Arts Commission Recognizes 10 NYC Projects

The New York City Art Commission recently honored 10 public projects for excellence in design, while celebrating the 25th anniversary of its annual awards gala.

The projects honored for excellence in design this year were:

• Reconstruction of Father Duffy Square and replacement of the TKTS Booth: Perkins Eastman Architects, William Fellows Architects
• Construction of the Glen Oaks Branch of the Queens Library: Marble Fairbanks Architects
• Construction of visitor center  at the Poe Park grand concourse in the Bronx: Tohiko Mori, Architect
• Installation of Timecast by Nobuho Nagasawa and streetscape improvements in Brooklyn’s Columbia Waterfront District: Nobuho Nagasawa, Artist; Mathews Nielsen Landscape Architects
• Firehouse for Rescue Company 3, Bronx: Polshek Partnership Architects
• Construction of CaVaLa Park, and installation of a sculptural fountain: NYC Department of Parks & Recreation, Elyn Zimmerman, Artist
• EMS Station 50 at the Queens Hospital Center: Dean/Wolf Architects
• Playground at Staten Island’s Seaside Nature Park: Department of Parks & Recreation
• DHS Family Center, Bronx: Polshek Partnership Architects
• Citywide street furniture installation: GRIMSHAW Architects.

“These ten projects exemplify the ideals of high-quality and innovative public design,” said Mayor Michael Bloomberg, who was on hand to honor the winners.

In addition to the honoring the projects, the commission also handed out a special recognition award to Mike Frielander, director of special projects for the New York City Department of Sanitation, for his many capital project designs.

The 11-member commission serves as the city’s design review agency, reviewing permanent works of art, architecture and landscape architecture proposed for any city-owned property.

ACP Raises $45K For Soldiers

As part of its 125th anniversary celebration, the Association of Contracting Plumbers of New York City raised $45,000 for the Wounded Warrior Project, a charity that assists returning injured soldiers.

The money was raised at the ACP’s annual charity golf outing at the Sleepy Hollow Country Club in Westchester.

“These wounded warriors are young men and women who have made great sacrifices so that we may enjoy our freedoms,” said ACP President Vincent Aspromonte. “This is our little way of giving something back to these heroes.”

The Wounded Warrior Project helps returning victims of traumatic injuries including gunshot wounds, burn and blast injuries, and amputations. The program offers rehabilitation and recovery through adaptive sports and recreation programs, morale-boosting exercises, and counseling to prepare them for life after injury.

“While these soldiers face great challenges on the road to recovery, the [Wounded Warrior Program] makes the recovery a little easier,” said Ralph DeMartino, chairman of the ACP’s golf outing committee. “We hope our contribution will [make] that recovery even easier.”

The ACP, which has installed the sanitary systems all over the city for 125 years, is the oldest organization of its kind in the U.S.

Concrete Associations Honor

The New Jersey Concrete and Aggregate Association and the New Jersey Chapter of the American Concrete Institute recently honored Bloomfield, N.J.-based Dewberry for two projects completed in 2006.

Members of both organizations selected voted to give Awards of Merit recognizing Dewberry’s work on the Conrail Bridge replacement in Freehold Township, Monmouth County, as well as streetscape improvements in the Borough of Ramsey.

The Conrail Bridge project called for the replacement of the existing structure. In its place, a two-span, continuous steel girder bridge, with a composite reinforced concrete deck, was built. Architectural treatments using concrete were also incorporated into the new bridge’s concrete parapets, piers and abutments.

For the Borough of Ramsey project, the firm developed an entire streetscape program, which borough officials considered to be the centerpiece of the revival of the downtown business district.

Funded by the municipality, as well as NJDOT grant dollars, the project included improved lighting, stamped concrete sidewalks, concrete curb, decorative crosswalks, and the landscaping of several boulevard-dividing islands.

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