Trading Site to Be Built Away From Wall Street

The New York Stock Exchange said Thursday that it will move ahead with plans for a second trading floor away from Wall Street, where trading could continue if the current site had to close.

The NYSE shut down for four days last year in the aftermath of the terrorist attacks. It was the longest closure since 1933.

Chairman Richard Grasso told reporters the exchange is looking to house half its operations away from lower Manhattan but within the state of New York. The NYSE has been located in lower Manhattan for 210 years.

Grasso said the NYSE would probably have more details on the timing and location of its second trading floor at the next board meeting, in October. He did not give an estimated cost of the plan.

Though the exchange has backup facilities that can be up and running in 24 hours, it does not have the ability to trade uninterrupted if there is another emergency in lower Manhattan.

New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg wants the second NYSE site to be within one of the city’s five boroughs.

But Bloomberg this summer rescinded a $1-billion tax break package his predecessor, Rudolph W. Giuliani, had given the NYSE as incentive to construct a new building across the street from its current site.

Bloomberg said the city, facing a large budget deficit as the economy has struggled, no longer could afford the deal.

Also Thursday, Grasso said the NYSE may delay the start of trading Sept. 11 so that members of the exchange can participate in memorials commemorating the anniversary of the World Trade Center attack.

U.S. markets, including Nasdaq, will coordinate on any trading delay, Grasso said.