JetBlue + NYC 4evr: Details on Airline’s Big Sublease
By Emily Geminder March 29, 2010 9:10 pm
reprints
Aside from millions in city and state tax breaks, as part of the deal that kept JetBlue from absconding to Florida, the airline will receive certain rights to the slogan “I ♥ NY.” JetBlue will sublease 200,000 square feet from MetLife in Long Island City’s Brewster building, owned by Brause Realty, led by David Brause. The airline’s name may even be displayed across the building, according to The New York Times.
But wait, it got even more lovey: CEO Dave Barger proclaimed, “New York and JetBlue are made for each other.” Meanwhile, Mayor Bloomberg, Governor Patterson and Senator Schumer were just a few of the elected officials to add their gushing quotes to the heap.
Long headquartered in Queens, JetBlue had considered moving to Orlando. But as New York’s sole “hometown” airline, and with roughly 900 city jobs on the line, state and local government laid out a prodigious offering of tax incentives, loans and investments, all worth an estimated $30 million.
