Architects, Your Vote Matters

Register to vote! The Presidential primaries are already upon us, and the AIA wants every architect to take part in the political process. AIA member participation in the upcoming elections is critical to advancing policies that help architects design better buildings and communities.

If you have not already registered to vote, the AIA Advocacy Action Center can help you. There, you can also stay informed. The AIA 2016 Presidential Candidate Profiles feature candidates’ stances on the issues that impact architects most to ensure that AIA members make informed decisions.

New York’s primary is 04.19.16.

Pulse Points

• The NYC Economic Development Corporation (NYCEDC) unveiled UrbanTech NYC, a program to help tech entrepreneurs address the city’s energy, waste, transportation, agriculture, and water challenges. NYCEDC has committed $7.2 million to create two hubs in Brooklyn and Manhattan, which will open in the summer of 2016. The hubs will provide 100,000 square feet of space.
• The proposed Brooklyn-Queens Connector streetcar would run from Astoria to Sunset Park. The proposal would generate 28,000 jobs and $25 billion in wages and economic development, and serve 50,000 passengers daily.
• To ensure safety during the current building boom, the NYC Department of Buildings (DOB) will enact a series of updates. These include: raising the penalties for serious construction-safety lapses to $10,000, conducting more than 1,500 enforcement sweeps over the next 90 days, and requiring new supervision at construction sites by hiring 100 more inspectors and mandating construction superintendents at projects under 10 stories.
• On 02.25.16, the Center for Architecture will host “Affordable Housing and the Public Realm: Designing for Quality Retail and Community Use.” The program will introduce Laying the Groundwork, guidelines for high-quality ground-floor design in mixed-use affordable housing developments, developed by the Design Trust for Public Space and the NYC Department of Housing Preservation and Development. Thousands of new mixed-use affordable housing developments will be created over the next decade with the potential to transform communities.