As temperatures plummet and holiday shoppers swell in the shopping districts, so too does one of Manhattan’s latest projects kick-off, aiming to beautify the area and expand on local park space. As of late November, contractors in Midtown commenced construction on the new East Midtown Greenway, a $100 million project that will stretch over 1.5 acres of waterfront park space along the East River. Parallel to FDR drive and stretching from 53rd to 61st streets, Mayor de Blasio views the undertaking as a major step toward “returning the waterfront of New York City to New Yorkers.”

The Manhattan Waterfront Greenway: The Story So Far

This is a single leg of a much larger foreshoreway along the island of Manhattan, stretching a full 32 miles of pedestrian space separate from motorways. The aim of a greenway is to add more undeveloped space in urban areas, creating more green space as a way to benefit the environment but also provide natural surroundings and recreation space for pedestrians. The East Midtown Greenway is just one more step toward adding more flora to a living city. Right now, the planned and developed portions of the overall Manhattan Greenway include three major prongs:

• The Hudson River Greenway. The longest greenway of all three, this one stretches along the West Side, from Battery Park in the south to Dykman street further north. 
• The Harlem River Greenway. This one at least in part follows the path of the old Harlem River Speedway, running uninterrupted from Dykman street all the way through Lower Highbridge Park at 155th Street.
• The East River Greenway. The last portion runs from Battery Park all the way down to 125th Street, but there is a 1.3-mile gap where this latest project will be coming in at long last, narrowing it if not filling it completely. Funding for this has been in the works since at least 2017, according to the New York Times. 

What Remains of the Current Project, and What Is Still to Come?

For now, ground has only just been broken, so most of the East Midtown Greenway project remains to be done. Current plans include the following:

• Creating a 40-foot wide esplanade along the whole of the waterfront for pedestrians and bikers. 
• Renovating and extending Andrew Hasweel Green Park that will touch the greenway’s northern border. 
• Adding a new pedestrian bridge that will be accessible for any visitors with disabilities. 
• Developing a widened area for environmental programming near 53rd street that will also include an art installation by Stacy Levy.

The full scope of labor that will go into this will involve Skanska USA as construction manager, with engineering consultation firm Stantec in charge of landscape architecture and the full gamut of waterfront, electrical, structural, and civil engineering. 

The project, expected to be completed by 2022, promises to further the City of New York’s goal to create an uninterrupted path through Manhattan for bikers and pedestrians, but until then should provide a steady flow of jobs dedicated to completing their proposed vision. The project, once completed, will be maintained by the New York Parks Department.

The 25th tallest structure forming in the metro area, Queens Plaza Park (also dubbed Sven) passed its halfway mark in recent weeks, finally beginning to resemble the signature curved shape that’s appeared in concepts since the project first made news as far back as 2015. 

Were it not for delays, it would have been the first supertall skyscraper outside of Manhattan. Originally conceived as a hotel an economic downturn led to the site’s multiple changes of hands. Its current holders include the Durst Organization as developers and Handel Architects as the main designers. 

Sven at a Glance: Taking Shape in Long Island City

Located at 27-29 Queens Plaza North and one of several buildings that will rise in the complex, Sven’s design includes a curved, concave appearance. Its unique role will be to frame the landmarked Long Island City Clock Tower, presently undergoing renovations that include 50,000-square feet of commercial and retail space. Sven curently stands a dizzying 67 stories, with a glass curtain wall rising over the structure in recent reports as construction continues at a steady pace. When finished, the semi-circular skyscraper will include, among other things:

• Nearly 1 million square feet of space in total.
• Over 950 residences, more than 200 of which will be designated as affordable housing. 
• Design choices by Selldorf Architects, deciding the interior’s aesthetic from the ground floor to the penthouse. 
• An outdoor pool and a 20,000-square foot fitness center.
• A private residential library for all tenants to use, as well as a children’s playroom and a demonstration kitchen.

According to the architect’s website, other notable features include a facade at the main residential entrance that directly echoes the look of the Clock Tower, as well as half an acre of park area to the north of the building. 

What Remains Before the Project is Completed?

With a year at the most left to finish, much of the buildings outer facade has yet to be completed. Views from Roosevelt Island and elsewhere show the general shape is visible, but the many windows catching light from every angle are only beginning the installation. Structurally, the skeleton is there, and this should imply that the interiors, with all wiring, surfacing, and other smaller projects to be finished, are near to commencing. 

Along with interior and exterior features to finish, the park area to develop, as well as parking, forming the swimming pool, landscaping, and other demands are going to call for a number of hands and a litany of tradespeople. 

This particular arm of Queens Plaza Park should be wrapping up construction sometime in 2020. However, this is only one building among several area transformations on the horizon, as a 2001 rezoning opened the area up for development, as reported back in 2015. What further projects are in store for the area have yet to be announced, but new developments may bring still more residents and jobs in with them. 

A set of “emergency regulations” for New York construction firms and contractors happened to find their way into a city budget proposal earlier in the year (N.Y. Senate Bill S1509c, January 18, 2019) and extended twice by Mayor Cuomo, and the reception has boiled from cold and reserved tension to heated contempt for some builders in the state. 

The apparent aim of the regulations is to penalize firms and contractors for delays and expenditures that go over budget for infrastructure projects. In late November, the Alliance for Fair and Equitable Contracting Today (AFFECT), a not-for-profit organization that represents engineering and construction firms, filed suit against the state and the Metropolitan Transit Authority, alleging the unconstitutionality of the new regulations. 

The Emergency Regulations and the Issue, Explained

The regulations in question create a debarment statute, which would obligate the MTA to enact 5-year bans on contractors from bidding on future projects if the firm in question didn’t finish the project in what is deemed a “timely manner” or if production costs exceed their budget by greater than 10 percent. 

As outlined in the full text of AFFECT’s suit, the issues with the regulations are as follows: 

• The regulations in question, despite two renewals, were not published until November 6, 2019. This adds up to nearly a year of these rules being legally enforceable, with no public commentary or debate before they were even proposed, a possible violation of Due Process. 
• The regulations affect contracts signed and established before they were legally in effect, which allegedly violates the Contract Clause. 
• Debarment becomes a possibility if contractors don’t complete a project within a proposed timeframe or appears they might fail, when budgets are exceeded by 10 percent, or when a contractor only tries to claims costs that exceed that 10 percent. 
• AFFECT cites that there is no discretion granted in the application, even if there’s evidence that the firm “acted in good faith, or that the debarment would be unfair or contrary to public interest.”
• Debarment can also affect any affiliates of the firm, even if they had absolutely nothing to do with what brought about the issue in question (another possible violation of Due Process).

AFFECT states that debarment is a “death penalty” to contractors because it doesn’t just affect their work in the state of New York; it can also blackball them from projects nationwide. Project bids are frequently considered alongside a bidder’s debarment history, which means a firm banned from further bids in New York might be unable to secure public works projects anywhere. The group further argues that these regulations substantially harm construction firms’ First Amendment rights by making it dangerous to petition their government and make claims in good faith without repercussion. 

Is There a Ready Solution?

As CISLeads discussed and reported in early October, delays and budget overages are more likely to be the case for open-ended infrastructure projects, which:

• Have no set deadline and are to be completed with as much time is needed;
• Are shown to take an average of 500 days to complete;
• On average, can finish up at nearly double the proposed budget; and
• Despite these long timelines often have set bids and budgets. 

The findings reported suggest that structuring infrastructure projects around single and bundled projects can reduce costs and are likely to finish in a more timely manner. Mayor Cuomo also suggests that a “design-build” policy for future projects, which privatizes not only construction but also the designs for infrastructure projects, will save money, though there is some argument that it is not more effective. 

The data might be suggesting overall, however, that stopping budget overages and completing projects in a timely manner begins in the planning stages before firms even step in to make their bids, yet the first legislated solution to this issue has been to punish the firms. They will have to wait and see if the courts agree with this move. 

Back in September, CISLeads reported with some optimism that the forthcoming Belmont Arena, the soon-to-be new home of the Islanders hockey team, would bring business and sports back to the area. Along with plans for a 19,000-person capacity arena, a 250-room hotel, and 350,000 square feet of retail space, the project itself was projected to create 3,500 jobs. 

Breaking ground a month later, the project has seen at least two lawsuits in the hopes of halting construction, first in the area of the planned hotel, and now more recently from the citizens of nearby Floral Park. Previous suits claimed that environmental impact reports filed for the project failed to take into account noise and traffic for nearby residents. 

What Were the Details of the Restraining Order, and What Happened?

In October, sources revealed that the citizens of Floral Park filed for a temporary restraining order for certain aspects of Belmont Arena construction with the potential to halt or severely delay completing parts of the project on schedule. 

Their suit hoped to bar developers from doing the following: 

• Constructing underground walls on-site or “sheet pile driving.” 
• Stop using the east part of the north lot in Belmont Park for staging construction and other project-related equipment and vehicles.
• Stop using Plainfield Avenue (in Floral Park) for moving construction vehicles.

Attorneys for the village argued that the above issues have led to a number of adverse impacts on the local environment for citizens, including upsets to traffic and noise pollution from constant work. They believe the environmental impact report skipped over key hurdles and ignored these potential outcomes. 

Project overseers, the Empire State Development Corporation (ESDC), state that their environmental impact study took place over a period of two years and insist that it was more than thorough enough. A state Supreme Court justice ruled to agree with ESDC in early November, denying the restraining order. Judge Roy Mahon ruled that local construction was not proven to be causing “irreparable harm” as their suit is quoted to have alleged. 

Belmont Arena – The Progress So Far

To the relief of developers and contractors on the project, no halting, even a temporary one, appears to be in the cards. Sterling Project Development’s managing partner Richard Browne stated in court papers that had the judge not ruled as he had, even a small delay would have prevented construction from finishing in time for the Islanders 2021-22 season. “Every day counts,” he said.

As of right now, Belmont Arena’s development has been running on a tight schedule. Just two months since the official groundbreaking on September 23rd, most official news since then has involved season ticket holders and locals celebrating the event. 

As of the writing of this article, live cam footage of the site shows a vast area teeming with construction vehicles and a landscape swiftly changing in preparation for the complexes that will rise in the next couple of years. 

The project continues ever-on, and with enthusiasm from Islanders fans cheering contractors on and an eye constantly on their efforts, curious onlookers can watch the planned arena unfold in real-time, with no scheduled delays in sight.