New York City officials announced today the first citywide plan for the waterfront in almost two decades and one that aims to reconnect New Yorkers with the waterfront. Image courtesy of NYC Department of City Planning The Blue Network map shows where New Yorkers can enter not just the waterfront but the water via boats, kayaks, canoes, ferry landings, etc. Image courtesy of NYC Department of City Planning The public access map shows the new or expanded parks, greenways and esplanades that are coming. Dubbed the Waterfront Vision and Enhancement Strategy, it consists of a two-component, three-year plan, led by

Scott Fisher was promoted to the position of vice president of information services for Barnhill Contracting Co. in Raleigh, N.C. Fisher previously served as the company’s IT director. PRIVITERA FISHER Brendan Horgan was named chief executive officer of Sunbelt Rentals, an equipment rental firm based in Fort Mill, S.C. Horgan, who replaces Joe Phelan , has been with Sunbelt Rentals for the past 15 years, previously serving as chief operating officer and chief sales officer. Randy Thron was named senior vice president of federal programs for BRPH in Melbourne, Fla. He has been with BRPH for 25 years. David Privitera,

The U. S. Green building Council has announced the recipients of the 2010 LEED (leadership in energy and environmental design) for Homes Awards recognizing projects, developers and homebuilders who have raised the standard in residential building. Image Courtesy Of Bernstein Associates; Sam Schwartz Engineering The Eltona is the first affordable rental LEED Platinum building in New York state. Three New York-area projects earned recognition in such categories as affordable housing projects and developers. Blue Sea Development of New York was honored with the Outstanding Affordable Developer award for three projects: the LEED Platinum General Colin L. Powell Apartments, Morrisinia Homes

Through a $92-million contract, Skanska USA Building will construct two laboratory buildings at the City University of New York in Harlem for the Dormitory Authority of the State of New York. Rendering Courtesy Of Skanska The $92-million CUNY laboratory buildings that Skanksa will be constructing are scheduled to be completed by the summer of 2014. The contractor has already begun construction on a 474,000-sq-ft research building that will include laboratories, a cafeteria and a 100-seat lecture hall as well as a 248,000-sq-ft second laboratory building for biology, chemistry and physics. Skanska has also recently completed two additional buildings for teaching

Sam Schwartz Engineering,a transportation consulting firm based in New York City, aiming to expand operations in the Midwest, acquired Metro Transportation Group Inc., a Chicago-based traffic engineering, planning and design and signal systems company. Photo by Kristin Golojuch Dave Miller “Metro brings to Sam Schwartz Engineering a rich 30-year history of working on some of the most significant projects in Illinois and the region while significantly increasing our Midwest footprint,” said Rob Phillips, executive vice president and COO of Sam Schwartz Engineering. Metro’s major projects include the development of a traffic management plan for Northwestern University, a metered parking survey

SnapShot  March 7, 2011 Construction of the $48-million Soho Beach House Construction of the $48-million Soho Beach House, a members-only hotel in Miami, involved the historical restoration of the 1940s-era Hotel Sovereign. A section of the existing hotel was removed to make way for a 17-story tower. The addition of a rooftop amenities deck on the eighth floor of the existing hotel required structural enhancements. Contractor Moss & Associates worked with local architect Allan T. Shulman. Photographer: Angi Gatica Submitted By: Mark Sell, director of client services, Wragg & Casas Public Relations, Miami

public school 62, located on a 3.5-acre site at the intersection of Crabtree Avenue and Bloomingdale Road in Staten Island, will be the city’s first net-zero-energy school upon its completion in approximately two to three years. Construction is scheduled to begin in the summer of 2012. The New York office of architect Skidmore, Owings & Merrill LLP has been selected to design the 444-seat, 700,000-sq-ft school, which will include pre-kindergarten and kindergarten classes. The plan for the school follows a request for proposals put out by the New York City School Construction Authority, which has been making progress on energy-saving

The design team has delivered the final plan for construction of the $150-million New Brunswick Gateway Transit Village. The 632,000-sq-ft, mixed-use building at the intersection of Somerset Street and Easton Avenue in downtown New Brunswick, N. J., will link the Rutgers University campus as well as the larger community to the local train station. Photo: Meltzer/Mandl Architects Construction on the $150- million New Brunswick Gateway Transit Village is scheduled for completion by January 2012. Meltzer/Mandl Architects, New York, designed the transit village and completed the final documents for construction on the project—which first broke ground in January 2010—on behalf of

Lorraine Grillo has been appointed by Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg as president of the New York City School Construction Authority. The agency manages new school construction and renovation of the city’s existing school buildings for the Dept. of Education. Grillo had been interim president since April 2010. She filled the slot vacated by Sharon Greenberger, appointed by the mayor and then-Schools Chancellor Joel I. Klein to chief operating officer for the Dept. of Education. Klein has been succeeded by Cathie Black. Black’s critics note that she is a close friend of Bloomberg and former Hearst Corp. CEO, but has no

AAH Construction Corp. of Long Island City, N.Y., and Navillus Contracting of New York have been selected to work directly under construction manager STV Construction Inc. to perform the interior and exterior modernization of the Ingersoll and Whitman housing complexes in Brooklyn, N.Y. AAH and Navillus are both members of the New York City Carpenters Labor Management Corp. The agency was created to promote the use of union contractors and laborers. The New York City Housing Authority tapped the two companies under its Construction Management/Build Program. The $101.3-million revitalization project is one of the largest housing renovations in the country.