Construction Christmas

They may make us work Christmas Eve, but they can't take our spirit!

Greenbuild '10

Greenbuild 2010 in Chicago, IL...here is the Lend Lease booth...

Colin Powell was the opening plenary speaker.

 This audience may be tough...

Wait a minute, I'm Colin freakin Powell... 

Green buildings, grandkids, communists and thank you cards...

The closing plenary...

Rick Fedrizzi doing "The Clap" 

Richard Daley telling us all why he's a bomb ass mayor. 

Yes, HUD Secretary Shaun Donovan looks like he is 11 years old. 

The intellectual and passive aggressive Paul Hawken.

Wasted Space

Just like fire escapes, a roof is a terrible thing to waste, especially one this big.

This is atop PS 199. Just think of the wasted possibilities, whether it be gardens, terraces, rain catchment, solar panels, etc...At least re-coat it to make it light colored, save some money on AC in the warmer months.

The Perfect Marriage

My obsession with fire escapes really began the first time I had access to one. The best ones are obviously those that are accessible and usable for more than just egress. The architecture studio building in undergrad at Lehigh had several big ones, all large enough to house several gatherers be they smokers, chatters or what. The next victory was my second (and current at this time) apartment in NYC, as documented frequently in the past.

Today, however, I saw for one of the first times, a blatant marriage between fire escape egress and fire escape usable space:

This should be a precedent for ALL fire escapes in the city. A fire escape is a terrible thing to waste.

Parking at Work

When I posted regarding the Bikes in Buildings law on May 20th, I was still in the process of pushing for bike parking at 200 Park Ave, where I work.

Now, over 4 months later, we finally have it. Not surprisingly, DOB took their good ol' time signing off their inspection of the room, which had to be repeated when they found a newly constructed ramp, courtesy of the building owner Tishman Speyer, who was actually attempting to be helpful.  Apparently that ramp wasn't on the building plans, and therefor, either the drawings would have to be refiled (a very timely process, because that also involves the DOB), or the ramp removed. It was cheaper to remove the ramp. Then after another month of radio silence, I called the DOT (who had been giving me updates all along), and discovered that the room was indeed approved and ready and that instructions were supposed to have been posted in my building lobby, which of course they weren't. After I gave Tishman Speyer a reminder, they sent over their instructions.  I guess I was delusional thinking I would ever have access to a 24/7 bike storage room (other than my apartment).

Then they asked for a head count from us for parking room passes. I recruited 20 from our office (close to 10%). 2 weeks later we got the passes.

I promise you I am not a terrorist, even though I have a curious resemblance to one. Aren't those bikes in the background cute? Actually, the bikes in the background of my card were twice the amount that was in the bike room today.

Ok, fine, it was raining. But that never stopped me...

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And a day later..we're getting there...

Holy Ship!

In the world of demolition and excavation, you find some pretty crazy stuff from time to time. Down at the WTC, they found a ship. Go figure.

Click here to see the NYT link

Pub School

When I first looked, I thought it was only missing 1 letter.

It's a place where people learn how to start up and manage their own friendly neighborhood watering hole, right? As in, "I've owned this bar for 14 years and I owe everything to those great teachers I had back in Pub School."

Then I thought, maybe it's missing more characters...Was it 30 or 308? I don't know!

Park Panorama

From the roof of the condo portion of what will be the new Museum for African Art on 5th Avenue on the top of the park, this is what you can see.

This was taken using the panorama function of the Sony Cybershot.

Mixed Taste

I will refrain from commenting on the aesthetics of some of the newer additions to the lower midtown skyline, especially since certain of these additions keep my company working (hey, we just tell the jokes, we don't write them). Regardless, the city at dusk I find breathtaking.

This was taken from the top of the ConEd building on Irving Place.

Zoom

I had several glimpses this weekend all over New York, each celebrating the magic of zoom to the tune of 250mm.

Yankee Stadium from the roof of the Lucida @ 86th & Lex

A hawk on 17th St @ 2nd Ave

Bank of America tower (1 Bryant Park) from Ray's Williamsburg roof top

Anaerobic digesters over Greenpoint from the same Williamsburg roof

A cardinal at Paddy's house in the Hamptons

Following Directions

Well nothing is technically stacked on top of it, so it should be fine, right?

Mad High

It took me long enough to finally get to the roof of the Slazer tower at the bottom of Madison Ave at 23rd St. Although I question the relative appropriateness of that building architecturally and geographically, the views from the top are unreal. I can't wait to find a sunny day and bring my SLR up there...

Check out my Picasa for more photos.

Tumble Tree

60 mph gusts may not seem much to somebody in Miami or Chicago, but in NYC that's enough to turn a Christmas tree into a tumble weed...

It was even less fun standing on an outside terrace 200 feet above street level with that monsoon. Even with a balcony above, I was still getting rain straight to the face. Not fun.

Where Not to Put Paint

Some lessons are learned the hard way, such as...

Lesson #1: What container should I use to transport even a small amount of pewter-colored metallic duracron touch-up paint from point A to point B? Let's just say, if that container happens to be a thin plastic disposable sandwich box, let's just hope there is nothing in between point A and B that you don't want paint on...because here's what happens...

Lesson #2: If this ever happens, don't take a whiff. I know it's tempting, but trust me, it just isn't worth it. This puts the "Ohhhh" in V.O.C....

Demo Fail

Although many people have the idea in their mind that demolition of large buildings is nothing more than a large blast, a cloud of dust, and a pile of rubble, we have learned much from the last ten years, both structurally and politically. From the immediate terror-initiated progressive collapse* of two enormous steel towers, to the beaurocracy-ridden molasses of a several-year process to demolish one measly smaller tower next door. Either way, it always leaves us scratching our heads. But wait until you see this one, another gem from China!

Apparently, they didn't learn from our mistakes...

Since I started, I can't help but call to mind some other favorites. Ever see a building act like a tumbleweed?

*I consider a collapse an "unintentional demolition." For example...

And you must ask, "why don't we use wrecking balls anymore?" Well this is why (just kidding, this is fake, but just shut up and watch it anyway).

Greenbuild '09

Paid trip anywhere? Yes please! It seems like Greenbuild is the only time each year I can really take advantage of major expensed anything. It gets better when you get to the hotel (the Ritz), find out they overbooked, and then they send you in a car to their compensation, a luxury retreat in the mountains. Too bad I was there alone. But arriving back at the Ritz, I was upgraded to a luxury suite in exchange for the "inconvenience." Not gonna lie, I was kind of big deal, felt kinda baller that week.

Anyway, here's the conference booth area.

Evening plenary with USGBC President Rick Fedrizzi and keynote speaker Al "I invented the internet and am the former next president of the United States" Gore.

Thursday night was the World Green Building Council cocktail party hosted by Lend Lease. Attending were Lend Lease sustainability professionals and leaders of green building councils from around the world.

Rick Fedrizzi and Lend Lease global head of sustainability Maria Atkinson...

And this is Papago Park that I explored a bit with James after the conference was over.

Check out my flickr for higher res images.

Then I flew to Albuquerque to chill with Page and Joe, which was a great time as well. Then back to NYC and back to work.

Midtown Night Views

I was helping my buddy Ian Cheney get access to a 600ft high vantage point for his new film, The City Dark, and took some photos myself. This is on top of the Orion at 42nd St and 9th Ave. We had to time this carefully in between all the rain we had this summer, to get as clear a sky as possible.

For more and higher res photos check out my flickr.

Sky-tastic

After being stuck at work late supervising an escalator repair in the Barnes & Noble at the Lucida, a severe rain storm rolled in, which only exacerbated the chaos in that 86th St lobby. When the work was done, I wandered around the store to wait out the storm. Shortly after, I returned to the lobby, saw that the rain had stopped, but saw some people outside looking up in amazement. I walked out and looked up and saw this (that's the Lucida on the left)...

Here's another one from a little later on: