Downtown Juggling Act

Agencies Work To Keep Projects Running Smoothly

The biggest threat to the billions of dollars of construction work in Lower Manhattan may not be time or money after all – it could be coordination.

By Debra Wood

With more than 100 public and private projects in the works in Lower Manhattan, coordination and compromise are paramount to maintaining an area where residents can coexist with a multibillion-dollar rebuilding effort.

One of the biggest challenges for construction teams in Lower Manhattan has been logistics – getting vehicles and equipment in, around and out of more than 70 construction sites below Canal Street between the Hudson and East Rivers. (Photo by Tom Nicholson)

“The massive amount of construction taking place south of Canal Street in Lower Manhattan is great news for the city but presents real challenges for people living and working there now,” New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg has said. “The Lower Manhattan Construction Command Center has brought the construction community together with city and state agencies, elected officials, residents and businesses to focus on issues like traffic management, construction logistics and quality of life.”

Formed by executive orders issued by former New York Gov. George Pataki and Bloomberg in 2004 and reinstituted by Gov. Eliot Spitzer in 2007, the Lower Manhattan Construction Command Center orchestrates construction activity to negotiate priorities and logistics so projects progress with minimal impact on downtown residents.

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To move construction forward “takes both careful construction planning and community outreach,” says Avi Schick, chairman of the Lower Manhattan Development Corp. Schick adds, “Lower Manhattan is really in the process of an amazing transformation from a mostly financial area to a 24/7 community where people work, live and play. This makes the role that the Construction Command Center has even more important.”

The LMDC, a subsidiary of the Empire State Development Corp., assists the city in its post-Sept. 11 rebuilding efforts. It funds the LMCCC and provides administrative and legal services. LMDC is taking down the former Deutsche Bank building at 130 Liberty St.

The LMCCC anticipates being fully funded for this year and until the end of 2010, with annual board approvals.

LMCCC activities

“Our major goal is to make sure all of the work down here is done safely and as efficiently as possible, while still maintaining the highest quality of life possible,” says Robert N. Harvey, acting executive director of the LMCCC.

The agency primarily focuses on projects costing more than $25 million and requiring permits to close streets and sidewalks, but it also stays abreast of smaller jobs. It regularly meets with owners, such as the city, the MTA and private owners; regulatory agencies, including the Department of Buildings, the Department of Transportation and Office of Emergency Management; and the community.

LMCCC has established a Construction Coordination Room process to resolve issues and discuss opportunities before World Trade Center jobs or ideas become public. Officials meet daily with a city enforcement task force and weekly with owners to discuss project status.

“Logistics is a large problem,” Harvey says. “We have probably saved more than $200 million in avoided delays. We’ve saved close to $7 million to $10 million a month, and it adds up over time.”

Harvey estimates that during the course of several years, crews will bring into Lower Manhattan more than 1.5 million cu yds of concrete, 400,000 tons of steel and 10,000 to 15,000 workers.

“We will have close to 900 trucks a day at peak coming into Lower Manhattan to fuel all of the various construction projects,” Harvey says.

The LMCCC receives schedules from every project, integrates them, analyzes potential problems and works out conflicts associated with deliveries.

“We do have a stick, at the levels we report to, but we don’t try to use it,” Harvey says. “If you bring reasonable people together and discuss reasonable compromises, they tend to agree to do that.”

All of the entities have committed to environmental performance standards related to air quality, vibration, use of low-sulfur fuels and other factors. The LMCCC enforces compliance.

In addition to coordinating the logistics, the command center keeps neighbors apprised of construction activity and provides a place for concerned residents and businesses to complain about violations and find answers about variances or plans to close streets.

It attends meetings of Community Board 1, which represents the needs and interests of local residents and workers, and collaborates with the Alliance for Downtown New York, another organization dedicated to improving quality of life in the region.

“The LMCCC has been responsive to the needs of the community,” says Lower Manhattan resident Pat Moore, who serves as chair of the Community Board 1 quality of life committee. “We would not have coordination and go-to people if they weren’t there.”

Reaction to construction activity

Public projects, such as the PATH station; rebuilding activity at the World Trade Center site; and private work have taken off. More than 15,000 residences and 20 hotels, with 6,000 rooms, are in the works.

“I don’t think anyone anticipated, even with the tax advantages, that there would be this level of development downtown,” Harvey says.

Harvey adds that construction activity will not peak until the end of 2009 and into 2010.

“The overall progress is reasonable, given the enormity of the challenge,” says Dick Anderson, president of the Building Congress. “The biggest complaint is it is taking longer than people would like, but it’s better to take a little longer and do it right than to rush into a situation and make some serious long-term errors.”

Anderson says certain elements, such what will take the place of the Deutsche Bank, remain unknown. And the cost of all of the components continues to escalate. Still, he says that “the jobs are moving ahead. You don’t hear about jobs grinding to a halt. The shared responsibilities amongst so many public and private organizations, coupled with the unbelievable complexity of the redevelopment, are things that the public needs to appreciate. This is an enormous undertaking.”

Useful Sources:
Lower Manhattan Development Corp.
http://www.lowermanhattan.info

Lower Manhattan Construction Command Center
http://www.lowermanhattan.info/lmccc/overview/

Alliance for Downtown New York
http://www.downtownny.com