Earlier today, Governor Kathy Hochul unveiled plans for New York BioGenesis Park, a groundbreaking $430 million Cell and Gene Therapy Innovation Hub in Nassau County, Long Island. To be developed by The Albanese Organization, Inc., this state-of-the-art facility would catalyze CGT research, development, clinical manufacturing, and commercialization across New York State. With a historic $150 million state investment — the largest nationwide for a cell and gene therapy hub — NYBGP would accelerate the delivery of new therapies from lab to patient in New York’s diverse communities. This transformative hub aims to establish New York as the leading global destination for CGT innovation, driving economic growth, attracting top talent, and revolutionizing patient care statewide and beyond.
A rush transcript of the Governor’s remarks is available below:
Well — delighted to be back here, and I just want to say in January of 2023, I delivered my State of the State address, and I made a promise, and I said that New York State would be at the forefront of a whole new industry that would dramatically change the way we treat people who are sick, but also — at the same time — help revitalize our local economies.
We had a strategic vision, a plan where New York could develop medical advancements to change treatment methods and prognoses, and — at the same time — deliver prosperity and good paying jobs for New Yorkers. Today, that promise is being fulfilled. We are leading the way in gene and cell therapy, a game changing new form of medical treatment that repairs damaged cells and kills those who have mutated into tumors.
And already, we have the leadership of Roswell Park Comprehensive Care Center in Buffalo teaming up with us as well. So, I want to acknowledge the people who’ve helped bring us to this day — extraordinary leaders that you have here on Long Island, great representatives for you in Albany, starting with our Assemblymember Gina Sillitti.
I want to thank her for championing this project, and making sure we got it over the finish line. And also, we have Assemblymember Chuck Lavine. Again, I want to thank you for everything you’ve done. You are very fortunate to have these two leaders representing this part of our State as your loud, loud, loud voices in our State legislature.
Former State Senate Majority Leader John Flanagan has joined us. John, thank you for your leadership — the many, many years of public service. Members in my administration, Kevin Law, the Chair of Empire State Development. Kevin, thank you for all you do for us. Hope Knight, the Commissioner of Empire State Development. Hope is the one who makes all this magic happen, I appreciate that.
And all the way from my hometown of Buffalo, Candace Johnson, the President and CEO of the Roswell Park Comprehensive Cancer Center — great to see you again, Candace. And, Dr. Ayanna Bryan — you’ll be hearing from — a Senior Program Director at the New York Blood Center. You will be looking forward to her remarks, and also Michael Dowling, the President and CEO of the extraordinary institution known as Northwell Health, and I want to give him a huge round of applause.
Also, our extraordinary partners in labor who are recognized here today, but you’re the ones who are helping this comeback be achieved with the hardworking men who are trained in all the skills that are necessary to do everything from offshore wind to putting up these new buildings. I want to thank them as well.
So we decided, as I mentioned, we’re going to be taking a hard, hard, hard approach as we fight crime— we fight cancer as well. And,we’ve allocated significant funds for this as well. And, I want to announce today that part of that goes right toward Biogenesis Park right here on Long Island, where New Yorkers will benefit from new technology from one end of the State to the other — that demonstrates that New York isn’t just a place to build a life, it’s also a place to save one as well.
So, we make history with this as the largest state investment in dedicated cell and gene therapy, not just here in Long Island, not just New York, but in the nation — I’m going to repeat that: The largest state investment in a dedicated cell and gene therapy hub here in the nation.
For people in the business, the healthcare professions of treating those who have complex diseases, this is an extraordinary opportunity. And, cell and gene therapy, CGT, is one of the fastest growing treatment tools in the toolkit we have to deal with many, many diseases, and it’s near unlimited potential when it comes to changing outcomes for people diagnosed with cancer and rare diseases.
With this, cells are grown outside the body, genes are modified to eradicate harmful mutations, and then they’re fine-tuned by specialists in a lab, introduced into the patient where they go directly to work attacking cancerous cells and replacing faulty genes. It’s extraordinary when you think about that. Extraordinary.
And, doctors call these therapies, not just miraculous, but a true paradigm shift. And their application is absolutely limitless. And, we think about the diseases that we’re trying to tackle. Those that have affected our own family members.
Parkinson’s — I have many, many family members suffering with Parkinson’s. Heart disease, MS, ALS — something that was personal to me when we lost my mother 10 years ago to ALS, and it’s a horrible way to see someone who is so full of life and spirit and was a champion. Her voice lifted up so many different people. She was always fighting for protesting the wars and fighting for civil rights and helping women afflicted with a specter of domestic violence. She worked for so many people and to see her lose her voice, literally, it was painful for all of us, and I know that there’s many families now that are still suffering with this.
And so, last year, one of the reasons I wanted to propose that the State of New York will identify, annually, a rare disease that does not get the attention it deserves — like ALS — and last year we announced $25 million into funding for ALS research and for connecting individuals diagnosed with ALS to clinical trials and helping them have a chance in life. And, we partnered in that effort with Dr. Dan Doktoroff, a champion for the ALS community who’s turned his own pain and his diagnosis into a purpose. So, with treatment options like CGT, maybe the next generation of families won’t have to endure what mine did and others are today. We could have had more years together.
So, let’s talk about what this is all about — a $430 million project. This will be a state-of-the-art facility with advanced labs and research tools, and it will have over 830 good paying construction jobs. Let’s hear it for our construction trades.
We could have had more years together. So, let’s talk about what this is all about — a $430 million project. This will be a state of the art facility with advanced labs and research tools. And it’ll have over 830 good paying construction jobs. Let’s hear it for our construction trades, John and Maddie, Ryan.
And over 700 permanent positions to staff the facility once it’s built. The state will contribute $150 million through ESD grants — again, thank you Hope and the team. And — because this is as close as it gets to a sure bet, that this global market is going to go from $8.5 billion a year to over $21 billion a year — we’ll be at the forefront of this movement with these investments today.
So we’ve projected it’s going to be over this industry, this brand new industry. We will be worth over $120 billion in just a few short years. So, I want to make sure that we know that Long Island, again, is at the forefront of this. This is a new, whole new market, a whole new opportunity for us and thousands of jobs being constructed here and beyond.
And this builds on what we are doing on Long Island. In case you have not paid attention, you’ve not heard me brag about so many successes here on Long Island. I tell everybody, “What’s our commitment to climate change and renewable energy? Long Island has the nation’s largest offshore wind facility that is commercial utility grade, and it happened right here, and we’re just getting warmed up.”
You look at projects like Belmont, transforming that facility. It’s going to be magnificent when it opens up in 2026. You’re going to be so proud of the new racetrack and expanded entertainment complex.
And even Stony Brook. I designated Stony Brook as a flagship institution along with the University of Buffalo — the two of them. This has driven applications to being the highest they’ve ever had. More students want to come here, and, also, more researchers and professors want to come here because of that designation.
So, that’s what we’re doing just in the last couple of years, and what we’re talking about today builds on that. That sense of exceptionalism. That there’s nothing holding us back because we have everything. We have the smartest people, the most incredible academic institutions. We have research.
You think about what’s happening all over, every corner of this island. It is the place that people want to be who are inventing the future. And the future of healthcare is so much brighter now. The doctors, and researchers and the therapists who are coming here. And they’ll be building their lives here on Long Island. Now we need to build them some homes, but that’s another topic, okay? Let’s give them a place to live.
And, we’re making progress there, and I want to continue to make this one of the most desirable places to live in all of New York, because it truly is. And having all these academic institutions and people coming here, young people coming here for an education, an opportunity to work in this innovative field, will then say, “I don’t have to go back to the home state I came from. I can stay right here and build a beautiful life.”
But also, to the patients who now feel that they have hope. That’s as good as it gets my friends. When you can offer someone hope who’s been given a diagnosis and they look at the past and say, “My future is not very optimistic,” and yet we can say, “But no, something’s happening here. Something radically different is happening.”
You don’t have to be relegated to the same outcome you would have, but for these investments, but for this technology, but for this innovation. And, so, I do believe that New York state will become America’s premier CGT innovator, and I’m counting on it happening right here.
I’ll close with this. One of the most obvious certainties in life is that life is uncertain. You do not know that tomorrow you won’t get a diagnosis, or your loved one gets a diagnosis that’s turned your life upside down, and there’s a fear that sets in, and this anxiety and this stress and it takes over your life.
Everything that was important to you once before is no longer important, because you have to get your health back for your family. You have to help that family member. You begin this search — that quest. You’ll look on the internet, you’ll become Google doctors, and you’ll study and you’ll try to find who is the very best.
And life is full of uncertainty and unforeseen challenges, but doesn’t make you feel good, doesn’t make you feel great to know that in this room, with this announcement and this work — and when this opens up — that all those people who started with that fear will be able to understand that what we’re doing here is going to give them that lease on life.
My friends, all of you who are involved with this, I honor you. This is one of the most impactful things we’ll do. In our time in these positions in elective office, and to all those in the medical profession who truly believe in this and the ones who are coming up with innovations and taking more time off the clock to get these products to market, to get them into people and help save their lives.
So, we can’t control everything, but an opportunity here today to free people from a life of pain, uncertainty, and even death — that’s why we’re here today. That moral obligation we have to leave this place better than we found it. After today, we can say we accomplished this. We are leaving this place better than we found it.
Healing the sick, giving people hope who are hopeless. That’s as good as it gets, my friend. Thank you for being part of this extraordinary story. Thank you everyone who’s involved in this. Congratulations.
Let me introduce a great friend of mine, a champion for her district. Someone I look forward to working with for many years down the road — our Assemblymember, Gina Sillitti.
Sources: NY.gov , Midtown Tribune news ,