Construction Leaders Balk at Proposed Bloomberg Cuts

What a difference two years makes during an economic recession.

In April 2007, Mayor Bloomberg first unveiled PlaNYC, and three goals of his sweeping ten-point plan were devoted to infrastructure initiatives that fell under the rubric MaintaiNYC.

With the mayor’s recently announced proposal to ax capital spending by 30%, he risks withdrawing funding from these same maintenance plans, says Denise Richardson, the Managing Director of the General Contractors Association of New York.

Industry experts argue that New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg’s proposed budget cuts will eliminate thousands of construction-related positions.

“PlaNYC talked about sustaining a level of infrastructure about a year ago today,” she noted.

Worse news for those in the industry is the number of jobs that are estimated to be cut under the proposed budget. Dick Anderson of the Building Congress believes the number can be as high as 10,000 a year for four years on a rolling basis, as well as an additional 5,000 jobs indirectly affected by the construction site.

“When people work in construction, they buy bagels and coffee,” Anderson explains. “So you’re really talking about a total of 15,000 jobs.”

A spokeswoman for Bloomberg argued that Anderson’s projections are based on a $3 billion reduction in capital spending, but the actual reduction is almost half that at $1.8 billion.

She added that the city is legally obligated to balance the budget annually and said that the federal stimulus announced two weeks ago will inject $1.1 billion into transportation infrastructure projects.

The cuts all but insure that the industry-wide slump from the economic recession will continue. “At its peak, the construction industry had 130,000 in the city,” says Anderson. “And it's falling to about 100,000 by next year.” Given this projection, the estimated job losses could represent “eight to 10 percent of the total construction work force,” he warns.

In fact, he projects that the city will lose more money in taxes from the loss of these jobs than it will save in the immediate short term.

“They only save $227 million over four years, and the taxes that are paid by the people who work in those 10,000 jobs amount to more than that – like $260 million in taxes per year,” he says. “By not going ahead with this budget cut, it’s actually paying for itself.”

But Bloomberg says his administration did not arrive at the cuts arbitrarily.

“We don’t have the money. Plain and simple,” he said in a statement. “We have a number of problems and so the City is going to be faced with a smaller capital budget because our debt service is something we can no longer support and our number of employees, unless we can find some way to mitigate the pain.”

One way he plans to do this is to through state and union coffers.

“[We’re] going to go to Albany and ask them to pass a number of laws and we’re working with the municipal unions,” he said.

Until the funding alternatives are secured, he says, people will have to “do more with less.”

Both Anderson and Richardson expressed sympathy with the city’s struggle to control debt service costs.

“I worked for the City for over 20 years before I came to the General Contractors Association,” says Denise Richardson, who has held position at the sanitation department and the MTA. “I understand how difficult it is in times like this to balance the budget, but all that being said, the only place where the city can really create meaningful jobs is in the capital budget expenses.”

“We admire this administration,” agreed Dick Anderson. “We think they know how to run the city, but we think they were too quick to pull the trigger on the capital budget side before they examined some of the issues that were raised.”

When asked why he thought capital spending was being cut, Anderson answered “because it's an easy target,” adding, “There's no big constituency for the capital budget.”

Notwithstanding their goodwill toward the mayor, their opposition to the proposal was swift and pointed. The Building Congress lobbied City Council members, and Councilman Lew Fidler fired off a letter to Bloomberg with 43 total signatures from elected officials. So far, there has been no reply, but the Anderson pointed out that “letter only went out a week ago.”

The letter argued, in part, that “cutting capital budget spending in this recessionary period runs counter the economic policies of President Obama and the Federal government which seek to stimulate our economy with critical infrastructure spending.”

Dated April 2, the letter gives the city almost a month to reconsider its current course. “The mayor releases his revised final budget proposal on May 1,” says Anderson. “We’re hoping that the 30% will be reduced by then, that it isn’t as much. Regardless, we're going to try to get it eliminated entirely.”

Probe of New York Utility Yields New Construction Arrests

Federal prosecutors in Brooklyn, N.Y., announced two new arrests this month related to an ongoing probe of corruption on construction projects for New York City utility Consolidated Edison Corp. The investigation had led to charges filed in January against 10 current and former Con Ed construction officials who allegedly accepted $1 million in kickbacks from contractors, but the contractors were neither identified nor charged at the time.

Now U.S. Attorney Benton J. Campbell has said the alleged corruption occurred in connection with work at Metropolitan Transit Authority and city Dept. of Environmental Protection jobsites where Con Ed was working. According to Campbell, Russell Ball, the 82-year-old founder and CEO of Roadway Construction Inc., Brooklyn, has been charged with paying up to $60,000 in bribes to Con Ed officials on subsurface water main and utility line construction projects between 2002 and 2004. The payments were in exchange for the cooperation of an unnamed Con Ed supervisor in approving inflated invoices for labor and materials. The Con Ed supervisor also shared proceeds with other utility managers, says Campbell.

Under the scheme described by Campbell, the Con Ed supervisor and Ball concocted a scheme in which the Con Ed manager submitted phony invoices to Roadway from a shell company. Ball then drafted checks on the contractor's account payable to the shell company, which were cashed by another Con Ed employee.

Proceeds were then shared by utility employees privy to the scheme.

Also charged separately was Joseph Lioi, 56, a retired chief construction inspector for Con Ed. Authorities allege he solicited and accepted $24,000 in kickbacks from an unnamed contractor on utility projects in suburban Westchester County in 2007 in exchange for approving and expediting inflated invoices. The defendants could not be reached.

Attorneys for Ball and Lioi could not be reached, but the defendants each face up to 10 years in prison and a $250,000 fine, if convicted.

This report originally appeared in Engineering News-Record.

H2M Begins Work on Largest School District Solar Panel Installation on Long Island

Melville, NY-based H2M, along with Johnson Controls, Inc., recently started the Smithtown School District Energy Efficiency Project, the largest school district solar panel installation project, to date on Long Island.

Installed by Johnson Controls, Inc. of Milwaukee, Wisonsin, the solar panels will produce an estimated annual energy production of 1,650,00 kw/hr and will receive an estimated Long Island Power Authority rebate of $495,000. (Photo courtesy of H2M)

H2M assisted Johnson Controls, Inc. in developing a plan that will result in $6.3 million in guaranteed energy savings over the next 18 years by applying energy efficient upgrades and renewable energy production such as high efficiency motors and boilers, automated controls for computers, lights, and vending machines, improvement in building envelope and weatherization, and new110 kw power light interlocking photovoltaic solar panels.

The solar panels were installed by Johnson Controls, Inc. and will produce an estimated annual energy production of 1,650,000 kw/hr, and will receive an estimated Long Island Power Authority (LIPA) rebate of $495,000.

“H2M is proud to be a part of these projects helping to implement the Smithtown School District’s vision,” said Robert M. Scheiner, AIA, PP, Senior Vice President at H2m. “The project demonstrates to the greater Long Island Community that the technology and science exist today cut energy costs which will contribute to Long Island’s energy independence.”

Construction on the Smithtown School District Energy Efficient Project began this past February and is scheduled to be completed by late spring.

Emerging Health Information Technology and Macy’s to Expand in Yonkers

The Board of Yonkers Industrial Development Agency (IDA) recently passed two resolutions that could bring hundreds of construction jobs to the city just north of Manhattan.

One resolution was an agreement to move forward with negotiations for an 8,500-sq-ft expansion of 15,000-sq-ft Emergency Health Information Technology (EHIT) center, a subsidiary of Montefiore Medical Center, at 100 Corporate Drive in Yonkers, New York and to provide an economic development package for Macy’s to proceed with its proposed expansion at the Cross Country Shopping Center, also in Yonkers, New York.

The $4,140,000 EHIT expansion project still has to undergo a public hearing after which a development agreement must come back to Yonkers for IDA approval. If approved, however, the project will include state-of-the-art system upgrades and installations such as a new fire suppression system, cooling and air conditioning systems, new electrical service and a new stationary emergency generator as well as generating 15 new construction jobs and 20 new permanent positions offering an average salary of $50,000 per year, while maintaining 318 existing jobs with an average yearly salary of approximately $100,000.

“This project will allow EHIT not only to better serve Montefiore Medical Center, but be able to provide critical informational technology services to an expanding list of other healthcare providers throughout the region,” said Ellen Lynch, president and CEO of the Yonkers IDA. “The availability of high-quality housing, Yonkers’ central location in the region with easy access by road, air or train, a flourishing downtown and our ability to support a company’s business goals reasonably and responsibly through the work of the IDA make this city an exceptionally attractive place to do business.”

IDA’s second resolution to provide an economic development package for Macy’s to proceed with its proposed expansion was approved.

“The IDA is delighted to be able to provide Macy’s with the support necessary to move forward with this major expansion,” said Ellen Lynch, president and CEO of the Yonkers IDA. “This project is crucial to a continued revitalization of the Cross County Center that will increase revenues for the City of Yonkers and draw in new shoppers. The expansion is also a clear indicator of Yonkers’ vibrancy and attractiveness as a center of business and industry.”

The $27,390,000 project will include 92,500 sq ft of new retail and storage space as well as new public parking facilities generating 225 new construction jobs, 54 new permanent positions at Macy’s wile retaining 375 existing jobs.

The Macy’s expansion is scheduled to start the beginning of June with an expected completion date of April 9, 2010. The interior remodeling of Macy’s is scheduled to begin in January 2010 with an expected completion date of November 30, 2010.

HOK New York to Design Green Public School in NYC

The New York office of HOK Architects has been commissioned by the New York City School Construction Authority to design the new Public School/Intermediate School 48Q (P.S./I.S. 48Q), one of the first schools in the city that will be part of the new “green development” initiative built under the New York City Green School’s Rating System.

The 93,400-sq-ft educational facility is located within Queens District 28, adjacent to Marconi Memorial Park and will accommodate approximately 625 students in 32 classrooms.

The $52.5 million new school’s interior design was based on a combination of the original school’s early 1930’s architecture and the Works Progress Administration (WPA) vision about education. The design of the new center of learning is inspired by art, science, and the already existing school’s stonework façade with a design scheme that reflects everyday activities. The courtyard will also feature an outdoor kinetic art installation by artist, Christopher Green.

The U-shaped structure of the building will be comprised of a five-story, L-shaped “Learning Block” containing the classrooms and a library and a four-story “Activities Block” that will house the auditorium, gymnasium, and cafeteria, two of which the original school was constructed without. And the two blocks surrounding the school will include recurring musical, geological, mathematical, scientific, and artistic symbols. The original school, however, will be preserved and will hold the offices for the New York City Department of Education.

“The new P.S./I.S. 48Q will be the jewel of South Jamaica. We are all very excited about the state of the art learning facility that will accommodate students in grades preK-8,” said Principal, Pat Mitchell.

P.S./I.S. 48Q is scheduled to open in September 2011.

Construction Begins on New Bronx School Designed by Lee Harris Pomeroy Architects

Construction recently began on a combined elementary and middle school in the Bronx.

The $42 million new school is part of the city’s capital plan to add 116,500 seats in the five boroughs by 2012 and is scheduled for occupancy in September 2010. (Rendering by Lee Harris Pomeroy Architects, P.C.)

P.S./I.S. 338, located on Martin Luther King, Jr. Boulevard and Macombs Road in Morris Heights was designed for the New York City School Construction Authority by Lee Harris Pomeroy Architects as part of the city’s capital plan, launched in 2003, to add 116,500 seats in the five boroughs by 2012, in order to reduce overcrowding.

In response to its challenging location, the New York City School Construction Authority and Lee Harris Pomeroy Architects worked closely to expand the school’s original 23,000-sq-ft site, breaking off an additional 15,000-sq-ft from a nearby school, I.S. 232 and turning it into a 95,000-sq-ft design featuring an array of brick, terra cotta, and glass that will accommodate the full P.S./I.S. program of spaces on four floors over a partial basement. P.S./I.S. 338 also has a play area dedicated to Early Childhood, sharing the outdoor space evenly with the adjacent school.

The design team – which also included architects RKT&B, civil and structural engineers Weidlinger Associates and MEP engineers DVL Consulting Engineers, Inc. – along with Dr. Michelle Cohen of the Department of Education’s Percent for Art program, developed an electronic billboard that will feature alternating exhibits, allowing both students and artists to display their work.

The design team also faced another challenge in forming prototypical room layouts due to the shape of the building. However, after careful consideration, the layouts were adjusted to meet pie shaped arrangements helping to ensure a speedy completion.

Occupancy for this $42.5 million new school is scheduled for September 2010.

Design for New Green Office Tower in Trenton Unveiled

The design for Vista Center, a new LEED Platinum office tower in Trenton has been unveiled by Daniel R. Brenna Jr. of Capital Real Estate Group and architects RMJM.

The Vista Center will be a 25-story, 700,00 sq-ft, LEED Platinum office tower in Trenton, New Jersey. It will be transit oriented and will include 12,000 sq-ft of ground-level retail, a parking garage for more than 1,140 cars, a plaza, and a lobby. (Rendering by RMJM)

The office tower will be Trenton’s largest commercial development in decades, creating 300 jobs during construction phases and 2,800 permanent new jobs once completed, according to Daniel Brenna.

Vista Center is a 25-story, 700,000-sq-ft transit-oriented development, located next to the Trenton Transit Center, the second busiest train station on New Jersey’s Northeast Corridor, served by NJ Transit, AMTRAK, SEPTA, and the NJ Riverline, and will include 12,000-sq-ft of ground-level retail, a parking garage for more than 1,140 cars, a plaza, and a lobby.

The owners are targeting a LEED Platinum Certification by the U.S. Green Building Council which would make it the first Platinum office tower in the state of New Jersey.

The tower was designed to minimize eastern and western exposures to sunlight, in order to prevent excessive heat gain and increase northern and southern exposures. Solar panels will be mounted on the roof to generate renewable energy and reduce common area charges and energy efficient lighting with a daylight dimmer will be used to lower electric bills. Low VOC interior finishes are being used to ensure healthier air quality, storm water is collected from the roof and diverted to a bios wale and rain garden, and local materials that contain a high percentage rate of recycled materials will be used for the structure of the building.

“Vista Center signals a new future for Trenton that will bring new jobs and economic opportunity in a spectacular ‘green’ tower,” said Brenna. “The project will enable corporations and partnerships to upgrade to the best workspace available, enjoy incredible rail and highway access for employees, increase worker productivity and reduce occupancy costs to zero as a result of available financial incentives. This is the only project of its kind for companies that qualify.”

Vista Center involves a development team put together by Brenna, himself a Trenton native, and includes architects RMJM Hillier as well as Cushmen and Wakefield as office leasing agent, Langan Engineering as project engineer, Turner Construction as construction consultant and Buro Happold as sustainability engineer.

The marketing campaign to attract a premier tenant for Vista Center is underway leaving the construction schedule to depend on the tenant. Once the tenant is chosen, however, the construction of the project is estimated to take between 18-24 months, according to Brenna.

Court Victory Won by LeClairRyan Protects Connecticut’s Construction Industry From Unfair Lawsuits

A major court victory won by LeClairRyan attorneys this past February will protect Connecticut’s construction industry from unfair lawsuits brought about by the government using Nullum Tempus to sue.

Nullum Tumpus, an ancient doctrine that translates to “no time runs against the king” is often used to sue businesses for problems that arise years after projects have been completed and after traditional statutes of limitations and repose have expired.

“Many jurisdictions, including Connecticut, have long adhered to this ancient common-law doctrine, although there is a modern trend to reject it as outmoded,” said Brian J. Donnell, an attorney on the firm’s Construction Practice Team. “In this case, our attorneys succeeded at undermining Connecticut’s attempted use of Nullum Tempus by showing a clear lack of precedent on whether any such exemption from statutes of repose even applies to the state.”

Last year, the state of Connecticut filed a $20 million complaint against a number of parties including a national windows manufacturer in which the state, who filed the lawsuit in Connecticut Superior Court allegedly claimed massive water infiltration problems and other design and construction defects related to construction of the University of Connecticut Law School Library which was completed back in 1996. But the recent court decision to undermine Nullum Tempus will ensure that Connecticut’s Construction industry will no longer have to live in fear.

In its decision, added Donnell, “after considering these and other arguments, the court found it would be improper and unfair to allow the state to keep contractors, design professionals and suppliers on the hook in perpetuity after they have completed work on a state construction project. Such circumstances would cause construction professionals and suppliers to either be driven out of business, or to pass on the exorbitant costs of perpetual liability insurance coverage and document storage requirements to the taxpayers and consumers.”

NYC Economic Development Corporation Seeks Plans for Redevelopment of La Marqueta in East Harlem

New York City Economic Development issued a Request for Expressions of Interest for the lease and operation of all or a portion of La Marqueta in East Harlem for redevelopment of the market site into a wholesale or retail food market or food production and distribution center.

La Marqueta is the first of a number of public markets built in 1936 by Mayor Fiorello LaGuardia to take push cart vendors off the streets. Originally called the Park Avenue Retail Market but renamed La Marqueta as East Harlem transformed into Spanish Harlem, it is located under the Metropolitan Transportation Authority Metro-North rail line on Park Avenue from East 111th Street to East 116th Street.

La Marqueta is made up of five parcels, each about 200-ft-long and 50-ft-wide, divided by intersecting streets and includes vacant land, two buildings, and an open plaza on about 50,000-sq-ft of land. Buildings 3 and 4 both contain 10,000-sq-ft and were part of the original market. Building 4, which is currently only 80 percent vacant contains 20 market stalls all with security gates that vary from 80 to 480-sq-ft, some of which also include sinks, freezers and/or coolers

Recent studies have shown that residents of East Harlem have limited food choices despite the buying power in the area with about 3,600 people living in developments directly across the street, and 20,000 living within a quarter mile radius. East Harlem is also a community with the highest diabetes and obesity rates, and lowest consumption of fruits and vegetables in the city due to the neighborhood’s most common food stores, bodegas, offering very few healthy foods.

“East Harlem is one of the most underserved communities in the City when it comes to access to healthy food,” said NYCEDC President Seth W. Pinsky. “La Marqueta offers a tremendous opportunity for an operator to address this issue while transforming a unique and underutilized property, supporting small businesses and generating local economic development.”

“Connect the Parks” Master Plan Unveiled by Jersey City Waterfront Parks

The Jersey City Waterfront Parks recently unveiled the “Connect the Parks” Master Plan developed by landscape architects Starr Whitehouse and nArchitects to ensure the protection of waterfront parkland and dramatic Manhattan viewsbased on community input collected during surveys and meetings.

The “Connect the Parks” Master Plan, made possible by community donations and supplemented by corporate sponsorship from LibertyHealth, ERA Avalon Realty, Light Horse Tavern, and many other companies and individuals, reveals the potential for the parcels of parkland surrounding the Little Morris Canal Basin at the foots of Hudson and Washington Street and calls for linking the Northeastern shore of the basin with the end of the basin peninsula with an “Infinity Bridge” resulting in a continuous walkway from Exchange Place to the Liberty Harbor Marina area.

The Master plan also includes gardens, a slide mound, swings, water features, a dog run, a floating aquatic vegetative island promoting aquatic life, a wet meadow, and several points of access to the waters edge. Also incorporated in the plan, is a cost effective means of erosion control through a natural protection system that will take the place of the corrugated steel bulkheading used to the north and south of the park as well as two pavilions that will provide family gathering areas, seating, a comfort station and a venue for events.

Bernard Spitzer Gives $25 Million to CCNY School of Architecture

New York City real estate developer and commercial property owner, Bernard Spitzer is giving $25 million to City College for the benefit of the College’s School of Architecture.

The gift was recently announced by Dr. Matthew Goldstein, Chancellor of The City University of New York at a news conference held to kick off CUNY’s new capital campaign and will be provided through the Bernard and Anne Spitzer Charitable Trust.

“I strongly believe there are few things more fundamental to the common good than an educated society, and few institutions that contribute more faithfully to that overarching goal than City College,” said Mr. Spitzer, a 1943 engineering graduate of The City College of New York. “I feel privileged to support their work, their vision and their future.”

CCNY President Dr. Gregory H. Williams has also recommended to Chancellor Goldstein that the CUNY Board of Trustees name the CCNY architecture school The Anne and Bernard Spitzer School of Architecture in honor of the Spitzer’s donation.

“We are deeply grateful to Anne and Bernard Spitzer for their generous gift, which will have a transformative effect on City College’s highly regarded School of Architecture as it moves to its new home,” said Chancellor Goldstein.

The City College School of Architecture, established in 1968 and the only public school of architecture in New York City will be moving into a new facility on CCNY’s South Campus, designed by Rafael Viñoly that will provide 118,000-sq-ft of usable space, including studios, offices, classrooms, computer labs, a model shop, a library, and an exhibit area.

The proceeds of the gift will support several initiatives to benefit the School’s faculty and students including undergraduate scholarships, graduate fellowships, study abroad opportunities, supplemental stipends and support for faculty research, publication and exhibitions.

The first classes to be held in the new facility are scheduled during the 2009 Summer Session.