NEW YORK BUILDING CONGRESS
JOINT MEETING

ARCHITECTS LEADERSHIP COUNCIL
PUBLIC BUILDING COMMITTEE
at
CENTER FOR ARCHITECTURE
536 LaGuardia Place
Wednesday, March 24, 2004
12:00 noon

Summary of Discussion

Attendance:
Joseph Aliotta ,Mary-Jean Eastman, James H. Jones, Co-Chairs; Husam Ahmad, Richard T. Anderson, Thomas A. Anderson, Vincent Arcuri, Sabine Bartzke, Rick Bell, Ron S. Berger, Gregory L. Biesiadecki, Max Bond, Joshua Burdick, David J. Burney, Anthony M. Carestia, Steve Carnavalla, Robert Chapman, Howard Chynsky, John Coleman, Donald Currie, Joel Davidson, John Davies, Donald J. Dzinski, Bill Elers, Hazel Ephron, Bruce S. Fowle, Mark Ginsberg, Joseph F. Grassi, Michael Greene, Jordan L. Gruzen, Thomas Ianelli, John Kovacs, Tim Kravetshy, Alton Lewis, Benn Lewis, Raymond J. Martin, Richard R. Metzner, George H. Miller, Alan Nathanson, Carl Puchall, Raymond Rice, Lawrence P. Roman, Peter S. Samton, Anthony P. Schrippa, Klaus Schmitt, LeAnn Shelton, Richard Southwick, Kimberlee Toscano

Members of the Architects Leadership Council and Public Building Committee were welcomed to the Center for Architecture by AIA New York Chapter Executive Director Rick Bell. He expressed appreciation to the Building Congress for convening the luncheon at the Center and highlighted recent activities since the opening last fall.

Building Congress Richard Anderson thanked TDX Construction Corporation and President Jim Jones for hosting the luncheon. Mr. Jones described the work of the Public Building Committee, particularly its emphasis on the programs of three agencies – the New York City School Construction Authority, Department of Design & Construction and Dormitory Authority of the State of New York.

Architects Leadership Council Co-Chair Mary-Jean Eastman said the Council is composed of the largest architectural firms in New York City and concentrates on programs related to the common interests of these firms.

Mr. Anderson introduced guest speaker David J. Burney, Commissioner of the New York City Department of Design & Construction, who was appointed in January by Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg. Commissioner Burney is a licensed architect and was Director of the Design and Capital Improvement Division of the New York City Housing Authority since 1990.

Mr. Burney highlighted his first impressions at DDC. About half of the agency’s work deals with infrastructure and the remainder with structures. It has 22 client agencies and a $4 billion construction portfolio at the present time.

Commissioner Burney said DDC has worked on 723 infrastructure projects since it was created in 1996 with a citywide cost of $2.7 billion. There have been over 1700 structures projects valued at $3 .6 billion dollars.

Commissioner Burney illustrated a number of these projects with the Fire Department, museums, libraries and a wide variety of other agencies. He described the department’s website and new Interactive Voice Response phone system. DDC is especially proud of its record of completing 85 percent of projects on time in 2003 compared with 45 percent in 1997.

Design excellence is very important to Commissioner Burney. He said there is “a real design buzz in the City” at the moment. He also emphasized the importance of quality-based selection as well as high-performance guidelines. In discussion, Commissioner Burney said DDC is “a good organization”. He wants to emphasize design excellence and hopes to work with the Architects Leadership Council. He also discussed the importance of sustainability and steps the agency is taking in that direction. He expressed confidence that he City’s capital budget will not decline significantly.

Commissioner Burney viewed the agencies work with design-build, which he does not favor for much of DDC’s work, and other steps to improve design quality.

There being no other business, Mr. Anderson thanked Commissioner Burney for attending the meeting and the AIA New York Chapter and TDX Construction for hosting the luncheon.

Prepared by,

Richard T. Anderson
President
RTA/rc