Annual Report

Annual Report

Annual Report 2014


Research & Publications


With support from its charitable arm, the New York Building Foundation, the New York Building Congress has developed a robust research and analysis program that makes it a go-to resource for information on current and future market conditions as well as insights into emerging trends and challenges related to capital budgets and private development throughout the five boroughs.

Drawing on a wide array of data sources and the expertise of leading economists,budgetary analysts, and public policy professionals, the Building Congress consistently produces reliable, relevant reports on issues that impact the industry and the City's long-term economic growth.

Building Congress publications are quickly delivered to members, government officials, the media, and other interested parties through email blasts and periodic direct member mailings. Reports are posted or summarized on the Building Congress website.

PRINT PUBLICATIONS

Risk & Resiliency After Sandy
The Building Congress Task Force on New York City Storm Preparedness, chaired by former Lieutenant Governor Richard Ravitch, issued a comprehensive report that examines the vulnerabilities of the City's infrastructure to extreme weather events. The report also details Task Force recommendations to improve the City's resiliency, which include hardening the power grid, strengthening emergency response and planning, and revising building codes and standards to enhance building performance to mitigate damage caused by natural and man-made disasters.

New York City Construction Outlook
This annual forecast and analysis, which focuses on three years of construction spending and employment, remains a Building Congress signature publication. Widely circulated among business, labor, and policy communities, the report forecasts construction activity while also providing deeper insight into factors that could shape the industry and the City's economy in the coming years.

How to Save New York City's Infrastructure
In How to Save New York City's Infrastructure: Dedicate Revenues, the Building Congress found that government invested more than $18 billion in 2011 alone to maintain and improve New York City's infrastructure. However, according to the report, New York's reliance on borrowing to fund its capital projects is unsustainable over the long run, and government officials must institute revenue-enhancing measures to lessen the growing debt burden. The report illustrates a number of new user fees, whose revenues could be dedicated to capital investments for the upkeep and expansion of the City's vital transportation and infrastructure networks.

Moving Midtown West
In the recently released report Moving Midtown West, the Building Congress urges New York City, State, and federal officials to work together on a coordinated plan to design, finance, and implement four interrelated transportation projects that would transform Midtown Manhattan around Penn and Moynihan Stations: Moynihan improvements, Amtrak's Gateway initiative, creating access for Metro-North Railroad to the West Side, and reconfiguring Penn Station.

As explained in the report, these projects would reestablish the region's most important entryway to New York City and unlock the full potential of Far West Side development. In addition, they would alleviate the stress of an overtaxed rail system, address the overcrowding and confusion of Penn Station, and build much-needed capacity and redundancy with the first new rail link between Manhattan and New Jersey in 100 years.

Higher Education
The Building Congress is preparing a groundbreaking report that quantifies the extraordinary breadth of recent, ongoing, and planned investments in the physical campuses and facilities of New York's 102 colleges and universities, which collectively educate more than a half million students citywide. The report also measures the enormous economic benefits the City derives from these institutions and their capital projects.

ELECTRONIC PUBLICATIONS

New York City Construction Outlook Update
Now in its sixth year, the New York City Construction Outlook Update series accesses the latest data on a range of key building industry indicators to provide a monthly snapshot of conditions and trends affecting all sectors of the industry. The publication, which blends raw data with timely commentary, focuses on such areas as construction starts, employment, economic impacts, residential spending and workforce demographics, as well as the outlook for commercial and institutional development.

Infrastructure Update
In early 2010, the Building Congress launched Infrastructure Update, a datadriven analysis of major infrastructure policy and budgetary programs. The web-based publication examines the prospects and challenges facing all of the various City, State, regional, and federal entities entrusted with the maintenance and expansion of the City's critical infrastructure systems. Recent editions have focused on the MTA's 20-year needs assessment, the City's capital budget, and the Port Authority's 10-year capital plan.

(e)Update
In keeping with the need for members, policymakers, and the news media to remain up-to-date on late-breaking developments and industry priorities, the Building Congress publishes periodic, policy-focused (e)Updates. Recent editions of the electronic publication, which combines policy proposals with a call to action, have addressed "no damages for delay" contract provisions, Governor Cuomo's State of the State Address, and the rezoning of Midtown East.

An archive of Building Congress and Building Foundation research publications is available at www.buildingcongress.com.

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