City Council Speaker Christine Quinn called plagiarism the biggest compliment you can pay during her annual State of the City address on Feb. 9. Quinn was talking about how she and Councilwoman Karen Koslowitz (D-Forest Hills) are—as Quinn put it—plagiarizing the idea of Fashion Week to create a citywide Design Week.
The two are aiming for May 2013 for the first event that could include community-driven events throughout all the boroughs. But with the planning phase just starting, details are thin so far.
Quinn and Koslowitz are both emphasizing the economic impact of a major industry event, which is the comparison they are drawing. A spokesperson for Koslowitz said they will try to replicate the success of Fashion Week, which draws 300,000 visitors and $800 million to the city a year.
With 40,000 workers at over 1,600 firms, the design sector was too big and similar to pass up, Greg Lavine, the spokesperson noted.
The end goal, the Speaker said, is to attract jobs by solidifying New York as a hub for the industry much like Mayor Michael Bloomberg is pushing in the technology industry.
“Make no mistake, these are good middle class jobs ranging from marketing to manufacturing,” Quinn said during her speech.
Koslowitz is a lead sponsor of the project because of her position as Chair of the Economic Development Committee. But her district—encompassing Forest Hills, Rego Park, Kew Gardens and more—could mark the biggest difference between Design Week and the event it’s copying.
Unlike Fashion Week, the idea is for Design Week to be community driven, with events built from the bottom up citywide.
Koslowitz wants to draw in subsets of the design world to partner with and host events on graphic design, interior design, floral design, lighting design, furniture design, web design and more throughout the boroughs.
So far though, the only outside group Quinn or Koslowitz has identified has stronger ties to Manhattan than Queens.
A spokesperson for Koslowitz said they would like to layer the first Design Week on top of the International Contemporary Furniture Fair, a trade show that takes place every May. For 2012, it’s scheduled for May 19 through 22 at the Jacob K. Javits Convention Center in Manhattan.
Governor Andrew Cuomo is pushing for a major convention center in Queens that could open as soon as 2014 at Aqueduct Racetrack in Ozone Park and serve as a replacement for the Javits Center, which Cuomo wants to remodel.
This spring Koslowitz, Quinn and company are hoping to get plans hammered out and start meeting with stake holders in the design industry.
“I applaud Speaker Quinn for her strong leadership on Economic Development issues and look forward to working together with her to make Design Week a success for New York City,” Koslowitz said in a statement.
