Collaboration anchored by Citi lease at The Bridge at Cornell Tech
New York, New York– Citigroup Inc. (“Citi”) today announced a collaboration with Cornell Tech, the revolutionary graduate institution, to engage with Cornell University students, faculty, researchers, startups and other companies, and create closer ties between academia and industry.
The collaboration will be anchored by Citi’s presence on the Cornell Tech campus on Roosevelt Island. Citi has leased 10,900 square feet in The Bridge at Cornell Tech from Forest City New York and is the only bank located in the building located on Roosevelt Island. The Bridge is a first-of-its-kind building for innovation that brings together residents of the Cornell Tech campus, to foster a culture of collaboration and co-creation.
“Co-locating in The Bridge with companies, entrepreneurs and students will create an energized environment that fosters innovation and enables interaction with a wide range of emerging talent,” said Don Callahan, Citi’s Head of Operations and Technology. “As a firm headquartered in New York City, we are excited to be a part of this initiative with Cornell Tech that will develop and strengthen the City’s technology talent and industry.”
Citi will tap into the expertise of Cornell Tech students and faculty to work closely on new capabilities and emerging technologies such as blockchain, machine learning and big data applications, biometric authentication, Internet of Things, and cyber security. The partnership will provide faculty and students the opportunity to work with Citi in exploring real-world solutions for Citi’s clients and customers, through Product Challenges in Cornell Tech’s Product Studio class, where student teams develop innovative new digital solutions working with companies and nonprofits.
Through programs such as the Citi Ventures University Partnerships program, Citi teams will engage with Cornell Tech students in activities such as hackathons and design sprints to create, test and incubate new ideas and prototypes that have the potential to generate organic growth for Citi. In addition, the Citi Foundation will continue to work with Cornell Tech through their mutual support of the Women in Technology and Entrepreneurship in New York (WiTNYC) initiative, a program designed to significantly increase the participation of women in technology fields in the New York market.
Citi will accommodate approximately 70 to 80 employees in this facility. These employees are responsible for advancing the bank’s customer banking experience, partnering with start-ups on innovative technologies and safeguarding clients’ information. The new flexible work environment will drive collaboration between Citi employees, Cornell Tech students and faculty, and other corporate tenants. Citi employees will move into The Bridge during the first quarter of 2018.
“Bringing together industry leaders like Citi and our pioneering students and faculty focusing on key problems and opportunities of the digital age is part of Cornell Tech’s lifeblood,” said Cornell Tech Dean Dan Huttenlocher. “Collaborations like this one will bring The Bridge and the entire campus to life when we open on Roosevelt Island this fall.”
“Dedicated to uncovering emerging technologies and creative results for their clients and customers, Citi is a great fit for the dynamic environment at The Bridge at Cornell Tech,” said MaryAnne Gilmartin, President and CEO of Forest City New York. “All under one roof, Citi will have easy access to Cornell University students and faculty, inspiring deep innovation.”
Citi’s presence in New York City includes multiple office locations, its branch network and nearly 16,000 employees.
CBRE’s Mary Ann Tighe, Evan Haskell, David Caperna, Evan Fiddle, Sacha Zarba and Ross Zimbalist brokered the lease on behalf of Forest City New York.
Feature photo credit: Max Touhey
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About Citi
Citi, the leading global bank, has approximately 200 million customer accounts and does business in more than 160 countries and jurisdictions. Citi provides consumers, corporations, governments and institutions with a broad range of financial products and services, including consumer banking and credit, corporate and investment banking, securities brokerage, transaction services, and wealth management.
Additional information may be found at www.citigroup.com | Twitter: @Citi | YouTube: www.youtube.com/citi | Blog: http://blog.citigroup.com | Facebook: www.facebook.com/citi | LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/company/citi
About Cornell Tech
Cornell Tech brings together faculty, business leaders, tech entrepreneurs, and students in a catalytic environment to reinvent the way we live in the digital age. Cornell Tech’s temporary campus has been up and running at Google’s Chelsea building since 2013, with a growing world-class faculty, and more than 200 masters and Ph.D. students who collaborate extensively with tech-oriented companies and organizations and pursue their own start-ups. Construction is underway on Cornell Tech’s campus on Roosevelt Island, with a first phase due to open in September 2017. When fully completed, the campus will include 2 million square feet of state-of-the-art buildings, over 2 acres of open space, and will be home to more than 2,000 graduate students and hundreds of faculty and staff.
About Forest City New York
Forest City New York, a wholly owned subsidiary of Forest City Realty Trust, Inc., is the owner and developer of The Bridge at Cornell Tech, and owns and operates over 30 properties in the New York metropolitan area, including The New York Times Building. Forest City Realty Trust, Inc. is an NYSE-listed national real estate company with $8.2 billion in consolidated assets. The Company is principally engaged in the ownership, development, management and acquisition of commercial and residential real estate throughout the United States, and is the developer of such projects as University Park at MIT, the Science + Technology Park at Johns Hopkins, and 5M in San Francisco. For more information, visitwww.forestcity.net.
About Cornell University
Cornell University is a world-class research institution known for the breadth and rigor of its curricula, and an academic culture dedicated to preparing students to be well-educated and well-rounded citizens of the world. Its faculty, staff and students believe in the critical importance of knowledge—both theoretical and applied—as a means of improving the human condition and solving the world’s problems. With campuses in Ithaca, New York, New York City, and Doha, Qatar, Cornell is a private, Ivy League research university and the land-grant institution of New York state.
