The Metropolitan Transportation Authority's (MTA) East Side Access (ESA) project, the largest public transportation project nationwide, fell under heavy criticism yesterday for missing its budget by $4.4 billion and its completion date by 10 years. The result is that taxpayers must bear the brunt of the unanticipated costs of the project that is only half finished, according to a New York State Comptroller report released yesterday, March 6. The MTA had no comment on the report. ESA's current cost estimate is $8.76 billion, including additional railcar costs, when completed in August 2019; it was initially expected to cost $4.3 billion
The New York State Assembly adopted a resolution yesterday, March 6, to suspend state permits for natural gas hydraulic fracturing for two years to give lawmakers time to review health and safety data. The bill, Assembly 5424-A, would suspend such permits until May 15, 2015 and does not apply to drilling of conventional vertical natural gas wells outside the Marcellus and Utica formations. The state Senate is considering a similar measure. Under the Assembly bill, a State University of New York public health school is required to conduct a health impact assessment to identify risks associated with the process, also
From Hudson Yards' long-awaited $843-million first building to several $150-million-plus towers, the tristate region's ranking of the top 25 projects to break ground last year show that building tall and building big is back. The residential sector, in particular, dominates tower construction on the list, with most buildings advertised as luxury apartments and condos in prime New York City locations. Related Links: This Year's Top Starts Rankings Top Starts of 2011 Top Starts of 2010 Despite such gains, the aggregated total contract value of the largest 25 starts is about $7.9 billion, even with the prior year's level, which was
Health care activity in the tristate region is expected to rise as the market comes to grips with some of the uncertainties that slowed it down last year, including health care and insurance reforms, executives say. But hospitals, contractors and other stakeholders are now grappling with a new problem in the wake of Superstorm Sandy"s devastating blow to many of their facilities—how to prevent that from happening again. While 2011's Hurricane Irene made these stakeholders rethink safety, security and emergency preparedness, Sandy has brought them back to the table to come up with something much more robust, speakers told attendees
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
Photo by Joe Woolhead Related Links: Best of the Best Projects 2012 Winners Entries for ENR's First Global Best Projects Competition Are Due Feb. 28 Park Captures 'Magnitude Of Sheer Simplicity' The $500-million memorial gracing the World Trade Center site in New York City has an elegant design, which in some ways belies the difficulty in building it.The structure, which features two deep reflecting pools, was physically tough to construct, largely due to logistics. The access road to the site was a single, 40-ft-wide lane, and nine cranes and lifts had to be stored in a small staging area.The judges
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
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
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
Photo By AP Wideworld Rep. Peter King (R-N.Y.) blasted House leadership for deferring initial Jan. 1 vote. Related Links: House Ends Session without Considering Sandy Bill From ENR New York 1/3/13: Tri-State Lawmakers, Industry Blast 112th Congress Over Inaction on Sandy Relief When Congress approved $9.7 billion for flood insurance claims from Superstorm Sandy victims on Jan. 4, government and construction-industry officials from areas hardest hit by the powerful late-October hurricane viewed the vote as a positive move. But they also insisted that those funds need to be supplemented—and soon—by an additional $50 billion to rebuild damaged infrastructure and construct
