Yesterday, the AIA NY Chapter submitted testimony to the Landmarks Preservation Commission on three actions related to the South Street Seaport redevelopment plan, as proposed by General Growth Properties with SHoP Architects. The Seaport project is featured in our current +Housing exhibition at the Center for Architecture, and the area was previously the focus of this year’s ENYA competition and exhibition.

The Chapter is supportive of the project and the proposed actions, which include restoring and moving the historic Tin Building to the end of Pier 17, restoring its prominence as a historic building on the waterfront. The Tin Building is currently buried partially under the FDR Drive and among unremarkable mall buildings built in the 1980s.

The full testimony will be posted on the Chapter News page soon.

Bicycles have a home outside the Center for Architecture, but many buildings don’t provide bicycle storage or access.

This morning, I attended a rally on the steps of City Hall to promote Intro 38, the “Bikes in Buildings” bill. This bill would require building owners and managers to provide “reasonable” access to their buildings for bicycles, just as they allow access to people with strollers, handcarts, or other bulky items. Small steps like this will increase the convenience of bicycling to work and in general, prevent the threat of theft and damage to bikes, and make New York a more bicycle-friendly city.

Do you think there’s a place for bicycles in every New York City building?

For more info on this campaign, visit Transportation Alternatives‘ site, and stay tuned as a hearing on the bill will be scheduled this fall.

While the intent behind the latest controversial move by NCARB was meant to improve NCARB’s Intern Development Program (IDP), many fear that the almost unanimous passing of the “6 Month Rule” may not have been in the best interest of the intern architects pursuing licensure. The 6 Month Rule consists of three interdependent parts: electronic reporting, supervisor guidelines, and a six-month regulated reporting period. NCARB is taking a step forward by instituting electronic reporting and supervisor guidelines, as this will assist in facilitating and expediting the IDP process, but I think NCARB taken a step back by introducing a regulated six-month reporting period.

As much as I agree with necessitating accurate and timely reporting, if firms and schools do not encourage these changes, there is a chance that many intern architects could lose valuable training experience. While the decision can’t be changed, there are better ways than making invalid legitimate training experience to penalize intern architects (i.e., late fees). For NCARB to discredit valid training experience seems unfair.

On the other hand, kudos to NCARB for realizing that sometimes the untimely reporting is not the fault of the intern architect. The organization has stated that once interns enter their training unit reports into the online system, the validity of the units will not be affected by any delay caused by their supervisor or by NCARB. Also, there are a few circumstances that allow interns to apply for an extension (medical conditions/birth/military service). While it is important for NCARB to get the information about these recent changes to the current firms and schools, it is equally important for firms, schools, and individuals to keep current on updates and changes to licensure requirements.

NCARB is trying to address many of the concern as to how the 6 Month Rule will affect interns and supervisors, and it continues to publish information on the ruling on the website. The AIA is working with NCARB and state registration boards to develop strategies to guarantee a smooth transition. On the national level, the National Associates Committee is in contact with NCARB to keep up-to-date on new changes. Locally, communication is happening with the NYS Licensing Board, via e-mail, and through Blog Central. In addition, check out the AIANY Emerging NY Architects committee Facebook Group for continued discussions and updates.

Vanesa Alicea, Assoc. AIA, is AIANY Associate Director.

In a disappointing turn of events, the City Council voted this afternoon to pass Intro 755-A. Representatives from the AIA NY Chapter, the American Council of Engineering Companies, the State Society for Professional Engineers, the Architects Council, the New York Building Congress, and others, gave eloquent testimony arguing against this bill for reasons of public safety and industry consistency. We’re glad to note that 12 Council members voted against the bill. The Chapter’s testimony will be on the News page shortly.

As noted in the blog before, the AIA NY Chapter has been following the progress of Intro 755 and 755-A, which would remove from the City Charter the requirement that the Commissioner of the Department of Buildings be a licensed architect or professional engineer. We continue to feel and advocate the position that the head (and not just the deputy commissioner) of such an important department must be a licensed professional. With safety concerns paramount and the rate of new construction extremely high in New York, now is not the time to relax the professional qualifications needed for this difficult job.

Tomorrow there will be a public hearing on this topic by the Government Operations Committee of the City Council. If you are a design professional and feel strongly about this topic, please consider attending the hearing, or letting your Council Member know that you are still opposed to the bill. The hearing is at City Hall at 10:15 am.

In the effort to encourage and help young professionals to become licensed, the AIA NY Chapter has advocated that the New York State Board of Education permit interns to take the ARE following graduation from a NAAB accredited degree program and concurrent with enrollment in the Intern Development Program. The Board will vote on this issue next month, and we urge members and readers to write letters in support.

AIA New York, AIA National, and NCARB, support “IDP-ARE concurrency” because it makes sense in today’s complex and diverse practice environments. Candidates for licensure should have the flexibility to take the different parts of the exam when they feel most familiar with the material based on their practices and acquisition of skills, not just at the end of their internship period. In the words of the AIA National policy position, “Allowing interns the ability to take any and all divisions of the ARE concurrent with enrollment in IDP will mitigate an impediment to obtaining licensure and further enable the kind of individualized career development for which the IDP was intended.”

Click here for contact information for the New York State Board of Education.

Today the AIA NY Chapter delivered testimony on a complex “74-711″ application before the Landmarks Preservation Commission. The proposed building, 516 Fifth Avenue, will take advantage of a provision of the landmarks law that allows waiver of certain bulk and use requirements in exchange for the funding of a “continued maintenance” program for a nearby landmark. The criteria for approval was the quality of the proposed maintenance program and a “harmonious” relation to the benefiting landmark.

A rendering of the proposed building at 516 Fifth Avenue

Source: Pelli Clarke Pelli Architects

This application, submitted by developer Hines/RFR and architect Pelli Clarke Pelli, will allow the new building to have a greater proportion of hotel space with its residential and retail space. The benefiting landmark is the General Society of Mechanics and Tradesmen building on 44th Street. The Chapter’s testimony lauds this application of the Landmarks Law, which will not only aid a new building to have more “public” space in the form of hotel rooms, but also preserve a beautiful landmark whose endowment is modest. The architects have clearly given thought to the scale and design of the podium of the proposed building, which is in close proximity to several landmark buildings.

“As the project proceeds,” reads the testimony, “we recommend that equivalent attention will be given to the detailing and proportions of the tower, perhaps with more articulation of the top of the tower, given the setback differentiation of a Sullivanian base-middle-top division that reflects the different program uses.” The Commission approved the application unananimously.