New York & New Jersey Photo Courtesy of AP/Wideworld Overwhelmed: Days after Sandy, Seaside Heights and other New Jersey shore towns were still assessing damages. Related Links: ENR New York Featured News After Sandy, Region Sets Sights on Recovery As the tristate area began recovery efforts in the wake of Hurricane Sandy, officials were still struggling days after the Oct. 29th storm struck to assess the extent of damage, its cost and, tragically, even the death toll. Many areas were still flooded and without power three days after the storm, which slammed the region with dangerously high winds and disabled
Gov. Andrew Cuomo has announced today, Oct. 29, that the Tappan Zee Bridge (TZB) closed at 4 p.m. and both the Hugh Carey and Holland tunnels closed at 2 p.m. as Hurricane Sandy bore down on the New York City region with storm gusts of up to 80 to 85 miles per hour. NYC bridges are "quickly becoming unsafe," Cuomo said in a statement. However, they will remain open to emergency vehicles and personnel. Other bridges to be closed include the Throgs Neck, Bronx-Whitestone, Verrazano-Narrows, Henry Hudson, Marine Parkway-Gil Hodges Memorial, Cross Bay Veterans Memorial, and George Washington. The Staten
The Statue of Liberty reopens today, Oct. 28, with a celebration of its 126th birthday and the substantial completion of a one-year, $30-million upgrade to meet current life-safety codes. The majority of the renovation work was in the 145-ft granite pedestal that Lady Liberty stands on, with further work on the rails and protective glass on the stairs leading up to the crown. Photo Courtesy of Mills + Schnoering Architects The project team is putting the finishing touches on a few elements including commissioning of the new HVAC system and on the terreplein stairs leading to the ground level, all
Industry members are eager to hear further details of New York State's recently released plan to add up to 3,200 megawatts of power generation and transmission capacity to the state's grid with up to $5.7 billion to be invested via public-private partnerships. Photo courtesy of the U.S. Dept. of Energy The plan would add up to 3,200 megawatts of power generation and transmission capacity to the state's grid. "Our members build [energy infrastructure] and are also businesses concerned about the cost of energy, which in New York State is above the national average. Our transmission system is very, very antiquated,"
New York City construction spending is expected to rise 9% this year, to $30.7 billion, surpassing the $30-billion mark for the first time since 2008, a new New York Building Congress study shows. The increase is due largely to higher demand for luxury housing, ongoing work at the World Trade Center and continued public infrastructure investment, according to the New York City Construction Outlook 2012-2014 study. Overall construction spending increased about 22% since hitting a post-recession low of $25.2 billion in 2010. Construction activity will remain steady with 2013 projected spending of $30.2 billion and 2014 spending of $29.1 billion,
Even as New York City embarks on the public review process for the planned $2-billion-plus Cornell NYC Tech Center on Roosevelt Island, some higher education professionals warn that there will likely be a funding slowdown in coming years for some parts of the sector. While the extent of the slowdown will vary depending on factors including the institution, the culprit will be the same one that has plagued all sectors during the recession—the economy, which is causing some funding sources to pull back. Rendering Courtesy of Columbia University Big Plans: Columbia University is in the first phase of its $6.3-billion
New York City plans to make more than $1 billion available for infrastructure projects that are already in progress or ready to begin, under an accelerated program announced today, Oct. 17. The move, part of the city's updated four-year Capital Commitment Plan, will create about 8,000 mostly construction-related jobs during the next two fiscal years, said Mayor Michael Bloomberg in announcing the effort at a press conference with City Council Speaker Christine Quinn and City Comptroller John Liu. To do this, the city will borrow the $1 billion at low interest rates at a time when construction costs are also
New York City began the seven-month uniform land use review procedure (ULURP) today, Oct. 15, for the 12-acre Cornell NYC Tech Center planned for Roosevelt Island. The action initiates the public review phase of Cornell University and Technion-Israel Institute of Technology's updated master plan of their 30-year, $2-billion-plus planned applied sciences project. Cornell has also released new renderings of the 12-acre tech campus that, when completed in 2037, will include up to 2.1 million sq ft of development. First-phase plans call for breaking ground in 2014 on the first academic building, designed by Thom Mayne and Morphosis Architects. This will
Parsons Brinckerhoff, New York, has named Norman Rhodes tunnel services director in the firm's mechanical and electrical technical excellence center. Related Links: ENR New York Featured People in ENR New York OwenThe U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, New York District, has announced a change of command with incoming commander Col. Paul E.Owen replacing commander Col. John R. Boule II. Owen has a bachelor's degree in aerospace engineering, a master's in engineering management and another in nuclear engineering. WSP Sells, Albany, N.Y., has hired Brian Doherty as design manager of the major projects group for the New York State Dept. of Transportation,
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