New York City is Among the Top Ten “Best Cities”

New York City was named one of the top ten cities in Business Week’s ranking of 100 largest cities in America. The survey analyzed attributes such as leisure, educational facilities, economic factors, crime and air quality.

“The nation’s biggest and most international city, New York blows all other cities out of the water with its more than 1,200 bars, 22,000 restaurants, 350 museums, and almost as many libraries.”



Reference: Konrad, Alex, America's Best Cities, Business Week, October 2, 2012

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Bringing Sports Fans Closer to Action

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Bringing Sports Fans Closer to Action

Barclays Center – New York City’s newest sports and entertainment venue - is scheduled to open on September 28th. The Center will be accessible via 11 subway lines, the LIRR and 11 bus lines. The Center will feature Cisco’s Connected Stadium intelligent network, which will allow its management to control wired and wireless access, security, surveillance, ticketing, and point of sale transactions.

The Center will provide a mobile app that will connect sports fans to live action wherever their seats are located. The high-definition video and digital content will be broadcast on 700 HDTV's and approximately 100 concession menu boards throughout the venue. “Future versions will include real-time video viewing, the ability to order concessions from your seat and pick them up without standing in line, and more.”


Reference: Barclays Center Utilizes Cisco To Transform Fan Experience In One Of The Most Technologically Advanced Arenas In The World, Cisco, September 19, 2012

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Time Magazine’s Digital Strategy

No one should be surprised to learn that the ad revenues at print magazines are in decline. For example, Time magazine's ad revenue fell 13.6 percent compared to its year ago revenue. Time Inc., the publisher of Time, Sports Illustrated and People, is trying to develop a strategy to thrive in the digital world.

Studies show that morning readers prefer headlines and news flashes, afternoon readers prefer to watch either a slide show or a video, while the night readers engage in longer articles. Studies also show that an average smartphone owner spends 1.4 hours a day browsing a device.

Time Inc. is focusing on developing digital products to fit this daily news cycle. “There’s all this found time, and our strategy is to program to that.”   By targeting such “found time” in the daily news cycle, Time hopes to thrive in the digital world.

Reference: Chozick, Amy, Time Inc.’s New Chief Rethinks Magazines for a Digital Audience, The New York Times, July 29, 2012
 

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Converting Roosevelt Island into Silicon Island

New York City is building a new applied science campus to be known as “NYCTech” which is expected to create $23 billion of economic activity over the next 30 years, and spin off about 600 high-tech companies. The campus will be a consortium of Cornell University and Technion – Israel Institute of Technology. The 11-acre, 2 million square-foot “net-zero” campus will be built on Roosevelt Island. The 400,000 square-foot first phase will be finished by 2017, while the entire campus is expected to be completed by 2043.

“In addition to providing cutting edge research and teaching, NYCTech will offer support for the kinds of businesses that excel in NYC - urban planning, medicine, advertising, and finance. Services to get these businesses off the ground will include pre-seed financing, legal support, partnership building, and business competitions designed to spur innovation.”


Reference: Silicon Island Rising in NYC, Net-Zero Energy Campus, February 21, 2012
 

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Empire State Building’s Energy Efficiency Retrofit

After completing an energy efficiency retrofit of its base building, the Empire State Building is already generating savings worth $ 2.4 million in its first year of operations, exceeding its first year goal by five percent. The energy efficiency will improve further as tenants upgrade their work areas. The retrofit project team includes the Clinton Climate Initiative (CCI) Cities program as well as the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority.

“These results are important as they establish a successful, commercial real estate model for reducing costs, maximizing return on investment, increasing real estate value, and protecting the environment.”


Reference: Empire State Building Beats Savings Estimates One Year After Innovative Retrofit Project, C40 Cities, May 31, 2012
 

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Promoting Energy Efficiency by Benchmarking Buildings

New York City completed its first comprehensive study of energy use in some of the largest buildings in the city. Although the covered buildings account for only 2% of city’s one million buildings, they consume 45% of energy used by all buildings in the city. The older buildings performed better than the newer ones, perhaps because of fewer windows and thicker walls.

“The report is a preamble to assigning scores to individual buildings on their energy use and publicizing them to further encourage property owners to make necessary improvements, not unlike the grade system the city uses for restaurants.”


Reference: Navarro, Mireya, Wide Differences Found in Buildings’ Power Use, New York Times, August 2, 2012
Illustration Credit: NEW YORK CITY LOCAL LAW 84 BENCHMARKING REPORT, City of New York, 2012

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Using Predictive Analytics to Prevent Fires

According to a report in the NY Daily News, “The raging Bronx inferno that killed three people highlights the city's growing failure to crack down on illegal firetrap apartments.” How does one identify such firetrap buildings before they become raging infernos?

Steven Goldsmith, the former Deputy Mayor in “The Coming Era of Preemptive Government” asked a pointed question, “What if the city could predict at which of these locations a fire is most likely to occur?” If the city could predict such an occurrence using existing data, it could then apply its limited resources in a strategic way to inspect and vacate such buildings.


Reference: BENJAMIN LESSER AND BRIAN KATES, Illegal firetrap apartments in New York City pose deadly and growing threat, April 26, 2011
Goldsmith, Stephen, The Coming Era of Preemptive Government, Governing, December 21, 2011
 

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