Follow the Money

DDC to Oversee $885 Million in Capital Projects in FY '05

by Natalie Keith

Construction work overseen by the New York City Department of Design and Construction is ubiquitous - above and below ground.

During fiscal year 2005, the agency will oversee $885 million in work ranging from multimillion projects to build new museums to smaller jobs repaving roads and other infrastructure work.

"The extent that public projects shape the city's skyline is great," said DDC commissioner David Burney.

advertisement

Many of the jobs may lack the glamour of billion-dollar private projects such as the Time Warner Center or the Bloomberg Tower, but that doesn't mean they're not complicated jobs to complete. In fact, with the tangle of water, sewer, electricity and phone lines that are found underneath city streets, a simple road job is anything but simple.

"It's difficult because you've got to manage sewer, water, Con Edison and Verizon," Burney said.

In addition to complexity, the sheer volume of projects managed by the agency is dizzying. Since its inception in 1996, the DDC has completed more than 2,400 construction projects throughout the five boroughs with a total value of more than $5.3 billion. Of the total, 723 projects valued at $2.7 billion in the infrastructure division and 1,708 projects valued at $2.6 billion in the structures division.

The following is a sample of some of the larger projects currently under way and several that are expected to be bid within the coming months. Among projects under way are:

• The Bronx Museum of Art, a 20th Century contemporary art museum, is undergoing an $11.1 million three-story addition to its current facility that will provide 16,700 sq. ft. of space for exhibitions and programming, as well as administrative offices and a new entrance to the museum. The museum predicts that its annual attendance will grow by 40 percent, an increase from 30,000 to 50,000 visitors per year. It is scheduled to open to the public in October 2005.
• A new $6.5 million, 20,000-sq.-ft. Williamsburg Day Care Center in Brooklyn is under construction. It will include three classrooms, two offices and a playroom on each of four floors, a roof playground, basement kitchen and cafeteria.
• The $10.2 million Bloomingdale Park project in Staten Island consists of construction of a new roadway on Maguire Avenue from Ramona Avenue to the cul-de-sac in Bloomingdale Park, a 60-ft. sewer easement between Ramona Avenue and the Sharon Lane extension, and a 45-ft. sewer easement between Helene Court and the 60-ft. easement. Construction is expected to be completed this summer.
• A $21.5 million project to reconfigure Columbus Circle adjacent to Central Park South in Manhattan. The reconstruction involves developing a new streetscape design to improve traffic flow, pedestrian circulation and infrastructure at the historic site. The project includes re-establishing the central circle as park use; replacing the existing fountain; replacing aging sewers and water mains; and reconstructing streets, sidewalks, traffic signals, lighting and pedestrian amenities within the central circle, Eighth Avenue, Central Park West, Central Park South and Broadway. Construction is expected to be completed in the fall.
• A $15.6 million project to transform the Frederick Douglass Circle, an intersection at the northwest corner of Central Park. The project will create a new traffic circle and plaza.
• A $40.8 million project to reconstruct Flushing Avenue in Brooklyn. It is expected to be completed winter 2007.
• A $15.4 million project to reconstruct the Somerville Basin Area in Queens. It is expected to be completed fall 2005.
• A $24.6 million project to expand the Brooklyn's Children's Museum. The expansion space will include a "Kid's Café," classrooms, new library and new galleries. The museum will provide visitors with hands-on learning opportunities about environmental issues through the building's "green" features.
• A $20.3 million project to construct water mains in the Richmond Road area of Staten Island.
• A $4.6 million project to reconstruct road in Lower Manhattan.

Construction is expected to start in the coming months on the following projects:

• An $18.8 million project to expand the Queens Museum of Art. Under the project, the museum will occupy the entire building where it is currently located. The World's Fair Skating Rink, which currently shares space with the museum, is moving to new space. Under the project, the expanded museum will occupy 100,000 sq. ft., up from its current size of 45,000 sq. ft.
• A $6.2 million project to construct two additions to the Queens Theater in the Park, in Flushing Meadows Corona Park.
• A $25 million project to reconstruct the 18,000-sq.-ft. Lion House at the Bronx Zoo. The project will involve major infrastructure work, including roof and façade work to restore the animal friezes and sculptures to their original splendor. Once renovated, the landmarked Lion House will have two separate, but interconnected, functions. One half of the building will be a multiuse space, serving as a place for community meetings, educational activities and other general public events. The other half will house a dynamic new animal exhibit dedicated to an appreciation of wildlife and conservation. It will focus on smaller animal species appropriate to the scale of the building.
• A $24.6 project to construct new headquarters for the city's Office of Emergency Management. Since the agency's offices were destroyed during the Sept. 11 attacks, it has been operating out of temporary space.
• Between January and March, the DDC is expecting to bid a $24.8 million project to reconstruct the roadway and work on trunk and distribution water main and sewer lines on Houston Street in Manhattan.
• Between January and March, the DDC is expecting to bid a $15 million project to install a water main, replace combined sewer lines and reconstruction the highway in the Columbia Street area of Brooklyn.
• Between July and September 2005, the DDC is expecting to bid a $47.7 million project to replace water mains and work on sanitary and storm sewers in the City Island section of the Bronx.