New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg laid out big plans in his final state of the city address today, Feb. 14, which included several initiatives that would call for industry-related services. This includes a proposal to amend the city's building codes to require that up to 20% of new parking spaces in private developments be "wired and ready" for electric cars. The mayor says this will create up to 10,000 parking spaces for such vehicles over the next seven years. He also proposed developing curbside vehicle charging stations that will allow drivers to charge batteries in 30 minutes. Photo by
New York City’s minority and women-owned business enterprises (MWBEs) stand to gain ground by a new law slated to take effect this July, according to Sandra Wilkin, founder and president of Bradford Construction Corp., New York, who helped develop the legislation. Image: iStock Photo The Introduction 911-A law eliminates the $1-million cap on program-eligible contracts established by Local Law 129 in 2005. It also increases city procurement contracts in areas including architectural and engineering services. The city expects 911-A, which is slated to go into effect in July, to increase the overall value of program-eligible contracts to $2.2 billion, from
The historic West Point Military Academy has a long history of teaching the sciences, which are required courses for all graduating cadets. But while the study of biology, chemistry and physics has evolved since 1802, when the West Point, N.Y.-based school was built, the school's neo-Gothic structures that house those disciplines have not—at least, not enough to support the advanced research occurring within these disciplines. The structures are, as one science professor describes them, "cramped and old." Related Links: ENR New York More ENR New York Projects The school has set out to change that with a two-phase, seven-year, interior-only
E.W. Howell, Plainview, N.Y., has promoted Robert Zirkel from project superintendent to vice president/general superintendent. In this role, he will provide executive support and oversee construction superintendents and field operations for the firm's Manhattan projects. Related Links: ENR New York ENR New York's Featured People LomaxThornton Tomasetti, New York, has hired Scott Lomax as vice president. Lomax previously served as chief structural engineer at Zurich, Switzerland-based architecture and engineering firm Santiago Calatrava, where he worked on well-known projects including the World Trade Center Transportation Hub.The Spector Group, New York, has hired Robin Thompson as director of business development. The
New York Photo By Christopher D. Sondi Shakey ground: FEMA's new flood elevation maps double the number of NYC homes lying in flood zones. Related Links: ENR New York Featured ENR New York News At-Risk Homes Now Face FEMA's New Flood Maps With the senate's recent passage of a $50.5-billion Superstorm Sandy aid bill, some hard-hit homeowners in New York and New Jersey now face a new issue as the Federal Emergency Management Agency recently released new flood elevation map data for the city that details how rebuilding should occur. The new maps double the number of NYC properties lying
It will take about two years but Rochester, N.Y., bus riders will have a new 87,000-sq-ft, enclosed transit center that promises to make their waits and transfers more comfortable and convenient, city officials say. Workers broke ground last November on the $50-million center, which is set for completion in spring 2015 and is projected to create 400 Rochester construction jobs and 50 new, permanent positions. Rendering Courtesy of Bergmann Associates The center is the first of its kind in Rochester, says Vince Press, spokesman for Rochester-based Bergmann Associates that, along with Rochester-based Pike Co., forms the design-build team on the
Photo Courtesy of Bob Wallace Photography Former chairman and CEO of the Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA), Joseph Lhota used the New York Building Congress (NYBC) luncheon today, Jan. 14, in New York to formally announce his plans to run for mayor."I would not have left the MTA—a job and a position that I love—if I was not going to run for Mayor of New York," says Lhota, who resigned from the agency on Dec. 31, 2012.Most of Lhota’s speech, however, focused on MTA’s restoration of the city’s 108-year-old transit system in the wake of Superstorm Sandy. “MTA is so
Industry merger and acquisition activity grew 14% to about 200 deals nationwide last year but was relatively flat in the tristate region, says Mick Morrissey, managing principal at A/E/C management consulting firm Morrissey Goodale, Newton, Mass. Even so, many buyers continued to view the tristate region as a good place to spend their M&A dollars. "New York tends to be a harder place [for an outside firm] to get into. That said, it tends to be one of the most popular states" for deals, Morrissey says. "That's because it is a significant economy—a world unto itself that's a very attractive
Congress's recently passed $9.7-billion aid package for flood insurance claims is a good start but is only a prelude to the $51-billion package that lawmakers need to pass in coming weeks to help Superstorm Sandy victims, say local industry and elected officials. While there is no guarantee that the larger bill will be voted on and passed soon, it is vital to recovery efforts, they add. A House vote on the $51-billion measure is expected on Jan. 15, with a Senate vote the week of Jan. 21. Photo Courtesy of Andrea Booher/FEMA Pile Up: Two months after Superstorm Sandy, debris
Thornton Tomasetti acquired Simon & Associates Inc. (S&A), a San Francisco sustainability consulting firm last month in a move that expands its West Coast and green practice footprint. The deal, for an undisclosed sum, follows Thornton Tomasetti's early 2012 purchase of Portland, Maine-based Fore Solutions, another green building consulting firm. S&A is a six-person firm that will become part of Thornton Tomasetti's Building Sustainability practice, created last year with the purchase of Fore and headed up by Fore's founder Gunnar Hubbard. S&A founder Lynn N. Simon will lead the West Cost practice, collaborating with Hubbard and the firm's California leadership."We've
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