The Associated Builders and Owners of Greater New York held its 101st annual dinner dance to honor achievements and contributions from notable members of New York City’s real estate community last night. About 200 members filled the ballroom of the Ritz-Carlton Hotel in Battery Park City to take part in the celebration.

This year’s honorees were: Police Commissioner Raymond Kelly as Public Servant of the Year; George McDonald, founder of the DOE Fund, as Jerome Belson Humanitarian of the Year; Fred Harris, senior vice president of AvalonBay Communities, as Development Company of the Year; and Massey Knakal Realty Services Chairman Robert Knakal for leading the Brokerage Company of the Year. – Marc Becker [more]

After years of delays, the city has finally broken ground on the construction of Staten Island’s new 121st Police Precinct in Graniteville, and has said it is slated for completion in 30 months. The proposed 52,827-square-foot stationhouse, which is being built on a vacant plot on Richmond Avenue across from a ShopRite shopping plaza, has been designed by Rafael Vinoly Architects as the city’s first green precinct, using as much as 30 percent less electricity and water than comparable stationhouses. Mayor Bloomberg, Police Commissioner Ray Kelly, and Department of Design and Construction Commissioner David Burney were all in attendance at the groundbreaking ceremony yesterday. The $63.6 million facility will be the borough’s fourth, and the first new precinct built there in nearly 50 years. It will cover areas currently under the jurisdiction of the 120th and 122nd precints.

Concrete suppliers for the Freedom Tower say construction has been delayed due to excessive police inspections that take up time and cause batches of concrete to harden before they can be used. While concrete safety has been a fraught issue in the city, construction officials say that their materials are fine and that the extra inspections are a form of retribution against the Port Authority, which owns the space and patrols it with separate security officials. “[Police Commissioner] Ray Kelly and Mayor Bloomberg are trying to flex their muscles at the Trade Center site,” Paul Nunziato, the incoming president of the largest Port Authority police union, said of the increased safety patrols. The police commission did not comment on the allegations.