hundred people going crazy, all wearing
(05:45):
Knicks fans in Hawaii at two thirty in the afternoon
for a start. I think the NBA literally hit the
lottery with this. It was a perfect storm poetic justice.
Where you look at a guy like Jaylen Brunson and
Kat and the incredible job that Leon Rose did Worldwide West,
and obviously Jim Dolan. You still have to start putting
Jalen Brunson in the conversations of the New York greats,
(06:07):
Jeter Marianne, I'm talking about greats with multiple championships, Lawrence Taylor,
Eli Manning, but he is up in a very high
level and forever, I believe will be a nick until
he doesn't want you anymore.
Speaker 2 (06:20):
Yeah. No, I think that's exactly right. And you know.
Speaker 3 (06:25):
There is a stage that New York provides and again
you can speak to this and I remember, it's funny.
I was thinking about Brunson in sort of a funny
context going back to I think the first season of
the Deal, you and Michael Strahan talking about how different.
Speaker 2 (06:44):
It is once you win a championship. That it's one thing.
Speaker 3 (06:48):
To play in the league, to play at a professional level,
but to win a championship, and to win a championship in.
Speaker 2 (06:54):
New York is allows you.
Speaker 3 (06:57):
I think I think you would You can speak with
a lot of confidence to this allows you to transcend
in a way that you can't otherwise, from a business perspective,
from a visibility perspective, from an economic perspective, just for yourself,
because you didn't just play in New York. You won
a championship in New York. And the ceiling, there is
(07:20):
no ceiling when that happens.
Speaker 4 (07:21):
That's exactly right. And there's a reason why I never
saw Walt Frazier play or Willis reed, and I still
hear about them all the time for my brothers is
because they were champions and you're that forever. I mean't
there's not a day that walks by Jason, that goes
by that, somebody walking the street says thanks for nine,
Thanks for nine Well Jalen Brunson and that whole New
York roster, who, by the way, will never be forgotten.
(07:46):
But it's very hard to have a New York team
that is hard not to love, and this roster is
very lovable. They may not like the Knicks and all
the craziness, but it's very hard to see a guy
like Jayalen Brunt. And if you have a son, that's
exactly how you want him to act. And by the way,
one of the greatest moments was the father son Rick
(08:07):
Brunson and Jalen hugging and crying. My god, if this
didn't have a little bit of everything, poetic justice was
served well.
Speaker 3 (08:14):
And it's interesting one more sort of deal point on this.
And I haven't seen as much made of this, and
maybe it's just because you and I love the business
of all this and so we're more likely to talk
about it than others. But let's not forget Jalen Brunson
took less money to stay in New York, to free
up space so that Leon Rose could build the team
(08:37):
around him that he built. And without building that team,
this doesn't happen. I mean, listen, Brunson, I keep saying
this transcended. I mean the game five performance, forty five points,
I mean literally matches Jordan. I mean that's insane just
to say out loud on literally the biggest stage on
(08:59):
an awake. But that decision that he made, that economic
decision that he made for himself, really sets the stage,
sets the table for this team to do what it does.
And it's sort of it's an interesting reminder that sometimes
you have to not just invest in yourself, but invest
in what's around you in order to be successful.
Speaker 2 (09:18):
So I think you're right.
Speaker 3 (09:20):
I think that this story is going to be told
so many different ways, and I have to think that
whether it's in basketball, and you can speak to this,
whether it's the NBA, the WNBA, but even the NFL,
major League Soccer, major League Baseball, people are deconstructing this roster.
They're deconstructing how this happened because there were some really
(09:42):
key decisions that were made that put this all together,
and then you just had to have a little bit
of magic.
Speaker 2 (09:47):
This is a team of destiny, Jason.
Speaker 4 (09:49):
The postseason for the NBA was one that reminded me
of the nineties Jordan. I mean every game basically had,
especially at the peak, over twenty million viewers. Yeah, it's
just been phenomenal. And I do want to give a
shot out. First of all, jenen Brunson on that piece.
He'll never buy a meal or buy a drink for
the rest of his life in that city. He owns
(10:10):
it now he's officially the mayor forever. And I do
want to give one special shout out to Carl Anthony Towns,
who we traded to the Knicks and change for Randall
and Devincezo Dante. I could not be more happy a
change of narrative. The guy's been as sweetheart as whole life.
He's been misunderstood and when I saw him up there
(10:33):
in some ways reminded me of nine, when I was
able to take that monkey off my back. I could
not be happier for Kat who's well well deserved being
a world champion.
Speaker 3 (10:42):
Yeah, absolutely, and a guy who is definitely and you've
seen it. You and I both saw him last year
at the Bloomberg Power Players where he was speaking. He's
a guy who's embracing New York in a big way
and has alluded to earlier that's only going to get
bigger and bigger because now well, not only is he
a New York Knick, he's part of the New York
(11:03):
Knicks World championship team, and that carries a lot of
weight and has a lot of currency. So coming up
a little bit more on what's going on in New
York at the bottom line for the city, this is
a city that's invested deeply in sports, and it's interesting.
Speaker 2 (11:20):
Alex.
Speaker 3 (11:20):
In this conversation with Genie Pac we talked not just
about the Knicks. But about how baseball your former team,
the Yankees and the Mets. They're going to contribute about
eight hundred million dollars in economic development and economic impact
over the course of this season to the Five Boroughs.
You've got a big soccer stadium that's being built out
by City Field. So sports, you know it better than anyone,
(11:42):
is so deeply ingrained in the culture and maybe more importantly,
the business and the economics of New York. So what
a moment for New York. I mean, I have to
say it.
Speaker 2 (11:53):
The vibes are great.
Speaker 3 (11:54):
I mean, beyond all the money, beyond the sports of
it all, it's just like every bodies walking around happy
and you just you love to see it.
Speaker 2 (12:03):
It's great.
Speaker 4 (12:04):
And I will say this too. You asked a question
earlier about where does the NBA go from here? Is
not just the economic rip effect in New York City
or the Five Boroughs. Is also around domestically, around the
other forty nine states. Is also around the globe. What
happened in France. If you connect all those numbers, every
bar down here in Miami was packed watching heat play.
(12:26):
It doesn't matter where you go. The conversation was happening.
So I don't think you're can quantify it to just
dollars and cents, but sentiment, feeling and memories that you
have with your friends, family and loved ones that will
never go away.
Speaker 3 (12:37):
Yeah, there's nobody aside from the Knicks and everybody involved
in that. No one's happier than Adam Silver right now,
the commissioner of the Enda.
Speaker 2 (12:45):
What a year? What a year? All right?
Speaker 3 (12:47):
Coming up, Genie Pack from the New York City Economic
Development Corporation.
Speaker 2 (13:02):
Welcome back to the deal.
Speaker 3 (13:03):
I'm Jason Kelly here with a special emergency Nick's Edition.
New York City has never seen anything like this. I
think it's fair to say. The perfect person to talk
to Jeanie Pack. She's the interim President CEO of New
York City Economic Development Corporation. She's been with the organization
for a while.
Speaker 2 (13:22):
Is the CFO. She worked on Wall Street before this. Genie,
we keep throwing around all these words. This has never
happened before.
Speaker 3 (13:29):
I've never seen anything like this, but we've sort of
never seen anything like this, right.
Speaker 1 (13:34):
We have never seen anything like this. Thank you, Jason.
I'm so happy to be here, and I'm so happy
to be here. Today after this historical win on Saturday.
You know, I say this for the next but for
all New Yorkers, it has been the most amazing run
with the like the most beautiful outcome. So we're really
excited to be here. It has unified New York City
(13:56):
in a way that we've never seen or have not
seen a very long time with extraordinary win, and we're
really happy all the way around.
Speaker 3 (14:04):
Yeah, all right, so let's get into it because you know,
as much as you and I could probably spend the
next hour talking about you know, Og and Jalen and
Mike Brown and all of them and everything that happened
and Spike Lee and Chalomey.
Speaker 2 (14:19):
But let's talk about the nuts and bolts of the money.
Speaker 3 (14:23):
You know, just walking around New York riding a city
bike whatever it is, you couldn't help but see people
out and about.
Speaker 2 (14:30):
And I know those people are spending money.
Speaker 3 (14:32):
I know it in part because my two twenty somethings
sons spent a great deal of money over the past
couple weeks at various watering holes and you know, pubs
and rooftops across New York. Give us the numbers, like,
what is this actually total up to when you put
it all together.
Speaker 1 (14:49):
So what we do at EEC we have an economic
research and Policy group and they do a lot of
economic analysis and so they these numbers are very conservative. So,
like you said, all the stuff that's going on on
outside the stadium is incredible economic activity for New York City,
But what we really measure is what's happening inside the stadium.
So these are home games only. So for the seven
(15:10):
home games for the three series pro the final, there
were seven home games and that generated about two hundred
and two million. What is this? These are tickets concessions,
but it's also hotels and transportation related to activity at
the stadium. And then you know, we're so happy we
won in five, but every home game is about a
(15:31):
ninety million dollar economic impact for the finals, and so
since we only had two, it was one hundred and eighty,
which we're very very happy with. So all in all,
it was about a three hundred eighty million postseason economic inpuct. Now,
as you said, this does not include all of the
activities on away games and all the activities that how
happened all crossed all the fivebers as you saw for
(15:54):
restaurants and bodegas and you know, people who are selling
merchandise all on every street. Co owner of New York City.
It activated the city in a way we really have
never seen. People were bringing out their own TVs and neighborhoods,
they were broadcasting the game on walls of buildings and
there was just like a neighborhood block party all across again,
all in all five boroughs. So that economic activity an
(16:17):
impact is not in these numbers, but as you know,
it's generated a tremendous amount of economic activity and positive
growth for the city. And again this is across all
five borroughs, so it's not just located in MSG.
Speaker 3 (16:30):
And so will you ultimately be able to put a
number on it, because it's got to go into the
and it's got to go into the hundreds of millions,
maybe upwards of a billion, I would think just I mean,
again you're an economist, I'm not, but like looking at
just the sheer number of people who wouldn't be out
(16:51):
and about who were I mean there were lines out
of literally like every bar I would pass across Manhattan
and into Brooklyn and other parts of as you say,
all five boroughs. Is that a number that will eventually
see or is it just too hard to sort of
put your finger on.
Speaker 1 (17:08):
We'll try to take a look at it and give
some kind of estimate. Just to give you some We'll
also be looking at the parade, which is Thursday at
ten am downtown here. We expect that it's going to
generate about, you know, tens of millions of dollars. Just
to give you some context, when the Giants one in
twenty twelve, that parade was generated about thirty eight million.
Again there's a third of people came from outside the city.
But we expect, you know, the next win is this
(17:30):
is going to be a parade that you've never seen
in New York City. And also give some additional contexts
the World Cup. The estimated economic impact for the World
Cup for the region is about three point three billion.
So we constantly are doing these these analysis. So for
the just again, sports are really really important economic engine
for the city. For the Major League Basketball, for Yankees,
(17:54):
and for the for the Mets regular season, it's going
to generate about eight hundred million of economic activitvity for
this season and that's not including League Baseball. You said
Major League Baseball in the city. For the two for
the two teams. The Yankees makes a little more than
the Mets.
Speaker 2 (18:09):
Yeah, formats, formats.
Speaker 1 (18:11):
I'm from Queens, so yes, I am sitting right there
with you.
Speaker 2 (18:15):
The struggles rail, the struggles rail for the Mets.
Speaker 1 (18:18):
But you know what looks what happened the next So
we believe that's true.
Speaker 2 (18:21):
That's true. That's a good point.
Speaker 1 (18:23):
So yeah, so there's you know, there's a lot of
economctic analysis that we do, both in projecting and then
and then afterwards.
Speaker 3 (18:30):
I mean, where where are the pockets of activity that
make the where the city gets sort of the most
economic bang for the buck? Is you analyze this is it?
Is it food and beverage, you know what, Like is
it merchandise? Like who are the real winners sort of
economically when something like this happens in terms of types
(18:54):
of businesses.
Speaker 1 (18:55):
Yeah, so there's the basic stuff that happens at the
stadium that we talked about. But as you said that
it's a very it's only like a you know, twenty
thousand seat stadium. So there's eight point five million New
Yorkers and about twenty million in the region that our knicks,
you know, like are like excited about the NIXT so.
Speaker 3 (19:11):
They were all excited about the Knicks. I mean, with
apologies to the Nets, like they were all excited about
the next Let's let's just be honest.
Speaker 1 (19:17):
Everyone seems to be very unitedly excited about the Knicks. So,
you know, what the city is trying to do is
that we you know, we encourage these We have watch
parties that we that the the Knicks have asked for
and we permitted it. But we also have all these
watch parties outside the city. We also were doing that
for the World Cup. As you know, there's you know,
(19:38):
fan fast across all five boroughs. We're trying to be
economic activity through these at this exciting sports summer to
all businesses across all of the five boroughs. So yes,
you'll see stuff with the ticket stands and hotels and transportation,
but we expect a lot of economic activity for restaurants
again like corner stores, people selling merch just all the
(20:00):
you know, food and beverage everywhere in New York City.
And we're really looking forward to like a fantastic summer.
Speaker 2 (20:05):
And so what does that mean in terms of investment
for the city.
Speaker 3 (20:10):
You know, it's like the you know, the city government
has a budget obviously, and you know has to pick
and choose where it spends money. So how do you
choose where to make these investments in terms of a
fan fest and what's the work that gets into again
sort of getting the most bang for your buck in
terms of like Okay, we'll do it at Central Park,
(20:32):
or we'll do it in you know, park.
Speaker 2 (20:35):
Slop or wherever you do them. How does that process happen?
Who does that? Yeah?
Speaker 1 (20:40):
So you know, we have a lot of public assets.
ADC manages two hundred and twenty four assets sixty four
million square feet for the for the city as well
as you know, all the other city public assets. And
so we activate those public sites for these fans fests,
for these activities. So it's not like we're paying anybody
to you know, host them for us. But I will
say the city has done a tremendous investment. It will
(21:03):
its point, I don't know if you're aware of you know,
will its point And that's where City Field is.
Speaker 2 (21:07):
I wanted to talk about that, the.
Speaker 1 (21:08):
Usta Villaging Tennis Stadium, and we are doing an all
electric soccer specific stadium, the only one in New York
City with the et Tiann Stadium it's a twenty five
thousand seat stadium. It's going to host the NYCFC. But
this is really a neighborhood strategy, bringing sports to be
(21:29):
part of a dense neighborhood and attracting people, but also
for the people in the neighborhood in the neighborhood as well,
and creating more housing and infrastructure as part of this
sort of sports arena area. So we're building twenty five
hundred all affordable units of housing. Eight hundred and EIGHTYUS
(21:50):
opened up, so people are moving in. So all of
this is happening with the soccer stadium as well as
you know already is happening with Cityfield and USTA and
would a Usta also they put out a report they
generate about one point two billion for you know, really
only a couple of weeks. So it is an amazing
for the.
Speaker 2 (22:09):
US Open you mean in August September.
Speaker 3 (22:11):
Yeah, So tell me about the decision to do that,
because I think about you know, you've been doing this
for for some time and you've seen this, I think,
(22:34):
and keep me honest here this evolution where sports really
is considered something that can be the center of an
ecosystem that does affect housing and commerce and all of
these different things, which is very different from say a
met Life stadium or even the Gillette Stadium up at
(22:56):
Boston or you know other places. You know, I think
I'm from Atlanta, and I think about what didn't happen
in downtown Atlanta for turner Field, but then did happen
when they built Truest Park, you know, and really built
housing and entertainment and all of that. What was the
sort of unlock what sort of got everybody excited about
(23:19):
that in your business?
Speaker 1 (23:21):
So will It's point was, you know, it was known
as the value of the Ashes. It was really all
chop shops, just tons of ash and rubble. Like we
needed to do lots of remediations the entire Will's Point redevelopment.
It was about twenty three acres that we remediated and
built you know, infrastructure like sewer streets, sanitation, et cetera.
(23:42):
And this is gonna be a whole new neighborhood with
you know, all the housing that I mentioned, but also
a new school. And this will be all integrated with
a tremendous amount of you know, the transportation with the
seven and the Long Island Railroad, and the whole Flushing
community as well as there's already you know, there's there
is a Flushing Corona Park there that is also a
(24:04):
tremendous asset to the neighborhoods. And then we did a
public private partnership with and we see FC and it's
a you know, it's a privately financed one hundred privately
financed stadium so that you know, we can build a stadium.
They can build a stadium there through a public private partnership.
We can get a lot of public benefit through that stadium.
So there's going to be Queen's Food Hall, there's going
to be a lot of non game activity for soccer.
(24:26):
As you know, we're, as the mayor is really trying
to create a lot of enthusiasm for the sport of
soccer in our youth. This is really like a big
part of it. We're going to have a lot of
youth programming with this all this this soccer stadium. So
that's part of it. But you know, we like, we
like to see and we take you know, lessons from
what's really you know, working for globally and for other cities.
(24:50):
And you see Arsenal and they created this stadium in
a neighborhood with housing, et cetera, a whole whole neighborhood
strategy so people can enjoy the sports, they can access
the stadium for activities for the community on you know,
because again matches only happen, not every single day so
and only a season. So this is like a great
(25:11):
benefit for the community and near transportation and near restaurants
and where you know, it's in downtown Flushing. So there's
this there's this activity that's going to be happening that
is already happening, but it's going to happen even more
as a neighborhood based strategy for these sports arenas. I'm
really excited about it.
Speaker 3 (25:28):
And so how does a deal like that come about?
I mean, so it's n y CFC, which is the MLS,
the Major League Soccer club that's sort of driving the bus,
as it were, But is that an approach to the city.
Speaker 2 (25:41):
Is that the city? Like how does that all kind
of come together?
Speaker 1 (25:44):
This is really a generational project. You know, two administrations
have worked on this and it even goes back even
further where people have contemplated understanding, you know, this this
whole area is really needed. Tons of mediation and tons
of investment by the city. So to get to this
point was really tremendous, and I think there was a
(26:07):
intentional effort to create a neighborhood within or part of
this sports you know complex with city fields, the soccer
stadium and USTA.
Speaker 3 (26:19):
Yeah, it's interesting that, you know, you get this this
sort of critical mass that sports brings, and increasingly you
are seeing people and I think that there's a demographic,
especially sort of youth aspect to this too. You know,
twenty somethings. They want to live in the city, they
want to live near cool stuff. If there's sports and entertainment,
(26:40):
you know, all the better. It just seems like there's there,
there's real momentum for something like that.
Speaker 1 (26:46):
And we really want to make sports more accessible in
every way. So I talked about you know, while there
are some you know, especially the Knicks in the finals,
it was unaffordable for nearly all New Yorkers to attend
a game at the stadium. We still we do still
want to activate everything we can in our neighborhoods to
generate sports activity. So and this is great for the
(27:09):
economy of New York City and also it's great for
the for like growing sports as a as an entire.
Speaker 3 (27:16):
City and so to that end of you know, making
it accessible and obviously you know a lot of people
just like poured out part of its time of year,
part of it was the historic nature of it. You know,
you're putting on these events you have you mentioned earlier
in the conversation, you sort of have these assets that
you can deploy in terms of spaces for people. How
(27:37):
how tricky is it to coordinate with Commissioner Jessica Tisher
in the police department just to make sure that safety
is paramount. You know, most people are going to do
the right thing, but you know, as one of my
sons said, the knucklehead factor gets a little high, you
know when people are this excited about things. So you know,
what's the process by which you ensure that that sort
(28:00):
of collaboration on the safety side.
Speaker 1 (28:03):
Yes, I would say, you know, we've been in strong
collaboration with the city in NAYPD. We meet constantly, especially
as it relates to the World Cup activations and so yes,
there is there is some element that you cannot control
and you cannot predict, but vast majority of people are
out there enjoying themselves as we saw on Saturday Night,
(28:26):
and really just being part of an e collected community
that is like, is so diverse in every possible way,
and it really brings out the best of New York
and the communities here.
Speaker 3 (28:39):
And to that point, you know, just sort of you know,
on this show, we talk a lot about, you know,
intersection of business, sports and culture. You know, the culture
piece is so fascinating here, and I wonder, you know,
as a New Yorker and I have my own theories
about this, but I'd love yours. What is it about
the Knicks? Like, what is it that sort of galvanized
the city? Galvanized that your point, really diverse group of
(29:03):
people in a way that I think no other team
has or can.
Speaker 2 (29:09):
What's your notion of that?
Speaker 1 (29:11):
Yeah, I mean, first of all, I think we've waited
fifty three years for this, so I think people, you know,
people were really ready for this to happen. I think
that just the whole belief concept. You know, they were
the underdogs and there were a lot of match games
that could have gone you know, was really down to
the last minutes or last seconds, and so this concept
(29:31):
of like we're resilient, we have grit, we're fighting for
the best outcome or champions is really the story of
the Knicks, and it's the story of most New Yorkers.
And I would also say that, you know, New York
is unbelievable for the World Cup. You know, the forty
eight countries that are in the World's Cup. You know
there for all forty eight countries, there are residents and
(29:52):
communities and neighborhoods that are represent all forty eight countries
at the World Cup. And there's almost no place on
Earth that you could say the same. And so we're
so excited for these watch parties and for people to
engage in the World's Cup. You know, I'm Korean. I'm
going to be out in Koreatown on Thursday night Whenkorea
Mexico plays, and I'm sure you know everybody else is
going to be representing their countries. You see it all
(30:13):
over you know. So it's it's really every game, every match,
every country, every every community, all the all the residents
in New York City. They have an incredible spirit and
sports really brings people together, even if you're even if
you're rooting for different teams, it really does bring sort
of this love of the sport and the game and
together for all New Yorkers.
Speaker 3 (30:35):
All right, so Nix you know, Nixon five World Cup,
you know, including the final.
Speaker 2 (30:42):
How does New York top this?
Speaker 3 (30:43):
How do you get the you know, how do you
keep this momentum going from an economic development perspective and
ensure that sports does remain such a powerful economic engine.
Speaker 1 (30:55):
Yeah. I mean, besides all of sort of all the
major league sports that we have in New York City,
all the teams here we've had headquartered here, New York
City has a whole you know, business community, uh, focused
on sports. So all the broadcasting are are you know,
all the major broadcastings are in New York City. There's
a lot of businesses related into including gaming, that are
(31:16):
late in sports. So we're really really involved in making
sure that the business of sports is centered in New
York City and we promote and grow that that that
industry here because it's so important for us as as
an economy but also for the spirit of New Yorkers.
So we're really happy this is this has been an unprecedented,
impossible like outcome and joy that it is bringing to
(31:38):
the city, and so we want to continue to do that.
Speaker 3 (31:40):
All right, Well, be looking for you at the parade,
and uh, it's going to be it's going to be
a very very fun couple of weeks and I guess
a month here in New York sort of the aftermath
of the Knicks and the World Cup and everything. Best
of life to you, Genie Pac really really good to
spend some time with you. Congratulations, Thank you. You know
how helping sports just become such a huge economic engine
(32:02):
for New York City.
Speaker 1 (32:03):
Thank you so much. I really appreciated being on.
Speaker 2 (32:10):
This episode was produced by Stacy Wong.
Speaker 3 (32:13):
Our senior producers are Alexis HoTT and annamazarakus Well Connelly is.
Speaker 2 (32:18):
Our video editor.
Speaker 3 (32:20):
Our theme music is made by Blake Maples. Our executive
producers are Ashley Zingaro and Amy Keene. Additional support from
Rachel Carnivale, Nick Silva, and Elena sos Angeles. Thanks so
much for listening to the deal. If you have a minute, subscribe,
rate and review our show. It'll help other listeners find us.
I'm Jason Kelly. See you next week.
Bloomberg Audio Studios, Podcasts, Radio News.
Speaker 2 (00:12):
Welcome back to the DL.
Speaker 3 (00:13):
I'm Jason Kelly alongside my partner Alex Rodriguez.
Speaker 2 (00:16):
Alex, neither of us.
Speaker 3 (00:17):
Is in New York at the moment, but I was
there a day or two ago. You're headed there. Let
me tell you, it is the most rocking city on
the planet right now because a fifty three year drought
was broken, and broken in some of the most spectacular
fashion I've ever seen in sports. I'm having a hard
(00:38):
time capturing from a cultural perspective, from a business perspective,
from like a soul perspective, what this means for New
York City. What's your take.
Speaker 4 (00:48):
It's still so cool as a New Yorker to hear
the phrase New York Knicks twenty twenty six World champions,
because as you and I, you're a friend, and I
have other friends that are huge Knicks fans. My brother included.
They thought in their lifetime they would never see this.
Even my brother who's sixty one, he doesn't remember the
(01:08):
Willis Reed days and the Walter Frasier. So he was
he was in tears. And if you step out, you know,
I think New York needed a big win that was
far beyond sports and that's exactly what this next team's delivered.
And to see block parties, I could imagine that was
probably how it was in the thirties and forties in
New York, where people will come together with no social media.
(01:30):
But we do have the luxury of social media to
witness this and then look a city that's not easily
moved and easily impressed the next delivered and they were
They did both.
Speaker 3 (01:41):
It was unbelievable. I mean I really witnessed it, sort
of largely through the eyes of my two twenty something
year old sons and my eight year old daughter for
that matter, who were just completely obsessed. All their friends
were obsessed. You couldn't have a business meeting, you couldn't
have a social gathering with out talking about the next
I mean, every single conversation led back to the next,
(02:04):
no matter who it was with. And you know, watching
everyone just engage on such a meaningful and ongoing level,
and then I have to tell you, you know, after all,
this is the deal, this is Bloomberg.
Speaker 2 (02:19):
You know.
Speaker 3 (02:20):
I was in the city on Wednesday night so for
Game four, and I took a city bike from a
viewing party, and I was like hustling to get to
Grand Central to get home for the second half, and.
Speaker 2 (02:34):
There were lines.
Speaker 3 (02:35):
Outside of every bar, like every place you went. I mean,
there was just like everybody was engaged in it. And
so you're talking hundreds of millions in marginal economic impact.
Everything's bigger in New York and this just hit. It
hit on such a high level it's insane.
Speaker 4 (02:56):
I mean it hits every mark right like socially, emotionally,
it brings families together. I mean I've seen people crying
that hadn't seen families for years and they came together
over this next run. And I can just tell you this, Jason,
as a Yankee, not all fifty three years are created equal.
I can tell you this, fifty three years in New
(03:18):
York City is like two hundred and fifty three years.
So I think Jim Dolan is a big winner. I
thought he delivered a great message. I think this is
great for the NBA, for the morale of the city,
and my goodness, and look out for the San Antonio Spurs.
They're going to be around for a long time. And
I'll tell you one last thing here. I was walking
through Central Park last week. And to your point about
(03:40):
everyone talking about it. I went through one little huddle
of firemen and they were talking strategy about how you
attack Kat and Wimby and blah blah blah. Then the
other people. I had a couple ladies who were like
a nurse or something. She was talking to her patient
walking in the wheel chair. He goes, you know, there's
something about that wemb He's a real jerk. And that
was him and I'm like, oh, And then I go
somewhere else and someone is like, the whole city was captivated,
(04:03):
and look, we were there No.
Speaker 3 (04:04):
Nine.
Speaker 2 (04:04):
You were there No.
Speaker 4 (04:05):
Nine when we won. It's a fraction of the euphoria
that you feel in the city right now.
Speaker 2 (04:11):
Yeah, it's crazy too.
Speaker 3 (04:12):
And you know, and later on we're going to hear
from Genie Pack who's the head of the Economic Development
Corporation for New York, and you know, she gets into
some of the numbers and and what they generated.
Speaker 2 (04:25):
So stay tuned for that.
Speaker 3 (04:26):
But you know, I think it's also interesting to think about.
And I'm gonna I would love your perspective on this
because you're literally at the table. I don't think the
NBA could have asked for anything more than this. I
mean it was the with all due respect to your Timberwolves,
who played great in the playoffs, but this was a
(04:47):
This was an unstoppable team, but also running into and
I think you alluded to this, what's probably the team
of the future in the NBA. I mean, certainly Wemby
Victor Webb, nama Is is a superstar in the making,
and their time will come. It looked like for a
minute maybe their time was now, but Jalen Brunson beg
(05:12):
beg to differ Kat obviously a former Timberwolve himself. I
do wonder from your perspective, how does the NBA, for.
Speaker 2 (05:21):
Lack of better term, capitalize on something like this.
Speaker 4 (05:24):
Well, I think they're just going to create so much content.
I can see already ten documentaries being created as we speak.
I had a friend that was recently for Game five
in Hawaii, and he goes every year and he goes
to this particular bar where the finals. Around this time,
there's always you know, forty sixty eighty people. He said,
that was over four hundred people going crazy, all wearing
(05:45):
Knicks fans in Hawaii at two thirty in the afternoon
for a start. I think the NBA literally hit the
lottery with this. It was a perfect storm poetic justice.
Where you look at a guy like Jaylen Brunson and
Kat and the incredible job that Leon Rose did Worldwide West,
and obviously Jim Dolan. You still have to start putting
Jalen Brunson in the conversations of the New York greats,
(06:07):
Jeter Marianne, I'm talking about greats with multiple championships, Lawrence Taylor,
Eli Manning, but he is up in a very high
level and forever, I believe will be a nick until
he doesn't want you anymore.
Speaker 2 (06:20):
Yeah. No, I think that's exactly right. And you know.
Speaker 3 (06:25):
There is a stage that New York provides and again
you can speak to this and I remember, it's funny.
I was thinking about Brunson in sort of a funny
context going back to I think the first season of
the Deal, you and Michael Strahan talking about how different.
Speaker 2 (06:44):
It is once you win a championship. That it's one thing.
Speaker 3 (06:48):
To play in the league, to play at a professional level,
but to win a championship, and to win a championship in.
Speaker 2 (06:54):
New York is allows you.
Speaker 3 (06:57):
I think I think you would You can speak with
a lot of confidence to this allows you to transcend
in a way that you can't otherwise, from a business perspective,
from a visibility perspective, from an economic perspective, just for yourself,
because you didn't just play in New York. You won
a championship in New York. And the ceiling, there is
(07:20):
no ceiling when that happens.
Speaker 4 (07:21):
That's exactly right. And there's a reason why I never
saw Walt Frazier play or Willis reed, and I still
hear about them all the time for my brothers is
because they were champions and you're that forever. I mean't
there's not a day that walks by Jason, that goes
by that, somebody walking the street says thanks for nine,
Thanks for nine Well Jalen Brunson and that whole New
York roster, who, by the way, will never be forgotten.
(07:46):
But it's very hard to have a New York team
that is hard not to love, and this roster is
very lovable. They may not like the Knicks and all
the craziness, but it's very hard to see a guy
like Jayalen Brunt. And if you have a son, that's
exactly how you want him to act. And by the way,
one of the greatest moments was the father son Rick
(08:07):
Brunson and Jalen hugging and crying. My god, if this
didn't have a little bit of everything, poetic justice was
served well.
Speaker 3 (08:14):
And it's interesting one more sort of deal point on this.
And I haven't seen as much made of this, and
maybe it's just because you and I love the business
of all this and so we're more likely to talk
about it than others. But let's not forget Jalen Brunson
took less money to stay in New York, to free
up space so that Leon Rose could build the team
(08:37):
around him that he built. And without building that team,
this doesn't happen. I mean, listen, Brunson, I keep saying
this transcended. I mean the game five performance, forty five points,
I mean literally matches Jordan. I mean that's insane just
to say out loud on literally the biggest stage on
(08:59):
an awake. But that decision that he made, that economic
decision that he made for himself, really sets the stage,
sets the table for this team to do what it does.
And it's sort of it's an interesting reminder that sometimes
you have to not just invest in yourself, but invest
in what's around you in order to be successful.
Speaker 2 (09:18):
So I think you're right.
Speaker 3 (09:20):
I think that this story is going to be told
so many different ways, and I have to think that
whether it's in basketball, and you can speak to this,
whether it's the NBA, the WNBA, but even the NFL,
major League Soccer, major League Baseball, people are deconstructing this roster.
They're deconstructing how this happened because there were some really
(09:42):
key decisions that were made that put this all together,
and then you just had to have a little bit
of magic.
Speaker 2 (09:47):
This is a team of destiny, Jason.
Speaker 4 (09:49):
The postseason for the NBA was one that reminded me
of the nineties Jordan. I mean every game basically had,
especially at the peak, over twenty million viewers. Yeah, it's
just been phenomenal. And I do want to give a
shot out. First of all, jenen Brunson on that piece.
He'll never buy a meal or buy a drink for
the rest of his life in that city. He owns
(10:10):
it now he's officially the mayor forever. And I do
want to give one special shout out to Carl Anthony Towns,
who we traded to the Knicks and change for Randall
and Devincezo Dante. I could not be more happy a
change of narrative. The guy's been as sweetheart as whole life.
He's been misunderstood and when I saw him up there
(10:33):
in some ways reminded me of nine, when I was
able to take that monkey off my back. I could
not be happier for Kat who's well well deserved being
a world champion.
Speaker 3 (10:42):
Yeah, absolutely, and a guy who is definitely and you've
seen it. You and I both saw him last year
at the Bloomberg Power Players where he was speaking. He's
a guy who's embracing New York in a big way
and has alluded to earlier that's only going to get
bigger and bigger because now well, not only is he
a New York Knick, he's part of the New York
(11:03):
Knicks World championship team, and that carries a lot of
weight and has a lot of currency. So coming up
a little bit more on what's going on in New
York at the bottom line for the city, this is
a city that's invested deeply in sports, and it's interesting.
Speaker 2 (11:20):
Alex.
Speaker 3 (11:20):
In this conversation with Genie Pac we talked not just
about the Knicks. But about how baseball your former team,
the Yankees and the Mets. They're going to contribute about
eight hundred million dollars in economic development and economic impact
over the course of this season to the Five Boroughs.
You've got a big soccer stadium that's being built out
by City Field. So sports, you know it better than anyone,
(11:42):
is so deeply ingrained in the culture and maybe more importantly,
the business and the economics of New York. So what
a moment for New York. I mean, I have to
say it.
Speaker 2 (11:53):
The vibes are great.
Speaker 3 (11:54):
I mean, beyond all the money, beyond the sports of
it all, it's just like every bodies walking around happy
and you just you love to see it.
Speaker 2 (12:03):
It's great.
Speaker 4 (12:04):
And I will say this too. You asked a question
earlier about where does the NBA go from here? Is
not just the economic rip effect in New York City
or the Five Boroughs. Is also around domestically, around the
other forty nine states. Is also around the globe. What
happened in France. If you connect all those numbers, every
bar down here in Miami was packed watching heat play.
(12:26):
It doesn't matter where you go. The conversation was happening.
So I don't think you're can quantify it to just
dollars and cents, but sentiment, feeling and memories that you
have with your friends, family and loved ones that will
never go away.
Speaker 3 (12:37):
Yeah, there's nobody aside from the Knicks and everybody involved
in that. No one's happier than Adam Silver right now,
the commissioner of the Enda.
Speaker 2 (12:45):
What a year? What a year? All right?
Speaker 3 (12:47):
Coming up, Genie Pack from the New York City Economic
Development Corporation.
Speaker 2 (13:02):
Welcome back to the deal.
Speaker 3 (13:03):
I'm Jason Kelly here with a special emergency Nick's Edition.
New York City has never seen anything like this. I
think it's fair to say. The perfect person to talk
to Jeanie Pack. She's the interim President CEO of New
York City Economic Development Corporation. She's been with the organization
for a while.
Speaker 2 (13:22):
Is the CFO. She worked on Wall Street before this. Genie,
we keep throwing around all these words. This has never
happened before.
Speaker 3 (13:29):
I've never seen anything like this, but we've sort of
never seen anything like this, right.
Speaker 1 (13:34):
We have never seen anything like this. Thank you, Jason.
I'm so happy to be here, and I'm so happy
to be here. Today after this historical win on Saturday.
You know, I say this for the next but for
all New Yorkers, it has been the most amazing run
with the like the most beautiful outcome. So we're really
excited to be here. It has unified New York City
(13:56):
in a way that we've never seen or have not
seen a very long time with extraordinary win, and we're
really happy all the way around.
Speaker 3 (14:04):
Yeah, all right, so let's get into it because you know,
as much as you and I could probably spend the
next hour talking about you know, Og and Jalen and
Mike Brown and all of them and everything that happened
and Spike Lee and Chalomey.
Speaker 2 (14:19):
But let's talk about the nuts and bolts of the money.
Speaker 3 (14:23):
You know, just walking around New York riding a city
bike whatever it is, you couldn't help but see people
out and about.
Speaker 2 (14:30):
And I know those people are spending money.
Speaker 3 (14:32):
I know it in part because my two twenty somethings
sons spent a great deal of money over the past
couple weeks at various watering holes and you know, pubs
and rooftops across New York. Give us the numbers, like,
what is this actually total up to when you put
it all together.
Speaker 1 (14:49):
So what we do at EEC we have an economic
research and Policy group and they do a lot of
economic analysis and so they these numbers are very conservative. So,
like you said, all the stuff that's going on on
outside the stadium is incredible economic activity for New York City,
But what we really measure is what's happening inside the stadium.
So these are home games only. So for the seven
(15:10):
home games for the three series pro the final, there
were seven home games and that generated about two hundred
and two million. What is this? These are tickets concessions,
but it's also hotels and transportation related to activity at
the stadium. And then you know, we're so happy we
won in five, but every home game is about a
(15:31):
ninety million dollar economic impact for the finals, and so
since we only had two, it was one hundred and eighty,
which we're very very happy with. So all in all,
it was about a three hundred eighty million postseason economic inpuct. Now,
as you said, this does not include all of the
activities on away games and all the activities that how
happened all crossed all the fivebers as you saw for
(15:54):
restaurants and bodegas and you know, people who are selling
merchandise all on every street. Co owner of New York City.
It activated the city in a way we really have
never seen. People were bringing out their own TVs and neighborhoods,
they were broadcasting the game on walls of buildings and
there was just like a neighborhood block party all across again,
all in all five boroughs. So that economic activity an
(16:17):
impact is not in these numbers, but as you know,
it's generated a tremendous amount of economic activity and positive
growth for the city. And again this is across all
five borroughs, so it's not just located in MSG.
Speaker 3 (16:30):
And so will you ultimately be able to put a
number on it, because it's got to go into the
and it's got to go into the hundreds of millions,
maybe upwards of a billion, I would think just I mean,
again you're an economist, I'm not, but like looking at
just the sheer number of people who wouldn't be out
(16:51):
and about who were I mean there were lines out
of literally like every bar I would pass across Manhattan
and into Brooklyn and other parts of as you say,
all five boroughs. Is that a number that will eventually
see or is it just too hard to sort of
put your finger on.
Speaker 1 (17:08):
We'll try to take a look at it and give
some kind of estimate. Just to give you some We'll
also be looking at the parade, which is Thursday at
ten am downtown here. We expect that it's going to
generate about, you know, tens of millions of dollars. Just
to give you some context, when the Giants one in
twenty twelve, that parade was generated about thirty eight million.
Again there's a third of people came from outside the city.
But we expect, you know, the next win is this
(17:30):
is going to be a parade that you've never seen
in New York City. And also give some additional contexts
the World Cup. The estimated economic impact for the World
Cup for the region is about three point three billion.
So we constantly are doing these these analysis. So for
the just again, sports are really really important economic engine
for the city. For the Major League Basketball, for Yankees,
(17:54):
and for the for the Mets regular season, it's going
to generate about eight hundred million of economic activitvity for
this season and that's not including League Baseball. You said
Major League Baseball in the city. For the two for
the two teams. The Yankees makes a little more than
the Mets.
Speaker 2 (18:09):
Yeah, formats, formats.
Speaker 1 (18:11):
I'm from Queens, so yes, I am sitting right there
with you.
Speaker 2 (18:15):
The struggles rail, the struggles rail for the Mets.
Speaker 1 (18:18):
But you know what looks what happened the next So
we believe that's true.
Speaker 2 (18:21):
That's true. That's a good point.
Speaker 1 (18:23):
So yeah, so there's you know, there's a lot of
economctic analysis that we do, both in projecting and then
and then afterwards.
Speaker 3 (18:30):
I mean, where where are the pockets of activity that
make the where the city gets sort of the most
economic bang for the buck? Is you analyze this is it?
Is it food and beverage, you know what, Like is
it merchandise? Like who are the real winners sort of
economically when something like this happens in terms of types
(18:54):
of businesses.
Speaker 1 (18:55):
Yeah, so there's the basic stuff that happens at the
stadium that we talked about. But as you said that
it's a very it's only like a you know, twenty
thousand seat stadium. So there's eight point five million New
Yorkers and about twenty million in the region that our knicks,
you know, like are like excited about the NIXT so.
Speaker 3 (19:11):
They were all excited about the Knicks. I mean, with
apologies to the Nets, like they were all excited about
the next Let's let's just be honest.
Speaker 1 (19:17):
Everyone seems to be very unitedly excited about the Knicks. So,
you know, what the city is trying to do is
that we you know, we encourage these We have watch
parties that we that the the Knicks have asked for
and we permitted it. But we also have all these
watch parties outside the city. We also were doing that
for the World Cup. As you know, there's you know,
(19:38):
fan fast across all five boroughs. We're trying to be
economic activity through these at this exciting sports summer to
all businesses across all of the five boroughs. So yes,
you'll see stuff with the ticket stands and hotels and transportation,
but we expect a lot of economic activity for restaurants
again like corner stores, people selling merch just all the
(20:00):
you know, food and beverage everywhere in New York City.
And we're really looking forward to like a fantastic summer.
Speaker 2 (20:05):
And so what does that mean in terms of investment
for the city.
Speaker 3 (20:10):
You know, it's like the you know, the city government
has a budget obviously, and you know has to pick
and choose where it spends money. So how do you
choose where to make these investments in terms of a
fan fest and what's the work that gets into again
sort of getting the most bang for your buck in
terms of like Okay, we'll do it at Central Park,
(20:32):
or we'll do it in you know, park.
Speaker 2 (20:35):
Slop or wherever you do them. How does that process happen?
Who does that? Yeah?
Speaker 1 (20:40):
So you know, we have a lot of public assets.
ADC manages two hundred and twenty four assets sixty four
million square feet for the for the city as well
as you know, all the other city public assets. And
so we activate those public sites for these fans fests,
for these activities. So it's not like we're paying anybody
to you know, host them for us. But I will
say the city has done a tremendous investment. It will
(21:03):
its point, I don't know if you're aware of you know,
will its point And that's where City Field is.
Speaker 2 (21:07):
I wanted to talk about that, the.
Speaker 1 (21:08):
Usta Villaging Tennis Stadium, and we are doing an all
electric soccer specific stadium, the only one in New York
City with the et Tiann Stadium it's a twenty five
thousand seat stadium. It's going to host the NYCFC. But
this is really a neighborhood strategy, bringing sports to be
(21:29):
part of a dense neighborhood and attracting people, but also
for the people in the neighborhood in the neighborhood as well,
and creating more housing and infrastructure as part of this
sort of sports arena area. So we're building twenty five
hundred all affordable units of housing. Eight hundred and EIGHTYUS
(21:50):
opened up, so people are moving in. So all of
this is happening with the soccer stadium as well as
you know already is happening with Cityfield and USTA and
would a Usta also they put out a report they
generate about one point two billion for you know, really
only a couple of weeks. So it is an amazing
for the.
Speaker 2 (22:09):
US Open you mean in August September.
Speaker 3 (22:11):
Yeah, So tell me about the decision to do that,
because I think about you know, you've been doing this
for for some time and you've seen this, I think,
(22:34):
and keep me honest here this evolution where sports really
is considered something that can be the center of an
ecosystem that does affect housing and commerce and all of
these different things, which is very different from say a
met Life stadium or even the Gillette Stadium up at
(22:56):
Boston or you know other places. You know, I think
I'm from Atlanta, and I think about what didn't happen
in downtown Atlanta for turner Field, but then did happen
when they built Truest Park, you know, and really built
housing and entertainment and all of that. What was the
sort of unlock what sort of got everybody excited about
(23:19):
that in your business?
Speaker 1 (23:21):
So will It's point was, you know, it was known
as the value of the Ashes. It was really all
chop shops, just tons of ash and rubble. Like we
needed to do lots of remediations the entire Will's Point redevelopment.
It was about twenty three acres that we remediated and
built you know, infrastructure like sewer streets, sanitation, et cetera.
(23:42):
And this is gonna be a whole new neighborhood with
you know, all the housing that I mentioned, but also
a new school. And this will be all integrated with
a tremendous amount of you know, the transportation with the
seven and the Long Island Railroad, and the whole Flushing
community as well as there's already you know, there's there
is a Flushing Corona Park there that is also a
(24:04):
tremendous asset to the neighborhoods. And then we did a
public private partnership with and we see FC and it's
a you know, it's a privately financed one hundred privately
financed stadium so that you know, we can build a stadium.
They can build a stadium there through a public private partnership.
We can get a lot of public benefit through that stadium.
So there's going to be Queen's Food Hall, there's going
to be a lot of non game activity for soccer.
(24:26):
As you know, we're, as the mayor is really trying
to create a lot of enthusiasm for the sport of
soccer in our youth. This is really like a big
part of it. We're going to have a lot of
youth programming with this all this this soccer stadium. So
that's part of it. But you know, we like, we
like to see and we take you know, lessons from
what's really you know, working for globally and for other cities.
(24:50):
And you see Arsenal and they created this stadium in
a neighborhood with housing, et cetera, a whole whole neighborhood
strategy so people can enjoy the sports, they can access
the stadium for activities for the community on you know,
because again matches only happen, not every single day so
and only a season. So this is like a great
(25:11):
benefit for the community and near transportation and near restaurants
and where you know, it's in downtown Flushing. So there's
this there's this activity that's going to be happening that
is already happening, but it's going to happen even more
as a neighborhood based strategy for these sports arenas. I'm
really excited about it.
Speaker 3 (25:28):
And so how does a deal like that come about?
I mean, so it's n y CFC, which is the MLS,
the Major League Soccer club that's sort of driving the bus,
as it were, But is that an approach to the city.
Speaker 2 (25:41):
Is that the city? Like how does that all kind
of come together?
Speaker 1 (25:44):
This is really a generational project. You know, two administrations
have worked on this and it even goes back even
further where people have contemplated understanding, you know, this this
whole area is really needed. Tons of mediation and tons
of investment by the city. So to get to this
point was really tremendous, and I think there was a
(26:07):
intentional effort to create a neighborhood within or part of
this sports you know complex with city fields, the soccer
stadium and USTA.
Speaker 3 (26:19):
Yeah, it's interesting that, you know, you get this this
sort of critical mass that sports brings, and increasingly you
are seeing people and I think that there's a demographic,
especially sort of youth aspect to this too. You know,
twenty somethings. They want to live in the city, they
want to live near cool stuff. If there's sports and entertainment,
(26:40):
you know, all the better. It just seems like there's there,
there's real momentum for something like that.
Speaker 1 (26:46):
And we really want to make sports more accessible in
every way. So I talked about you know, while there
are some you know, especially the Knicks in the finals,
it was unaffordable for nearly all New Yorkers to attend
a game at the stadium. We still we do still
want to activate everything we can in our neighborhoods to
generate sports activity. So and this is great for the
(27:09):
economy of New York City and also it's great for
the for like growing sports as a as an entire.
Speaker 3 (27:16):
City and so to that end of you know, making
it accessible and obviously you know a lot of people
just like poured out part of its time of year,
part of it was the historic nature of it. You know,
you're putting on these events you have you mentioned earlier
in the conversation, you sort of have these assets that
you can deploy in terms of spaces for people. How
(27:37):
how tricky is it to coordinate with Commissioner Jessica Tisher
in the police department just to make sure that safety
is paramount. You know, most people are going to do
the right thing, but you know, as one of my
sons said, the knucklehead factor gets a little high, you
know when people are this excited about things. So you know,
what's the process by which you ensure that that sort
(28:00):
of collaboration on the safety side.
Speaker 1 (28:03):
Yes, I would say, you know, we've been in strong
collaboration with the city in NAYPD. We meet constantly, especially
as it relates to the World Cup activations and so yes,
there is there is some element that you cannot control
and you cannot predict, but vast majority of people are
out there enjoying themselves as we saw on Saturday Night,
(28:26):
and really just being part of an e collected community
that is like, is so diverse in every possible way,
and it really brings out the best of New York
and the communities here.
Speaker 3 (28:39):
And to that point, you know, just sort of you know,
on this show, we talk a lot about, you know,
intersection of business, sports and culture. You know, the culture
piece is so fascinating here, and I wonder, you know,
as a New Yorker and I have my own theories
about this, but I'd love yours. What is it about
the Knicks? Like, what is it that sort of galvanized
the city? Galvanized that your point, really diverse group of
(29:03):
people in a way that I think no other team
has or can.
Speaker 2 (29:09):
What's your notion of that?
Speaker 1 (29:11):
Yeah, I mean, first of all, I think we've waited
fifty three years for this, so I think people, you know,
people were really ready for this to happen. I think
that just the whole belief concept. You know, they were
the underdogs and there were a lot of match games
that could have gone you know, was really down to
the last minutes or last seconds, and so this concept
(29:31):
of like we're resilient, we have grit, we're fighting for
the best outcome or champions is really the story of
the Knicks, and it's the story of most New Yorkers.
And I would also say that, you know, New York
is unbelievable for the World Cup. You know, the forty
eight countries that are in the World's Cup. You know
there for all forty eight countries, there are residents and
(29:52):
communities and neighborhoods that are represent all forty eight countries
at the World Cup. And there's almost no place on
Earth that you could say the same. And so we're
so excited for these watch parties and for people to
engage in the World's Cup. You know, I'm Korean. I'm
going to be out in Koreatown on Thursday night Whenkorea
Mexico plays, and I'm sure you know everybody else is
going to be representing their countries. You see it all
(30:13):
over you know. So it's it's really every game, every match,
every country, every every community, all the all the residents
in New York City. They have an incredible spirit and
sports really brings people together, even if you're even if
you're rooting for different teams, it really does bring sort
of this love of the sport and the game and
together for all New Yorkers.
Speaker 3 (30:35):
All right, so Nix you know, Nixon five World Cup,
you know, including the final.
Speaker 2 (30:42):
How does New York top this?
Speaker 3 (30:43):
How do you get the you know, how do you
keep this momentum going from an economic development perspective and
ensure that sports does remain such a powerful economic engine.
Speaker 1 (30:55):
Yeah. I mean, besides all of sort of all the
major league sports that we have in New York City,
all the teams here we've had headquartered here, New York
City has a whole you know, business community, uh, focused
on sports. So all the broadcasting are are you know,
all the major broadcastings are in New York City. There's
a lot of businesses related into including gaming, that are
(31:16):
late in sports. So we're really really involved in making
sure that the business of sports is centered in New
York City and we promote and grow that that that
industry here because it's so important for us as as
an economy but also for the spirit of New Yorkers.
So we're really happy this is this has been an unprecedented,
impossible like outcome and joy that it is bringing to
(31:38):
the city, and so we want to continue to do that.
Speaker 3 (31:40):
All right, Well, be looking for you at the parade,
and uh, it's going to be it's going to be
a very very fun couple of weeks and I guess
a month here in New York sort of the aftermath
of the Knicks and the World Cup and everything. Best
of life to you, Genie Pac really really good to
spend some time with you. Congratulations, Thank you. You know
how helping sports just become such a huge economic engine
(32:02):
for New York City.
Speaker 1 (32:03):
Thank you so much. I really appreciated being on.
Speaker 2 (32:10):
This episode was produced by Stacy Wong.
Speaker 3 (32:13):
Our senior producers are Alexis HoTT and annamazarakus Well Connelly is.
Speaker 2 (32:18):
Our video editor.
Speaker 3 (32:20):
Our theme music is made by Blake Maples. Our executive
producers are Ashley Zingaro and Amy Keene. Additional support from
Rachel Carnivale, Nick Silva, and Elena sos Angeles. Thanks so
much for listening to the deal. If you have a minute, subscribe,
rate and review our show. It'll help other listeners find us.
I'm Jason Kelly. See you next week.
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