In this issue:
• From the Desk of the President: Advocacy Update
• e-Calendar

From the Desk of the President: Advocacy Update

Each month I update you on our advocacy work on your behalf and focus on a key issue on which we have made progress. I would like to take this opportunity to provide an update on the chapter’s broader policy advocacy efforts. Following are highlights from the first half of this year:

• Housing Development Project Reporting Bill: The New York City Council passed Int. 730-A on July 26 to require the disclosure of information regarding construction projects funded through the NYC Department of Housing Preservation and Development (HPD). Originally, the bill would have required architects to report on the wages received and paid to their employees for projects with HPD. After providing testimony for the hearing and advocating with elected officials and proponents, architectural services were removed from these onerous reporting requirements.

• HPD/HDC Architect’s Statement: The NYC Department of Housing Preservation and Development (HPD) requires certain certifications regarding a building project’s compliance. These proposed certifications would have made a project virtually impossible for architects to certify compliance. AIANY advocated for and achieved several changes in the final form that significantly improve it in terms of fairness for our members.

• Green Roof Tax Abatement: David Bragdon, Director of the Mayor’s Office of Long Term Planning and Sustainability, invited us to be a part of stakeholder meetings that will occur in the fall on the expiring green roof tax abatements.

• Streamlining the Regulatory Review Process: In support of the efforts to streamline the regulatory review process and support the Department of Buildings’ (DOB) efforts to make the NYC Development HUB a success, AIANY has discussed potential media opportunities focused on the HUB with the DOB press office around future funding for the HUB.

• Via Verde: AIANY Executive Director Rick Bell, FAIA, stood alongside Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg at the Ribbon Cutting for Via Verde, the new affordable housing project that promotes environmental responsibility and healthy living in which AIANY had significant input.

• Letters to Senators: We wrote to Senator Charles E. Schumer and Senator Kirsten E. Gillibrand to express opposition to efforts that weaken or eliminate sustainable design policies for federal buildings. We support design that reduces energy consumption and greenhouse gas emissions, and the energy and water appropriations bill recently approved by the House would stifle these efforts.

• Environmental Protection: In June, Executive Director Rick Bell, FAIA, presented testimony to the New York City Council Committee on Environmental Protection in support of Int. 694, legislation which seeks to facilitate the development of geothermal as a viable alternative energy source for the city. His testimony described the benefits of using geothermal technology, as the Center for Architecture at 536 LaGuardia Place has utilized geothermal ground source wells for the past ten years.

• NYU Core Project: AIANY provided testimony at the NYC Planning Commission and New York City Council Land Use Sub-Committee hearings on the New York University Core Project application. The goal for New York University’s expansion is to secure a better future for the next generation of NYU students, faculty and researchers, while carefully incorporating the new buildings into the existing urban fabric.

• Co-Signed Letter with the Mayor: We cosigned a letter with Mayor Bloomberg to Secretary of the Department of Energy Steven Chu on American National Standards Institute Standards (ANSI) for Energy Specialists. The letter urged the Department to ensure high quality, energy efficient certifications in the buildings of America’s growing workforce.

If you have questions or comments on our policy efforts or to find out how you can be involved, please be in touch with Jay Bond, Policy Director, jbond@aiany.org, at the AIA New York Chapter.

Sincerely,

Joseph J. Aliotta, AIA, LEED AP
President
AIA New York Chapter

eCALENDAR
eCalendar includes an interactive listing of architectural events around NYC. Click the link to go to to eCalendar on the Web.