New Chairman Named For New York's Javits

New York Gov. George Pataki didn't waste any time in appointing a new chairman of the New York Convention Center Operating Corp., operator of the Jacob K. Javits Convention Center.

Just days after the Pataki administration reportedly axed Robert Boyle from the post he held for nine years, the top spot went to NYCCOC Vice Chairman Joseph E. Spinnato.

Spinnato will continue in his present position as president and CEO of the Hotel Assn. of New York City, while Boyle will remain a member of the Javits development board.

Spinnato was chosen for the position because of "his expertise in the industry and his background," said Pataki spokeswoman Joanna Rose, adding that "we look forward to working with him on the (center's) expansion."

The $1.4 billion Javits expansion has been a complex and sluggish project that Boyle dubbed "difficult and dangerous" at a Dec. 14 N.Y. state legislative hearing about the expansion's progress.

The hearing exposed the differences between Boyle and Empire State Development Chairman Charles Gargano on the project's budget and locations of a convention center hotel and marshalling yard.

At the hearing, among other things, Boyle said Gargano was "mistaken" about aspects of the expansion plans.

New York state Assemblyman Richard Brodsky, chairman of the legislative committee that oversees the Javits operating group, told Tradeshow Week he believes that Boyle's comments led to his ouster. "I think the problem is not him, it's that they fired him for asking smart questions," Brodsky said.

Neither Boyle nor Gargano returned calls for comment.

Spinnato said he is ready to "move on" with the expansion, which is slated to add 340,000 square feet of exhibit space and 265,000 sq. ft. of meeting space. The hotel is planned for 50 floors and 1,500 rooms. Spinnato said he's hoping construction will start in late summer.

Tim McGuinness, vice president of sales and convention center expansion for the city's convention and visitors bureau NYC & Co., said Spinnato's appointment "may accelerate the (expansion) process." He noted that the 125-year-old hotel association was "one of the instrumental groups advocating and supporting the Javits expansion."

McGuinness said Spinnato "has been really engaged with the facility. He's been deeply entrenched in this business for years and years."

According to McGuinness, Boyle's departure from the Javits was unexpected. "I was probably as surprised as a lot of people that Bob left the position," he said.

Nevertheless, McGuinness added, "In the years that Bob was there, he did a phenomenal job. He was one of those guys that was very instrumental in getting the process off the ground."

Boyle, a partner in the law and government relations firm Davidoff, Malito & Hutcher, became president and CEO of the Javits center in 1995. He added NYCCOC chairman to his list of titles the following year, when Spinnato became vice chairman. From 1997 to 2001 Boyle was also executive director of the Port Authority of New York & New Jersey.

Prior to his appointment to the hotel association in 1987, Spinnato was New York City fire commissioner for five years. He also served as first assistant to both the Special Prosecutor for Nursing Homes and the Nassau County (N.Y.) District Attorney's Office. He has been on the Javits board since 1991.