Mayor Bloomberg

City plans to pump $1 billion into city infrastructure projects are being radically altered by the affects of Hurricane Sandy, Crain’s reported. Last October, when the stimulus was announced, the funds were intended for waterfront construction, road and bridge repairs and street construction at a time when construction costs were at a relative low. Now with some 70,000 homes in need of repair, the cost of building materials like plywood and drywall has risen nearly 15 percent  – making construction more costly for the city.

Moreover laborers are being stretched across thousands of repair projects. “Every union member is working,” Lou Coletti, president of the Building Trades Employers’ Association, which represents 17,000 union contractors, said. [more]

333 Schermerhorn rendering

Within two square miles in Downtown Brooklyn and Fort Greene, 7,362 new residential units are slated for construction, a columnist for the Brooklyn Eagle said, meaning the neighborhood may be set for an invasion of between 15,000 and 20,000 new residents.

New developments include the Hub, a 52-story residential rental tower to be built at 333 Schermerhorn Street by the Steiner Brothers. The developer plans to break ground on the project early next year. [more]

New York City infrastructure construction spending is set to remain “above historic standards” during fiscal year 2012 but taper off considerably over the next decade, according to a New York Building Congress report released today. The city has proposed spending roughly $8.8 billion on infrastructure construction projects, such as roads, bridges and schools, during fiscal year 2012 and around $8.1 billion the following year. But while the city has planned an aggressive infrastructure spending strategy for the near-term, it’s proposed spending just $47 billion total between 2012 and 2021, a near-halving of current capital investment in public works. TRD… [more]

A 72-year-old pier on Staten Island in Tompkinsville collapsed Wednesday, amid an ongoing renovation project, according to the New York Times. The pier, which held a community center, has been vacant since April, when the renovations began. No one was inside the structure at the time of the collapse and no injuries have been reported. In light of its collapse, city officials now say the pier will be demolished, not refurbished. See the video Staten Island Advance via the New York Times above to review the structure’s unforeseen breakdown.

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Mass transit dollars need to keep rolling in to keep real estate development in New York City, and the country, moving, according to industry experts. The correlation between the health of mass transit and the long-term condition of surrounding real estate on a local level as well as nationwide was the focus at this morning’s Baruch College panel, “Transformative Infrastructure: Key Decisions on Transportation.” “Transit is a bellwether for urban decay,” said Christopher Boylan, deputy executive director of community affairs at the Metropolitan Transit Authority, pointing to the parallel improvements in transportation and quality of life in New York City since the 1970s. Much like crime and poverty have improved in the city over the decades, Boylan said that the transit system has shown marked progress. “The fact that you can get on the Lexington line and understand the announcement was a wonder eight or nine years ago,” Boylan said. “It’s not anymore.”… [more]