Helping to further the revitalization of Coney Island, The Wildlife Conservation Society has received approval from the New York City Public Design Commission for a new 50,000-sq-ft exhibit called Ocean Wonders: Shark, at the nearly 115-year-old New York Aquarium in Coney Island, Brooklyn. Rendering courtesy of WCS “This exciting new shark exhibit will attract people from far and wide to visit the New York Aquarium,” said New York City Councilman Domenic M. Recchia, Jr. “The revitalization of Coney Island is already attracting record-breaking crowds and Ocean Wonders: Shark is an important piece of our ultimate goal- establishing Coney Island as

Early autumn of 2010 may well have been the rock bottom point for the New York region�s design and construction market. That�s when it was clear that its few active sectors � healthcare, K-12 schools, and higher education � had backlogs drying up and new projects delayed, adding to gloom that had already enveloped private commercial and residential construction. Related Links: Subcontractors in Distress Labor Contract Showdown And then came the New Jersey governor’s announcement that the state was abandoning its commitment to the $8.7 billion Trans-Hudson Express Tunnel project – which would have built a passenger rail tunnel and

Few construction industry leaders believe they�ll see a turnaround in the first half of 2011 in the New York region. But they may see one an important milestone by midyear when 30 New York City labor-contractor collective bargaining agreements are set to expire on July 1. Related Links: How To Get Work in 2011 The current crop includes some of the biggest unions, including the steamfitters, operating engineers, carpenters, and laborers. And a standoff looms over costs, says Louis Coletti, president and CEO of the Building Trades Employers’ Association. Coletti says contractors are getting pressure from owners’ groups, such as

While some signs suggest the economic downturn has reached bottom, construction activity in the New York region still languishes with little optimism for a quick rebound. �It�s very much a mixed picture in terms of what to expect,� says Kenneth D. Simonson chief economist of Associated General Contractors of America in Arlington, Va. �Construction is now at or close to its low point and should start showing improvement in most categories by the end of 2011.� Related Links: How To Get Work in 2011 Data from McGraw-Hill Analytics indicates a slight decline in new starts in 2011 as compared to

Among the darkest clouds looming over 2011 for the New York region�s construction industry is the state of subcontractors � and how many of them may falter this year. Related Links: How To Get Work in 2011 “The subcontractor community is starting to see the wear and tear of this recession,” says Joe Hogan, v.p. for building services at the Associated General Contractors of New York in Albany. “The risk of subs defaulting on projects is getting greater, and [general] contractors now have to look for signs of stress.” Contractors and subcontractors generally aren’t the best judges of their own

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has added New York City’s Newtown Creek to its Superfund list, which prioritizes cleanup and remediation efforts for the country’s most hazardous waste sites. div id="articleExtrasA" div id="articleExtrasB" div id="articleExtras" The 3.8-mile-long Newtown Creek, which runs along the border of Brooklyn and Queens, was found to be contaminated with polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), volatile organic compounds (VOCs), pesticides and metals. One of the most active industrial areas in New York City was adjacent to the creek for many years. This is the city’s second site assigned to the Superfund List. Brooklyn’s Gowanus Canal was added in

According to an analysis made by the New York Building Congress, New York City local construction costs have increased from .8% to 4.9% through the first three quarters of 2010 with construction spending in New York remaining above $20 billion a year. Nationwide, construction costs have increased between .1% and 7.2%. div id="articleExtrasA" div id="articleExtrasB" div id="articleExtras" Using a series of surveys in its analysis including Engineering News-Record’s Building Cost Index which shows that construction costs in New York City have risen by 3.3% in 2010, after a .9% decline in 2009 while nationwide, costs have increased by 5.6%, the

A contract for the above and below-grade construction of the $176 million, 180,000-sq-ft, Fulton Street Transit Center has been awarded to Plaza Construction of New York who will serve as the General Contractor along with Schiavone Construction of Secaucus, New Jersey. Rendering Courtesy of the MTA The $176 million, 180,000-sq-ft Fulton Street Transit Center is scheduled to open in 2014. div id="articleExtrasA" div id="articleExtrasB" div id="articleExtras" Construction on the center which is said to modernize this major Manhattan subway complex began in December 2008 but Plaza Construction’s work isn’t scheduled to begin until this coming February following the erection of

41 Cooper Square, Cooper Union College’s new academic building located on Third Avenue between East 6th and 7th Streets has been awarded LEED Platinum, the highest LEED certification by the U.S. Green Building Council. The building has been verified by the Green Building Certification Institute and is the first academic building in New York City to achieve this status. div id="articleExtrasA" div id="articleExtrasB" div id="articleExtras" The LEED certification achieved by the nine-story, 175,000-sq-ft 41 Cooper Square was based on green design and construction features including radiant heating and cooling ceiling panels, a building skin made of perforated aluminum steel panels

Michael Sackaris, the former owner of Copiague, New York-based Nu-Way Crane Service has been sentenced to two to six years in state prison for offering bribes to the Acting Chief Inspector for Cranes and Derricks for the New York State Department of Buildings, James Delayo. div id="articleExtrasA" div id="articleExtrasB" div id="articleExtras" Sackaris, 50, pleaded guilty back in May to offering cash bribes ranging from $200 to $500 on approximately twenty occasions in exchange for falsification of crane inspections and operator licenses. Delayo accepted the cash payments totaling more than $10,000 and pled guilty to bribe receiving in the second degree.