Bloomberg Wants City to be Hub for Medical Research

New York, NY —

Construction on a new biotech center on the East Side is underway. Mayor Bloomberg and Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver took part in a groundbreaking ceremony for the 700 million dollar Alexandria Center for Science and Technology.

REPORTER: Patrick Foye, with the state's Empire State Development Corporation, says it will turn the city into a hub for biotech research.

BLOOMBERG: People want to be in a place like Manhattan. They want to be in a place like New York City, because the incredible concentration of talent creates excitement, it creates new ideas, and hopefully will ultimately lead to things that will address diseases like cancer, Parkinsons, Alzheimers, etcetera.

REPORTER: The center is expected to be ready by 2009.