The New York City Dept. of Environmental Protection (DEP) announced on Nov. 7 that all construction managers working on its $14-billion capital construction program are required to be certified. The announcement was made at the Construction Management Association of America’s national conference in Washington, DC. “We are raising the bar,” says Kevin Donnelly, deputy DEP commissioner. “In order for us to be successful, we recognize that we need to change our organization, both internally and externally.”The DEP will expect more leadership from its construction managers in areas such as safety, quality management, risk management, and the timely resolution of issues.“Our
Gotham Organization Inc.’s $520-million Gotham West, a four-building, mixed-use residential building that spans from West 44th to West 45th Streets between 10th and 11th Avenues in Manhattan, broke ground on Nov. 7. The 1,200-unit complex, scheduled for completion in 2014, is expected to create more than 2,900 construction and construction-related jobs and 34 permanent jobs over the next three years. Rendering Courtesy of Gotham Organization Inc. The groundbreaking follows an agreement reached in June in which key New York City unions, including laborers and structural trades, agreed to a 20% wage cut for work on the Gotham West project.Gotham Construction
Seven educational institutions including Columbia University, Cornell University, New York University, and Stanford University have responded to Applied Sciences NYC’s Oct. 28 deadline in a request for proposals to build or expand a state-of-the-art engineering and applied sciences campus in New York City in exchange for access to city-owned land and up to $100 million in city capital, says the office of Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg. Applied Sciences NYC is an initiative created by the city that is expected to help drive the economy. According to the New York Economic Development Corp., the new applied sciences campus will generate an
A construction worker died Nov. 8 after rescuers pulled him from wreckage at a Brooklyn, N.Y., condominium project under construction. Four other workers were also rescued from the rubble at 2929 Brighton Fifth Street in the Brighton Beach section, according to a New York Times account. Three were listed in stable condition, according to news accounts. A fifth worker who was working outside the building refused to be treated. New York Dept. of Buildings engineers, in a preliminary investigation, theorized that the building’s collapse could have resulted from workers not following proper concrete pour practices, says a DOB spokesperson.
Arverne by the Sea YMCA has chosen Racanelli Construction Co., Melville, N.Y., to provide general contractor/construction management services on a new $17.3-million project in Queens. Construction on the two-story, 36,600-sq-ft building began in September and is expected to be completed by March 2013. Rendering Courtesy of Donald Blair Architects The project will be built on a 2.2-acre site, part of the 117-acre Arverne-by-the-sea residential community in Arverne, N.Y. The facility will be constructed out of a piled foundation and contain concrete and structural steel framing. It will include a partial basement with a pool hall, locker rooms, conference rooms, multi-purpose
The failure of a nut connecting a fuel injector to a fuel pump at Manhattan’s North River Wastewater Treatment Plant is one of the most likely initial causes of the four-alarm fire that shuttered the plant for days last July, according to a Dept. of Environmental Protection report released yesterday. However, the initial cause of the blaze, which caused millions of gallons of raw sewage to spill from the plant into the Hudson River, cannot be determined with absolute certainty because the fire damaged or destroyed much of the equipment involved, DEP says. The nut may have failed because it
Macy’s announced today that it will invest $400 million in a four-year renovation of its Herald Square flagship store in Midtown Manhattan. Work is scheduled to begin in early spring 2012 and will continue in phases through the fall of 2015. The project is expected to create about 1,600 construction jobs and 800 permanent jobs. Rendering Courtesy of Macy's The majority of each floor and department as well as the exterior of the building will be renovated as the store remains open to customers, Macy’s says. The renovation will include a 100,000-sq-ft expansion of selling space to a total of
Forest City Ratner Companies, Brooklyn, N.Y., has canceled its plan to build the Four Sparrows Retail Center at Mill Basin on Flatbush Ave., in Brooklyn, according to a recent article in the Wall Street Journal. Forest City Ratner did not return calls by press time. The Mill Basin project, estimated to cost between $15 million and $25 million, according to McGraw-Hill Dodge reports, was to include an 11,000-sq-ft automotive sales and service center as well as a shopping center. It had been scheduled to begin by 2014. AKRF Engineering, New York was the architect on the project and Bical Development
The Connecticut Laborers’ District Council is not a fan of ESPN’s non-union choice of general and site contractors to build a new $100-million, 193,000-sq-ft digital center in Bristol, Conn., and it is encouraging union players in the major sports leagues to boycott ESPN. The district council charges that the GM, Associated Construction Company, Hartford, and site contractor, Mizzy Construction in Plainville, Conn., are non-union shops that “do not pay living wages or follow area standards.” Union members have been picketing the ESPN site. Photo Courtesy of the Conn. Laborers' District Council Neither ESPN nor the contractor firms returned calls for
Gov. Andrew Cuomo has recommended Joseph J. Lhota to serve as chairman and CEO of the Metropolitan Transportation Authority. Lhota, whose appointment is dependent on confirmation from the senate, is expected to start serving as interim CEO within one month. Lhota currently serves as the executive vice president/administration for Madison Square Garden Co. He once served as the NYC commissioner of finance and has been an MTA board member. Lhota also was the NYC deputy mayor for operations under Mayor Rudolph Giuliani, as well as budget director.Gov. Cuomo also selected Nuria Fernandez as COO of the MTA, and Kevin Rae