Rendering: Micielli + Wyetzner Architects The Fire Department of New York has started construction on a two-story, 12,400-sq-ft Emergency Medical Service Station located on Metropolitan Avenue near Bedford Street in Greenpoint, Brooklyn. The new station, designed by Michielli + Wyetzner of New York, is part of FDNY’s plan to improve response time to medical emergencies throughout the city.   The new station will be divided into four parts with the first floor designed to store four emergency vehicles, a vehicle support zone and personal protective equipment storage area, a lieutenant’s office and other administrative spaces. The second floor will house

The 100-year-old Portal Bridge that crosses the Hackensack River between Kearny and Seacaucus, N.J. will receive $38.5 million in funding through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act for the final design of a new bridge, announced United States Senators Frank R. Lautenberg, Robert Mendez and U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood. The replacement of the two-track bridge will help to lessen the amount of delays to the Northeast Corridor passenger service, increase capacity and reliability. Approximately 420 passenger trains use the current bridge each weekday. Photo: HNTB “The Portal Bridge is a major chokepoint for thousands of commuters every day and

New York City Union Carpenters rank and file members staged a rally at union headquarters in Manhattan April 12 protesting corruption within council leadership and proposed changes to wages and mobility rules. Following the “Rally for Solidarity,” New York City District Council of Carpenters Supervisor Frank Spencer countered that the council is reforming itself. “I fully respect the concerns expressed by our membership,” said Spencer in a prepared statement. “The leadership of the District Council has offered a strong proposal to amend its bylaws that expand democracy within the New York City operation and provide further financial transparency. We are

Rendering: Courtesy of Sun Associates NobleStrategy, a construction management firm with offices in Harlem, Long Island City and Newark, N.J. and Reality House, Inc., a company that provides substance abuse, HIV treatment and prevention services to New Yorkers, has broken ground on a 21,000-sq-ft substance abuse outpatient treatment facility and community residence for veterans located at 8-12 Astoria Boulevard in Astoria, N.Y. NobleStrategy will be coordinating the development of the three-story building, which will feature ground-floor stone and decorative masonry with a full-height aluminum mesh front façade. The new 30-bed Astoria Reality House will provide housing for veterans for up

SnapShot  April 11, 2011 Submitted By: Fraser MacMannis for Barker Steel LLC, Milford, Mass. “I wanted to create an image that goes against what people typically think when they think of people working with steel: dull, colorless, dirty and dangerous,” says MacMannis, who used a Nikon D200 with an 18-200mm lens at f3.5 at Barker Steel’s Avenel, N.J., shop. The goal was to show the importance of safety in the workplace. “To make sure I showed this properly, I overexposed it a little and increased the saturation,” he says. Photographer: Fraser MacMannis

New York University updated details on its proposed expansion at Washington Square in hopes of quelling public criticism of plans to re-imagine two superblocks. In November, NYU abandoned efforts to build its controversial 400-ft-tall Fourth Tower, which critics claimed would have dwarfed the I.M. Pei-designed Silver Towers on the site. New plans aim to meet academic space needs without exceeding the height of the Silver Towers and without use of eminent domain. Rendering Courtesy Of New York University NYU A bird’s eye view of NYU’s latest expansion project, looking northwest. If approved, the complex will include new academic buildings and

On The Scene   April 11, 2011 Frank Gehry’s Guests from the architecture, design and real estate world gathered on March 19 at the 76th floor penthouse of Frank Gehry�s New York by Gehry building to celebrate the architect�s 82nd birthday and the formal opening of the 870-ft, stainless steel-clad lower Manhattan tower. The event�s host, Bruce Ratner, chairman and CEO of Forest City Ratner Cos., presented Gehry with a 40-inch silver birthday cake shaped like a tower designed by the architect as guests sang “Happy Birthday.” Pictured from left: Berta Gehry, U2 frontman Bono, Frank Gehry and Bono�s wife, Ali

Alan Gaynor + Co., New York, an architecture, interior design and planning firm that recently became certified as an official Womens Business Enterprise by the Womens Business Enterprise National Council, has promoted Michele Boddewyn to president. Slide Show Caption: Studio 5 Partnership, an architecture and design firm in Glen Rock, N.J., hired Joanne Cimiluca as director of marketing and business development. She is responsible for generating new business relationships, cultivating existing strategic partnerships and building the firms overall brand recognition. Cimilucas marketing experience includes business development, advertising and brand building strategies. Bendheim, a specialty glass provider based in Passaic, N.J.,

New York Citys Waterways could see nearly $3 billion in improvements under a plan released by city officials in March. Rendering Courtesy Of Shop Architects Caption: Pier 15 Located south of South Street Seaport and north of Wall Street, Pier 15 is part of the East River esplanade planned in lower Manhattan, one of 130 projects in the citys waterfront plan. The Waterfront Vision and Enhancement Strategy, led by the Dept. of City Planning, represents the first citywide plan for the waterfront in almost two decades and aims to reconnect New Yorkers with the waterfront. The first of two components

New York University updated details on its proposed expansion at Washington Square in hopes of quelling public criticism of plans to re-imagine two superblocks. In November, NYU abandoned efforts to build its controversial 400-ft-tall Fourth Tower, which critics claimed would have dwarfed the I.M. Pei-designed Silver Towers on the site. New plans aim to meet academic space needs without exceeding the height of the Silver Towers and without use of eminent domain. Rendering Courtesy Of New York University Caption: NYU A birds eye view of NYUs latest expansion project, looking northwest. If approved, the complex will include new academic buildings