Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg today announced eight initiatives to strengthen New York City's media sector. The initiatives – part of a broad plan to diversify New York City's economy – stem from MediaNYC 2020, a program the Bloomberg Administration launched earlier this year that brought together City officials and industry leaders from print, television, and Internet media to develop a strategy to maintain and enhance New York City's position as a global media capital.

One of the initiatives is Hive@55, a program developed by the Downtown Alliance and Rudin Management that addresses the lack of affordable workspace and the prohibitive cost of specialized equipment for emerging media companies.

The Downtown Alliance will lease and fit out a 5,000-square-foot space to suit the needs of media professionals and others who need quality workspace on a daily or short term basis and access to services such as contract editing, news feeds, and conference space. NYCEDC is providing a $100,000 grant to assist with start-up costs. The "Hive@55" will provide workspace for 50 freelancers at a time, and will provide workspace and services for as many as 1,850 part-time and drop-in workers per year.

"Mayor Bloomberg understands well how to create companies and jobs. We at the Downtown Alliance are very pleased that his administration is supporting our 'Hive@55' co-working space in Lower Manhattan,” said Downtown Alliance Chairman Robert R. Douglass. "Lower Manhattan's diversified economy and growing residential population consists of many up-and-coming companies, service providers and entrepreneurs. 'Hive@55' will be a center for business incubation, a place where new companies and jobs will be created and a new chapter in New York City’s economic growth and sustainability will be written."

"On behalf of the entire Rudin Management team, we are excited to add the "Hive @ 55" to our unique roster of technology-oriented tenants and working with the city and the Downtown Alliance to help with the economic revitalization of our city and Downtown. We're also pleased to host the NYC Gov2.0 Tech Forum at the Digital Sandbox at 55 Broad Street," said Bill Rudin, President of Rudin Management Company.

To read the entire press release, click here or to learn more about the plan, visit www.nyc.gov.