Facebook Inks Farley Building Lease, NYC Employees Will Total 10K

NEW YORK CITY — A newly-inked lease will give a social media giant office space across from the city's Penn Station and Madison Square Garden landmarks.

Facebook signed a lease on office space in the James A. Farley Building in Midtown, said Mayor Bill de Blasio on Tuesday. He said the deal will bring Facebook's job total in New York City to nearly 10,000 employees.

"This is the first major new lease for the post-COVID era," he said.

The Farley building served as a United States Postal Service office for decades — it famously bears the words of the service's "neither snow nor rain..." creed. It stands on Eighth Avenue and 34th Street across from Penn Station.

Vornado Realty Trust spent years looking for a tenant for the building's office space. Facebook, which also has space in Hudson Yards, eventually emerged as the taker.

Gov. Andrew Cuomo praised the deal as a sign of New York's resilience amid the pandemic.

"Once complete, the Penn-Farley complex will be a world-class 21st century transportation, retail and business hub that maintains its extraordinary and historic architectural character," Cuomo said in a statement. "Vornado's and Facebook's investment in New York and commitment to further putting down roots here - even in the midst of a global pandemic - is a signal to the world that our brightest days are still ahead and we are open for business."