The Grammys return to the Big Apple

Recording Academy President Michael Greene announces the move as New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg looks on.

NEW YORK (CNN) -- After four years on the West Coast,the Grammys are headed back to the Big Apple, with the 45th annual music awards ceremony slated to be held at New York's Madison Square Garden on February 23.

The move, which had been rumored for weeks, was confirmed Wednesday by Michael Greene, president of The Recording Academy. Greene announced the return to New York at a news conference where he was joined by the city's new mayor, Michael Bloomberg.

"Only a couple of days after he was elected as mayor, he called me up," Greene said of Bloomberg. "He called with a passion, a spirit and, as I say, a humility. We talked about the importance of bringing the Grammys back to New York.

"You've got a great new mayor," he added.

The Recording Academy took its awards show back to Los Angeles,California, in 1999 after a widely publicized spat with then-New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani.

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Giuliani boycotted the 1998 show and publicly encouraged The Recording Academy to move the ceremony back to the West Coast after a Giuliani aide was allegedly verbally abused by Greene over the mayor's role in the nomination ceremony.

New York Sen. Chuck Schumer, who also attended the announcement, noted that city leaders had put the call out to "all the major award shows" to bring their ceremonies to New York. "The Grammys was the first to respond," Schumer said.

Bloomberg called the move "just wonderful news for this city".

The Recording Academy estimates the economic impact on the host city at approximately $35 million to $40 million. At the same time, industry estimates put the price tag of producing the show in New York between $1.5 and $2 million higher than Los Angeles because of union costs attached to New York productions.