New York, May 8: The New York Stock Exchange, the anchor of Lower Manhattan's famed financial district, is considering moving to New Jersey as it looks to move out of its cramped, century-old quarters. "New Jersey offered us some very, very significant incentives," said NYSE Chairman Richard Grasso."It was the New Jersey Governor's suggestion to open a dialogue about a package of economic incentives and they made a very compelling case," he said, although he declined to give any specific numbers.
New Jersey's wooing of the world's biggest stock market, currently located at the corner of Broad and Wall streets, comes just weeks after New Jersey Governor Christine Todd Whitman said she would welcome the fabled New York Yankees baseball team "with open arms". That drew ire from New York City Mayor Rudolph Giuliani. The Big Board has said that, with business booming, it desperately needs to expand its trading space. It had to scrap two previous plans to expand in its neighborhood after some legal tanglesover historical landmarks.
New Jersey is now one of the two leading choices for the Big Board, Grasso said, adding that NYSE also has a plan to build a trading complex in Battery Park City, at the southwestern foot of Manhattan, also the home of the New York Mercantile Exchange (NYMEX).
The NYSE chairman said the Battery Park City plan calls for building a pair of 45,000-square-foot trading floors, one atop the other, in a complex with a total of 1.1 million to 1.3 million square feet. Currently, the NYSE only has about 900,000 square feet.
The Battery Park City location could cost anywhere between $1 billion and $1.25 billion, significantly more than the first two building plans in its own neighborhood. Grasso said the talks with New Jersey were not aimed at pressuring New York City or New York state. "Do not assume this is setting up a competitive race between the states," said Grasso, who added the stock exchange has very "close and warm" relationship with Giuliani and New York Governor GeorgePataki.
"We want to work to come up with the best goal that allows us to grow our business. Part of our competitive ability is having a world-class trading floor, and our floor is 100 years old," he said. Grasso also said the move would not mean job cuts. The exchange employs about 2,800 people, with an additional 2,600 working on the floor, but employed by member firms and affiliates.
A move to New Jersey would be a huge coup for the GardenState because it would attract not only a pillar in the financial community but many surrounding Wall Street operations that would likely move across the Hudson River along with the NYSE. Grasso said, however, that should the NYSE move to the Garden State, it would not change its name to the New Jersey Stock Exchange.
Copyright © 1998 Indian Express Newspapers (Bombay) Ltd.
