Construction spending in New York City has set records for the past three years running, and several large-scale projects currently planned could drive costs even higher. With the World Trade Center, Moynihan Station, Atlantic Yards, the Hudson rail yards, and Willets Point in Queens, work on almost 50 million square feet of new development is expected to begin within the next few years, further boosting demand for construction workers and materials. “The demand is going to get much greater, and we have to do a lot of work to do everything we possibly can to moderate the effects of increasing levels of construction,” says Deputy Mayor Dan Doctoroff. “Everywhere, we feel the impact of rising construction costs — that’s the big public projects, it’s the private sector projects.” more [Sun]