Big-name developers pledge carbon neutrality by 2035: "Governor Andrew M. Cuomo [this week] announced 10 real estate groups as partners in the State's $50 million Empire Building Challenge to establish public-private partnerships and usher in the next generation of high-rise, low-carbon buildings to combat climate change. Each real estate group was selected because it is committing to achieve carbon neutrality in one or more high-rise buildings it owns. These selections are the first step in the multi-phase challenge which will lead to increased comfort, sustainability, and energy performance in the state's existing high-rise buildings. The Empire Building Challenge is statewide and will accelerate New York's progress toward reducing greenhouse gas emissions 85 percent by 2050, as outlined in the Climate Leadership and Community Protection Act. 

"The Empire Building Challenge partners collectively control over 130 million square feet of real estate in New York State, including more than 250 buildings that contain affordable housing. The partners are each pledging to achieve carbon neutrality in one or more of their buildings and in more than 700 units of affordable housing collectively with the potential to scale across their portfolios to more than 25,000 units of affordable housing. Exceeding program requirements, Vornado, Empire State Realty Trust and Rudin Management Company have all committed to achieving carbon neutrality in their entire real estate portfolios. 
 
"A full list of the Empire Building Partners can be found below, and more information about the real estate in which they have committed to achieving carbon neutrality can be found here.

  • Beam Living -110 multifamily buildings totaling 12 million square feet.
  • Empire State Realty Trust - Its entire real estate portfolio of 10.1 million square feet, leading with the Empire State Building's 2.89 million square feet.
  • Hudson Square Properties, a joint venture comprised of Trinity Church Wall Street, Norges Bank Investment Management, and Hines - One commercial office building, totaling 928,366 square feet.
  • Jonathan Rose Companies - Two mixed-use multifamily buildings including 274 units of affordable housing.
  • L+M Development Partners and Invesco Ltd. - Three mixed-use, high-rise multifamily buildings with 600 total units, including 402 affordable housing units of which 134 units are set aside for formerly homeless households.
  • Omni New York -Two mixed-use multifamily buildings with 195 affordable housing units.
  • Rudin Management Company -Three commercial office buildings, totaling 1.7 million square feet.
  • Silverstein Properties - Two commercial buildings totaling 2,825,000 square feet.
  • The Durst Organization - Up to three high-rise commercial office buildings, totaling up to 3.2 million square feet.
  • Vornado Realty Trust - Its entire office and retail real estate portfolio, leading with four high-rise commercial office buildings totaling 6.4 million square feet.

"These selected real estate partners will seek carbon neutrality through investments in energy efficiency, electrification, energy storage, and retrofit projects, which will employ New Yorkers in a variety of skilled fields such as engineering, architecture, and equipment management while reducing on-site fossil fuel use and greenhouse gas emissions associated with the operation of buildings. As the market for low-carbon technology in high-rise buildings grows, so will the need for labor and expertise in the engineering, architectural, heating, ventilation and air conditioning and equipment replacement and maintenance fields, making New York an attractive and competitive international market to develop and test emerging technologies." (The Office of Governor Cuomo)

The Harry Potter Store fills a space previously occupied by Restoration Hardware

World's largest Harry Potter Store to open in Flatiron: "Warner Bros. has announced that the much-anticipated Harry Potter New York will officially open on June 3. Situated at 935 Broadway in the shadow of the Flatiron Building, the 20,000 s/f store will house the largest collection of Harry Potter and Fantastic Beasts products in the world, from pocket money items to rare collectibles. Spanning three floors, the flagship store will offer exclusive lines, magical photo opportunities and spellbinding shopping." (REW)

LIRR to Test Electric Railcars: "The LIRR has entered into an agreement with Alstom to test batteries that could enable electric railcars to travel on the railroad’s diesel branches. Upon successful completion of an eight-month initial analysis, technicians will retrofit a two-car-long electric train to operate on battery power without passengers on the Oyster Bay Branch. While on electric portions of the route, the train would run on third rail power and charge the batteries, then switch to battery power for the unelectrified segment between East Williston and Oyster Bay. If successful, the LIRR would ultimately be able to carry passengers directly between Oyster Bay and the railroad’s terminals in New York City without the need for a transfer, and that technology could expand to the rest of the railroad’s diesel branches." (MTA) 

Port Authority approves revised JFK Terminal 4 redevelopment: "The now $1.5-billion project, which is being financed by private capital, was initially authorized by the Board in February 2020 as a $3.8-billion expansion and modernization. The revised plan, prompted by the severe impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on air travel, prioritizes components including new gates critical to Delta’s consolidation of its operations at JFK into Terminal 4 and other elements throughout the terminal designed to improve the passenger experience. Further enhancements including additional new gates and seating areas will be deferred to future phases. [Works include] an expansion and renovation of the Terminal 4 arrivals and departures hall and a concourse expansion to add 10 new gates (eight for regional jets and for two narrow-body aircraft). The expansion and renovation at Terminal 4, which is expected to be financed by JFK International Air Terminal, will break ground later this year, enabling Delta to consolidate its operations in late 2022, with full project completion in late 2023" (PANYNJ)

NYCHA

NYCHA completes solar Installations at Queensbridge Houses: "[This week] the New York City Housing Authority (NYCHA) announced substantial completion of 1.8 megawatts of rooftop solar arrays on 27 buildings across Queensbridge North and Queensbridge South Houses, the largest public housing project in the country. This solar installation is the first to reach completion as part of NYCHA’s solar program, and is a key component of the NYCHA Sustainability Agenda commitment to host 25 megawatts of solar power by 2025, which will make it the largest community shared solar project in New York City." (NYCHA)

DOB announces second Build Safe | Live Safe Digital conference (And it's free!): "Registration is open for Build Safe | Live Safe Digital 2021: Safety and Sustainability, a weeklong virtual construction industry conference taking place May 3rd to May 7th, 2021. This virtual event is the Department’s second annual all-digital industry conference and coincides with National Construction Safety Week programs taking place across the country. During the conference, educational seminars will be presented by Department experts on a variety of topics including construction safety, building maintenance, NYC’s regulatory landscape, and building sustainability. Department inspectors will also be conducting construction worker safety sessions in English, Spanish, Chinese (Mandarin), and Polish. The digital conference is free and open to the public. Attending licensed design professionals will be eligible to receive continuing education credits as courses receive AIA approval." (DOB)