Ascher Retires as Head of MTA Bridges and Tunnels

The longtime MTA official will retire in October. Also two regional start-ups, J. Stern Construction and Hunter Roberts Construction, add new staff members.

Michael Ascher has announced he will retire effective this month from his post as president of the Metropolitan Transportation Authority's Bridges and Tunnels division. He was the longest-serving head of any MTA agency and had overseen the introduction of the E-ZPass toll payment system. He had previously served as chief engineer of New York City Transit.

Kevin O'Brien has rejoined Structure Tone Organization, a construction management company based in New York, as executive vice president of its Structure Tone Mission Critical affiliate. In addition, William Frederick has joined Structure Tone's Pavarini McGovern affiliate as executive vice president and Gary DiPaolo has been hired as corporate safety director.

Joseph Cohen has been hired as a vice president focused on cost estimation at Cannon Design in Buffalo, N.Y.

Peggy Cullen has been hired as director of syndication in the environmental practice of Aon Corp., a risk management, environmental consulting, and insurance underwriting firm based in New York, where she will oversee a national team of environmental risk experts.

Hunter Roberts Construction Group, a general contractor based in New York, has hired Tom Garcia as senior vice president and controller and John Alicandri as senior vice president and general manager of risk management programs in its New York offices. In addition, Alex Craig has joined the firm's New Jersey offices as operations manager.

Allen Dzbanek has joined Park Tower Group, a real estate developer and property manager based in New York, as senior vice president and director of construction to oversee work on a 4,000-apartment mixed-used project on 20 acres along Brooklyn's waterfront.

Anton Martinez has joined daSilva Architects, an architecture, planning, and consulting firm based in New York, as a principal.

Salvatore Tranchina has been named a project architect at New York-based Garrison Architects.

Bob Posillico has been hired as a vice president at J. Stern Construction, a construction management firm based in Ronkonkoma, N.Y.

Jacqueline Pinyan-Durels has joined GVA Williams, a real estate brokerage and management division of Williams Real Estate, as a vice president in Stamford, Conn.

Jahae Koo has joined BL Companies, an architecture and engineering firm based in Meriden, Conn., as a project manager.

Carl Hauser has joined Fox & Fowle, an architectural, interior design, and urban design firm based in New York, as studio manager in the interiors studio division.

Marybeth Miceli has been hired as director of marketing in the New York headquarters of Sam Schwartz Engineering, a transportation planning and traffic engineering firm.

Michael Sexton has been named senior director of business development at the Parsippany, N.J., headquarters of Skanska USA Building.

Marci Skeahan has been promoted to chief operating officer of T. Weiss Realty Corp., a real estate development and management company based in Melville, N.Y.

Donald Lutt has been named chairman of the Real Estate Board of New York Economic Development Committee's Subcommittee on Lower Manhattan Incentives. Lutt is managing director of New York-based GVA Williams Brokerage Services.