The Associated Press to Move To New NYC Headquarters in 2017

The Associated Press plans to move its global headquarters from Manhattan’s far west side to a smaller, less-expensive space adjacent to the World Trade Center site, the news cooperative’s president said Wednesday.

The move, planned for early 2017, would bring the AP to 200 Liberty St, which is across the street from the Sept. 11 memorial in a waterfront neighborhood that has blossomed as the city has recovered from 9/11. At the time of the terror attacks, the building was known as One World Financial Center.

“We’re going to a better building in a better location for less money,” said Gary Pruitt, AP president and CEO.

He said the lease will be for at least 21 years. The building would be the 11th corporate address in New York for the AP since it was founded in 1846 by a group of newspapers that wanted to share the costs of covering the Mexican War. It stands just blocks from one of the AP’s earliest addresses, 83 Liberty St.

At about 172,000 square feet, the new space will be about 40 percent smaller than the AP’s current headquarters at 450 W. 33rd St., which it has occupied since 2004.

Pruitt said the AP would have preferred to avoid the disruption and cost of a move but will wind up paying “a few million dollars” less for the new space than it pays in rent now.

“Those savings can be put toward our mission,” he said.

This article appeared in print on page 6 of the August 27th, 2015 edition of Hamodia.