TikTok To Take on Times Square Lease, Unless Banned by Feds

By: Hellen Zaboulani

TikTok, the controversial short-video sharing app, is planning to expand its NYC presence. The Chinese-based company, which has become the fastest-growing app in the world, signed a lease in May for space in Manhattan’s Times Square. As reported by Crain’s NY, the 230,000-square-foot lease is double the size of its current U.S. headquarters located in Los Angeles, California.

Being situated at the One Five One building on West 42nd Street, at the building formerly known as 4 Times Square, the company’s avid watchers say will mark a strong step forward in TikTok’s advancement. “Being in Times Square in a very large office is hugely symbolic,” said Mae Karwowski, CEO and founder of Obviously, the influencer marketing platform in SoHo.

“They want to be based in the U.S., they want to be in the center of everything.” An office at the 48-story iconic office tower, which recently underwent a $150 million capital improvement program, would provide a substantial boost to the company’s name.

That is, if the plans for the lease go through unhindered. TikTok has long been branded a security risk, with the U.S. government as well as numerous American corporations instructing all employees to remove the app from their phones. President Donald Trump, who is now even tougher on China since the Coronavirus, together with other officials have threatened to boot the platform out of the country. Earlier in July, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said that the government is “certainly looking” at banning the app, and on Thursday Chief of Staff Mark Meadows added that a decision may be finalized within weeks.

TikTok has been accused of sharing its users’ data with China, though it has denied doing so. The company has been trying to gain credibility in the U.S. As per Crain’s, over the spring, it started shifting much of its operations from China to America, going so far as to hire a new CEO– Kevin Mayer, formerly the head of streaming at Disney Company. The company, however, is still owned by the Beijing-based ByteDance company.

TikTok and the Durst Organization, who owns the One Five One building, both declined to comment on how the app’s possible prohibition would impact the lease.

The government’s decision would also have to factor in a wider range of implications for New York’s technology sector. TikTok is now the most valuable startup in the world. Needless to say, its presence would add jobs. As evidence, in 2019 Amazon, Google and Facebook hired the most New Yorkers. Also, historically, the New Yorkers who work for these tech companies often move on to build their own startups, said Julie Samuels, executive director of Tech:NYC, a lobbying group. As of July 17, TikTok’s website was already posting over 50 job openings locally.