Building Boom in Higher Ed
August 13, 2012
Around Town by Neal Tepel
New York City is on the verge of a decades- long building boom in higher education. Chief among the projects moving forward are Columbia University’s Manhattanville expansion, New York University’s NYU 2031, and Cornell University’s CornellNYC Tech, on Roosevelt Island.
In addition, the City University of New York (CUNY) has plans for more than $2.1 billion worth of construction over the next five years, highlighted by new facilities for the College of Staten Island, Lehman College and Brooklyn College. Fordham University also is in the early stages of its Lincoln Center campus expansion.
“These are truly exciting times for New York’s colleges and universities,” said New York Building Congress President Richard T. Anderson. “The determination of these institutions to build for the future is critical to our industry and the City. In the short-run, these projects mean construction jobs and economic activity. In the long-run, they expand the collective strength and contributions of the higher education sector as an economic engine of the New York City economy. What’s more, these investments help ensure the City’s global competitiveness, while also preparing the next generation of leaders and innovators.”
