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Diamond District businesses lauded, urged to sell more aggressively | Capital New York
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Diamond District businesses lauded, urged to sell more aggressively

BY DAN ROSENBLUM 5:23 pm Aug. 1, 2011

On Monday morning, the business improvement district representing Midtowns Diamond District unveiled a study highlighting the economics behind the dense, jostling row of jewelers along 47th Street.
Those numbers showed more than 4,100 businesses employing more than 32,000 people while the district provides the city $4.2 billion in wages, profits and indirect taxes. The businesses provided an economic impact of $24.2 billion dollars in cost of materials, services, wages, rent and profits. The study also found that jewelry, diamonds and gold were three of New York States top four exports.
John Liu, Michael Grumet and Scott Stringer.
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One of its conclusions was that Diamond District businesses needed to do more to promote themselves, attracting tourists and potential customers. The study, funded by the Empire State Development Corporation and the 47th Street Business Improvement District, was conducted by the Pratt Center for Community Development. Obviously we need a strong Wall Street economy and certainly we need to diversify the kinds of people who will be employed here in the next 20-30 years, said Manhattan Borough President Scott Stringer. But if you want a model that has sustained itself for decades and

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Diamond District businesses lauded, urged to sell more aggressively | Capital New York

decades, you have to think about the diamond district. You have to think about the great potential thats unleashed so many entrepreneurs in the city. The press conference came before the annual meeting of the business improvement district. Board membersmostly property owners and retailersmet on the tenth floor of the Diamond Dealers Club and picked over trays of bagels, whitefish, smoked salmon and lavish plates of fruit. Seth Pinsky, the head of the city Economic Development Corporation, and Stringer sat next to each other and complemented the success of the neighborhoods jewelry trade. Comptroller John Liu sat next to Stringer, occasionally flipping through the BIDs magazine, Diamond District Monthly. It is exactly the kind of industry we want to support here in New York, said Pinsky. Its global, its export-oriented, its vertically integrated, it provides thousands and thousands of jobs to people of all different backgrounds. Pinsky said the district gives high-paying jobs to workers, many of whom are immigrants or lack a formal education. I can say this, especially from personal experience having just gotten married, Im very well aware of just how the diamond district works, Pinsky said. Its a very efficient marketplace and Id like to thank everyone in the industry for helping to make my marriage a success. Liu also played up the diamond centers importance, but started with a message for Pinsky. First congratulations, Seth, on your marriage and your successful purchase, he said. I wont say how many carats. As my grandmother in Taiwan would say, mazel tov. Liu stayed on that theme when he talked about the district. This is a place where people from all over the world come to for visiting, for tourism, but also to purchase what is surely their most important asset in their entire lives, Liu said. And that would be the wedding ring that brings a couple, and keeps a couple together. Roughly a block long, Midtowns Diamond District is a complex thicket of businesses and trading centers hiding behind display windows of

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Diamond District businesses lauded, urged to sell more aggressively | Capital New York
period. Estimates a total of $5.9M incl expected match, approaching max. #nyc2013 delcecato: The Yeshiva World NYC: Bill De Blasio Slams Financial Firms Buying Up On Gun Stocks After Newton http://t.co/YwIvIXBGSh via @ywn

shimmering trinkets. Much of the area is covered by security cameras. Some properties are Foreign Trade Zones, where many U.S. Customs rules are suspended. The Diamond Dealers Club, which bills itself as the largest diamond trade organization in the United States, is a visible sign of the citys role in the world economy. In the rooms next to the meeting, diamond dealers sat on tables with lamps and magnifying glasses for appraising gems. A television played CNBC. Clocks told the time in New York, Ramat Gan and Antwerp. All of us know about the districts contribution to New York, said BID head Michael Grumet. But we decided it was time to find out just exactly what that contribution was to the economy of the city and the state. Grumet said the last study of the district was done 20 years ago under former Manhattan borough president Ruth Messinger. During the meeting following the conference, members of the BID boasted that they were able to remove a newsstand, and they would be one of the first districts to get LED signposts. One business owner complained about taxes. Kenneth Adams, head of the states economic development agency pitched Andrew Cuomos recently formed regional councils that split the state into groups to compete for $1 billion in state funding. He said the BIDs study might make it easier to remind city and state leaders of its importance as an economic lever. The study is fundamental to our work in telling story, Adams said. This is all data-driven and we need the data. We need these numbers to tell the importance of this sector in New York, across the state, across the country, and literally, with some of our partners around the globe. After the press conference Avery Weinschneider, chair of the BIDs finance committee, ran through the budget and urged the group to help draw more customers to 47th Street. Everyone, please encourage your people in your exchanges on the ground floor, upstairs manufacturers, people who serve this industry, to take out ads, and to encourage them to be seen, he said. Because if you dont have an ad, youre not seen. And if youre not seen, of course, you cant get the business.

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Diamond District Leaders Work to Polish Its Image - WNYC

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Diamond District Leaders Work to Polish Its Image

Monday, August 01, 2011

By Matt Joseloff
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A report released Monday, the fifteenth anniversary of the founding of the 47th Street Business Improvement District, said the one block stretch between Fifth and Sixth Avenues known as the 'Diamond District' needs to develop a more cohesive look to continue attracting customers. The block is home to more than 4,000 diamond-related businesses, which give the block its nickname. The report was compiled by the Pratt Center for Community Development along with the 47th Street Business Improvement District and calls for "capital improvements to create a more cohesive and attractive look to the district."
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The district has secured a $100,000 grant from Manhattan Borough President Scott Stringer to install LED pedestrian lighting on the block, according to the Borough Presidents office. Capital improvements would help bring business back into storefronts as more diamond transactions occur online, suggested Adam Friedman, director of the Pratt Center and author of the report. The neighborhood does look a little downtrodden, Friedman said in an interview. It does look a little seedy, and when you think about what's going on in the block, it's not at all reflected in the character of the block. The diamonds cut and processed in New York City continue to be the state's number one foreign export by value, according to the report. The state exported $9.1 billion worth of diamonds in 2010. Paintings are the second-ranked export, other jewelry is the third.
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Diamonds.net - Economic Report Lauds Impact of NYs Diamond District

Polished Markets
Economic Report Lauds Impact of NYs Diamond District
Aug 1, 2011 3:26 PM By Ricci Dipshan
RAPAPORT... The 47th Street Business Improvement District (BID) in Manhattan,

which oversees the city's famed Diamond District, praised recent findings of an economic impact report that favored a unified street design to attract new businesses and more shoppers. New York's diamond industry accounts for an economic impact of $24 billion and it employs more than 32,000. The report also concluded that jewelry was the third-most exported product from New York state. The report was organized by the Pratt Institute and the Empire State Development Corporation and it outlined the districts growing economic significance. Michael Grumet, executive director for the 47th Street BID, commended the continued efforts to make the Diamond District a safe and viable place to do business. The group has obtained a Homeland Security grant to install security cameras and has made progress on redesigning the districts layout. We will soon be the first district in New York City with L.E.D. light poles, Grumet added. While the 47th Street BID was quick to point out that there are still challenges facing the area including the ongoing presence of solicitors and street hawkers it was optimistic that its efforts were producing real results. We have had a great year on all fronts, concluded Grumet. Richard N. Gottfried, a New York State Assemblyman representing parts of midtown Manhattan, said, ''Diamonds are also the number one product the state exports. While everyone knows about 47th Street, I dont think people have a clue as to how much business takes place here.''

www.diamonds.net/News/PrintArticle.aspx?ArticleID=36641&ShowArticle=R8vNLIpcqqdGT0Hki%2bTdJgRvN6aJplG2

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