128 Events Set for N.Y. Center’s 1st Year

Less than five months before the opening of the Javits Convention Center, officials are predicting that the giant facility will draw an extra 2 million visitors and $1 billion to the city in its first year.

In the center’s second and third years, the center is expected to draw as much as $2 billion annually into the city’s economy, according to convention center President Thomas Galvin.

For the first year, starting next April 1, 128 events have been booked into the giant hall, and visitors to the center are expected to book 465,600 nights in hotel rooms, and generate $77 million for the state and city in taxes.

Galvin said that he hastened by six months the opening of the long-delayed $482-million center by offering between $5 million and $6 million in incentives to construction firms. The April opening allowed the center to book 60 events that should bring in $33 million in tax revenues, Galvin said. “This is really a return of about $5 on the dollar,” he said.

Parking may be a problem for two or three years, he said, although more parking garages will be built in the neighborhood to handle anticipated traffic for local events such as the Boat Show and Auto Show.

More hotels are also anticipated near the center, at the western edge of mid-town Manhattan. Galvin said the newly opened Marriott Hotel in Times Square was counting on convention center visitors.