NBC Gets Millions in Tax Breaks, Stays in Rockefeller Center

The city has reached an agreement with NBC, giving the network millions of dollars in tax abatements to keep it from leaving its Rockefeller Center headquarters, it was reported today.

The plan provides NBC with at least $72 million in real estate tax breaks over 35 years, $800 million in partially tax-exempt bonds, a freeze on land taxes and a cut in the network’s commercial rent tax, the New York Times said.

In addition, the city will eliminate sales taxes for NBC on at least $1.1 billion in new machinery and equipment to be used to upgrade the network’s production facilities, the paper said.

Negotiations have been going on for more than a year, ever since NBC threatened to flee to New Jersey if the city failed to help it cut costs.

New York real estate developer Donald Trump actively courted the network for his enormous “Television City” project envisioned to stretch along the Hudson River on Manhattan’s Upper West Side. But Trump gave up in October, blaming the city for snarling his dream in red tape.