AIA Opens Center for Architecture

The American Institute of Architects New York Chapter unveiled the new Center for Architecture, a cultural institution devoted to the role of architecture in urban life.

The center is located in a former industrial space at 538 LaGuardia Place between Bleeker and West Third Streets. The 12,000-sq.-ft. facility, renovated at a cost of $2.5 million, includes galleries, a lecture hall, public resource center, library, meeting rooms and administrative offices for the chapter and its charitable affiliate, the New York Foundation for Architecture.

Andrew Berman Architect, the architect on the project, and IBEX, the general contractor, were selected after a competitive bid process that included 80 submissions. Both the architect and the construction team have collaborated to realize a substantial alteration to an existing building and a new application of geothermal climate-control technology.

Boat Tour Highlights Waterfront Opportunities

The New York Building Congress hosted more than 100 design, construction and real estate industry representatives on a tugboat tour of the East River waterfront. The purpose of the event was to review development opportunities and priorities for the region's underutilized waterfront.

Featured public sector speakers included New York City Planning Commission chairman Amanda Burden, New York City Economic Development Corporation C.O.O. Joshua Sirefman, Queens West Development Corporation president Alexander P. Federbush, Brooklyn Navy Yard Development Corp. president Eric Deutsch and Governors Island Preservation and Education Corp. president-designate James Lima.

Featured speakers from the real estate and construction community included Building Congress chairman Marilyn Jordan Taylor, who is also chairman of Skidmore, Owings and Merrill, and Building Congress Economic Development Committee co-chairmen Daniel R. Tishman, chairman and CEO of Tishman Realty and Construction, and Robert E. Selsam, senior vice president of Boston Properties.

The tour included views of sites along the waterfront at Long Island City, Queens West, Greenpoint/Williamsburg, the Brooklyn Navy Yard, DUMBO, Governors Island and Lower Manhattan.

New Website for BTEA

The Building Trades Employers' Association has a new website at www.bteany.com. The site contains information about news, special events and safety courses, industry updates and jurisdictional dispute decisions. Green Book decisions of the New York Plan for the Resolution of Jurisdictional Disputes and the 2003 Addendum are also available online.

Mailbox Retrofit Requirements Eased

At the urging of the Federation of New York Housing Cooperatives and Condominiums and other organizations, the United States Postal Service (USPS) has temporarily agreed to drop its proposed rules requiring apartment owners in existing buildings to retrofit USPS mailboxes to the larger size specifications for new construction.

However, the USPS is reserving the right to apply retrofit requirements to current equipment when existing mailboxes are replaced due to normal wear and tear.

The USPS determined it needed to devise new specifications for apartment mailboxes due to consumer complaints about identity theft and damaged mail due to small, cramped mailboxes. Also, the USPS claims that parcel service has increased and mail carriers are suffering injuries from sharp mailbox parts.

Groups Developing Contractor Licensing Test

The National Association of the Remodeling Industry (NARI), the Nassau County Consumer Affairs Department and the Building Inspectors Association of Nassau County (BIANCO) are developing a home improvement contractor licensing test in Nassau County.

Under the initiative, general contractors would be required to take a skill exam - similar to those taken by plumbers and electricians - prior to receiving a license.

NARI and BIANCO began the licensing initiative because of criticism the remodeling industry has received in recent years due to problems with unlicensed and inexperienced contractors.

Click here for more Association News >>