The new $20 million TKTS booth, perched on a wedge at Broadway and 47th St., has already become a bright and welcoming fixture in Times Square since its completion in October 2008: with the expanded plaza, the luminescent red stairs that are the roof to the ticket booths below already act as an amphitheater for the bright-lights, big-city show of the surroundings while offering a respite from the chaos. Related Links: Best Of 2009 Its creation, however, was far more patchy than the smooth glass surfaces would suggest. It took five years alone to build consensus and raise funds for

The Mark Hotel, a landmark of Manhattan’s Upper East Side, received a facelift and partial conversion to condominiums in a $124 million renovation project that resurrected a New York City institution while still preserving its Jazz Age charm. Related Links: Best Of 2009 “We took an old building and breathed new life into it, with the same level of finishes from the 1920s and integrated it with sophisticated electronics,” says Michael Pardee, project executive with F.J. Sciame Construction Co. of New York. “We maintained the original beauty and architectural detail.” Sciame began work on the prestigious property in April 2007

The Visionaire, the Albanese Organization’s third project in the green haven that is Manhattan’s Battery Park City, raises the bar for high performance residential building. Related Links: Best Of 2009 In June the $193 million project earned LEED Platinum certification from the U.S. Green Building Council, surpassing the developer’s earlier “green” residential high rises, The Solaire and The Verdesian, in terms of energy efficiency, indoor air quality and water management. Designed by Pelli Clark Pelli, New Haven, Conn., the 35-story 500,000-sq-ft tower with a 10-story base saves 35% more energy than similar buildings. The sleek tower contains 247 condominiums and

As construction work went underway on New York City’s most famous new public open space – the elevated High Line conversion on Manhattan’s West Side – something a bit more exclusive was going up at the same time, quite literally straddling the new park. Related Links: Best Of 2009 Following its renovation, the Johnson Chapel has become the spiritual heart of New York City’s Trinity School, providing a space for meditation, reflection and worship for all students and faculty. Architects Butler Rogers Baskett studied various elements in the space and explored ways to synthesize building systems such that design elements

The new Performing and Fine Arts school in East Orange, N.J. is a project 30 years in the making that combined the best intentions of several individuals and organizations seeking to improve one of the most underprivileged African-American communities in the country. Related Links: Best Of 2009 Named after Oscar-nominated actress Cicely L. Tyson, the $143 million project first reached the concept stage in 2003. Complex site preparation conditions - including the demolition of the original, nearly century-old school, and several commercial and residential structures, which required the relocation of 180 families. An important objective on the project was guaranteed

An innovative erection scheme facilitated a $10 million project to widen and rehabilitate an existing concrete arch bridge carrying Country Route 3 (CR3) / Wellwood Avenue, over the Southern State Parkway in Babylon, N.Y. The nearly half-mile stretch of CR3 was plagued by traffic jams and accidents prompting officials to conduct an improvement study, which recommended widening the road 15-ft and providing two additional left turn lanes onto the ramps. Related Links: Best Of 2009 Two cast-in-place concrete arch bridges support the existing roadway. One was built in 1934 by Robert Moses as part of the original four-lane SSP and

With gale force winds, snow covered ground eight months out of the year, temperatures dropping below freezing and an unexpected storm costing millions in damages, the ahead-of-schedule completion of the Mount Washington Hotel & Resort improvement project was especially sweet for contractors Parsons Brinkerhoff/Hutter Construction and designers TRO Jung Brannen and Beaty + Brown. Related Links: Best Of 2009 “It was a very harsh environment,” said James Anderson, Parsons Brinckerhoff area construction manager. “In that type of environment, you’re fortunate if you can get in six months of ideal working conditions, so we were met with some real challenges since

Brooklyn Children’s Museum added a new $32.2 million facility with a bold design youngsters find inviting. Its glittering envelope of yellow ceramic tiles creates a striking attraction in the ethnically diverse residential neighborhood of Crown Heights. The building achieved LEED-Silver certification, making it the first green museum in the city. Related Links: Best Of 2009 Rafael Violy Architects of New York designed the 55,000-sq-ft addition for the New York City Department of Design and Construction, and Skanska USA Building of New York completed the project in November 2008. The L-shaped, two-story expansion adjoins the existing, belowground museum. More than 8

The $320 million, three-phase, multiyear Narragansett Bay Commission’s Combined Sewerage Overflow Program sought to eliminate sewer overflows into Rhode Island’s Narragansett Bay. “It’s been live 11 months and has captured 1 billion gallons of waste,” says Joseph Pratt, senior vice president of The Louis Berger Group of Providence, R.I., the project’s program manager. “It was just an overall success. It worked better than anyone thought it would.” Related Links: Best Of 2009 The project began in May 2001, wrapped up in October 2008, and the phase I facilities began operation on November 1, 2008. The system collects and temporarily stores

In June 2009 National Grid completed a $50 million project to clean up a former manufactured gas plant site polluted with toxic tars and chemicals in Sag Harbor. Related Links: Best Of 2009 Built in 1859, the plant, located in downtown Sag Harbor, operated until 1931. Production ceased after Long Island Gas Corporation purchased the site in 1929 and linked its gas distribution system to the company’s natural gas pipelines. LILCO subsequently dismantled the plant and gas storage facilities. But by-products of the operation, toxic tars and chemicals, polluted the soils beneath the site. National Grid, the current owner, and