Luxury residential tower construction is helping to push New York City construction spending levels near those accrued during industry’s 2007 and 2008 heydays, according to a new study.The city’s 2014 residential-sector spending alone is expected to reach $10.9 billion—nearly a third of the $32.9 billion total forecast for the year, according to the latest New York Building Congress (NYBC) forecast. If residential spending reaches that amount, it will be up about 60% from 2013.But the number of new dwelling units produced is expected to rise just 22% to 22,500 this year, increasing to only 23,250 in 2015, the study

Related Links: 2013 Conference: Push to Boost STEM Student Body Helps College Building Programs Viewpoint: The Coming Revolution in Engineering Education Higher-education construction has been recession-proof nationwide, but particularly in New York City. The city has more than 500,000 higher-ed students, more than anywhere else in the U.S., and building is expected to continue, said speakers at ENR New York's "Higher Education" conference, held on Oct. 16 in New York City.Most of the new recruits have grown up during the digital age and expect their schools to be suitably equipped, speakers said. Besides adding housing and classrooms, schools are expanding

New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio announced two infrastructure investments in early October that amount to a total of $201 million. Most recently, the mayor said the city would spend $173 million to upgrade 35 community parks in densely populated neighborhoods with higher-than-average concentrations of poverty. Separately, he announced plans to invest $28 million to install a total of 6.25 megawatts of solar power on the rooftops of 24 public schools by 2016.The first phase of the City Parks Initiative will use $130 million in capital funding to promote the full re-creation of the parks; $7.2 million in expense

From the $4.6-billion Manhattan West complex to the $3.9-billion Tappan Zee Bridge replacement span, the 2013 start-up of megaprojects in and around New York City has brightened prospects for specialty contractors with work forces large enough to handle the loads, say industry executives.

Tata & Howard, Inc. has acquired the assets of civil engineering consultancy Roald Haestad, Inc. (RHI), for an undisclosed sum. Both firms specialize in water-related consulting engineering services and are based in Waterbury, Conn. The deal adds to the growing list of mergers and acquisitions of industry firms operating in the tristate region. This includes WSP Global Inc.’s recently announced plan to buy Parsons Brinckerhoff from Balfour Beatty for $1.35 billion. Photo by Sue Pearsall Coming Together: Industry merger and acquisition activity is heating up. T&H focuses on water, wastewater, stormwater and hazardous water engineering services. The deal bolsters its

In the first two days after Sandy's devastating blow on Oct. 29, 2012, several of the region's largest general contractors began a massive mobilization effort throughout the areas hit the hardest.

By many accounts, the perception is that federal, state and local relief funds in the wake of Superstorm Sandy have been much too slow to trickle down to the people and projects that need them. To be sure, there are signs of significant progress in New York and New Jersey—the states hardest hit by the October 2012 storm. Huge debris piles are gone; major infrastructure was repaired; many devastated homes torn down, repaired and/or elevated; and innovative ideas realized to prevent or withstand the next storm's damage  But for thousands of storm victims and many projects, government reimbursement checks are

There are numerous Sandy rebuilding programs in place for homeowners and businesses throughout the region. Two large ones that launched last year with federal dollars are New Jersey's Reconstruction, Rehabilitation, Elevation and Mitigation initiative and New York City's Build It Back. While each program had contentious beginnings, both appear to be gaining momentum. Courtesy Of The NYC Mayor's Office of Housing Recovery Gaining Speed: New York City's Build It Back program has so far begun work on 207 projects and another 300 are scheduled to start. Courtesy Of The NYC Mayor's Office of Housing Recovery Gaining Speed: New York City's

New York City is known for many things, but massive space isn't one of them. So when the city's Office of Emergency Management (OEM) and its Dept. of Design and Construction (DDC) set about finding an interim housing solution for urbanites displaced by disasters such as Superstorm Sandy, they came up with an idea for a three-apartment unit with about 2,106 ft of living space, which was set on an empty 96-ft by 40-ft lot in downtown Brooklyn. Photo Courtesy of NYC Office of Emergency Management The Next BIG IDEA? The city hopes this little unit might one day be

Amid criticism for taking too long to fill major vacancies in his administration, New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio chose Rick Chandler as the new commissioner of the Dept. of Buildings last month. Chandler replaces Thomas Fariello, acting commissioner, who took the helm after Robert LiMandri resigned at the end of last year. A professional engineer, Chandler has served as Hunter College's assistant vice president of facilities. His prior experience includes serving as borough commissioner of Queens, Brooklyn and the Bronx from 1995 to 2002."The stakes of this work are incredibly high," Chandler said in a statement. "We're there