Luxury residential tower construction is helping to push New York City construction spending levels near those accrued during industry’s 2007 and 2008 heydays, according to a new study.The city’s 2014 residential-sector spending alone is expected to reach $10.9 billion—nearly a third of the $32.9 billion total forecast for the year, according to the latest New York Building Congress (NYBC) forecast. If residential spending reaches that amount, it will be up about 60% from 2013.But the number of new dwelling units produced is expected to rise just 22% to 22,500 this year, increasing to only 23,250 in 2015, the study

Charles F. Vachris, a Yale University honors engineering graduate who went on to found his own geotechnical and foundations engineering firm, died on Oct. 7 in Flower Hill, N.Y. He was 75. The apparent cause was a heart attack, the firm said. Vachris founded Vachris Engineering pc, based in Garden City, N.Y., in 1982 after working in his family's construction business and was its president. He also served in the Army Corps of Engineers and obtained a master's degree in engineering at Columbia University. Vachris, who was a member of The Moles, a national heavy construction professional group, since 1968,

New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio announced two infrastructure investments in early October that amount to a total of $201 million. Most recently, the mayor said the city would spend $173 million to upgrade 35 community parks in densely populated neighborhoods with higher-than-average concentrations of poverty. Separately, he announced plans to invest $28 million to install a total of 6.25 megawatts of solar power on the rooftops of 24 public schools by 2016.The first phase of the City Parks Initiative will use $130 million in capital funding to promote the full re-creation of the parks; $7.2 million in expense

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has invalidated most of a $511-million loan for 12 projects related to New York's Tappan Zee Bridge replacement work, contending that the span's construction activities do not advance the water quality mandates as specified by the loan program. The agency says it will, however, award $29.1 million to five of the 12 projects. Related Links: 8/22 News Wrap: $1.3B in N.J. Water Work Ok'd; MWBEs Transport Work Up; Data Center Planned (& More) 7/14 News Wrap: Fracking Bans Upheld; Big Solar Eyes NYS; JFK Gets Energy Plan Funds; USTA NYC Update The move is a

 CoffeyCNY Group LLC has hired Rick Coffey as the firm's director of operations. Related Links: ENR New York ENR New York Featured People John Boulé has joined Dewberry as senior vice president and manager of its New York City office. He will also focus on the firm's transportation, water resources and facility engineering practice in the region as well as its post-Sandy rebuilding efforts and resilience initiatives in the Northeast. Boulé was vice president and resiliency director at Parsons Brinckerhoff, a role he took after retiring as commander of the New York district of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.Donnelly

Tata & Howard, Inc. has acquired the assets of civil engineering consultancy Roald Haestad, Inc. (RHI), for an undisclosed sum. Both firms specialize in water-related consulting engineering services and are based in Waterbury, Conn. The deal adds to the growing list of mergers and acquisitions of industry firms operating in the tristate region. This includes WSP Global Inc.’s recently announced plan to buy Parsons Brinckerhoff from Balfour Beatty for $1.35 billion. Photo by Sue Pearsall Coming Together: Industry merger and acquisition activity is heating up. T&H focuses on water, wastewater, stormwater and hazardous water engineering services. The deal bolsters its

The Connecticut Building Congress has elected Catherine J. Ellithorpe, senior associate for The S/L/A/M Collaborative Inc., as president-elect for 2014-2015. She has been with SLAM since 1988 and leads its corporate architectural studio. Ellithorpe also serves on the marketing committee for the Construction Institute and on the building commission for the town of Suffield. Related Links: ENR New York ENR New York Featured People  BenwayThe Institute of Transportation Engineers has elected Paula Benway, transportation manager at Stantec, Rochester, N.Y., as international vice president for 2015. She has more than 28 years of experience in managing transportation planning and traffic engineering

Amid criticism for taking too long to fill major vacancies in his administration, New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio chose Rick Chandler as the new commissioner of the Dept. of Buildings last month. Chandler replaces Thomas Fariello, acting commissioner, who took the helm after Robert LiMandri resigned at the end of last year. A professional engineer, Chandler has served as Hunter College's assistant vice president of facilities. His prior experience includes serving as borough commissioner of Queens, Brooklyn and the Bronx from 1995 to 2002."The stakes of this work are incredibly high," Chandler said in a statement. "We're there

Thatcher Associates, a subsidiary of K2 Intelligence Inc., New York City, has hired Kimberly D. Hardy as managing director. She joins Thatcher from the New York City Dept. of Housing Preservation and Development, where she established monitoring procedures for issues involving prevailing wage, minority and women-owned business enterprises and fair housing requirements. Related Links: ENR New York For More People on the Move Passero Associates, Rochester, N.Y., has made several appointments. It has hired Bruce Clark as aviation services senior Clarkproject manager; Tim Harris and Matt Newcomb as project engineers in the civil engineering department; and Tim Geier as intern

New York Photo Courtesy of U.S. Dept. of Energy New Direction: New York's highest court has upheld local bans on shale gas fracturing. Related Links: http://newyork.construction.com/ ENR New York http://newyork.construction.com/new_york_construction_news/ ENR New York Featured News Court Upholds Towns' Rights to Ban Fracking The hydraulic fracturing sector is assessing the impact of a ruling late last month by New York state's highest court that municipalities have the right to stop the practice.At issue were challenges to bans on oil-and-gas production activities, including shale gas drilling, that were enacted in the upstate towns of Middlefield and Dryden. In a 5-2 decision on