From the NY Post:Once hailed as the most important job-generating project in New York, a dramatically scaled down plan to expand the Javits Convention Center was approved today by state officials who slashed more than $1 billion from the price tag.
The latest version of the expansion will create just 40,000 square feet of new exhibition space in a plain, pre-engineered structure that is a far cry from the elaborate design created several years ago by British architect Richard Rogers.
Project costs, once estimated at $1.7 billion for the larger expansion, have been slashed to $463 million, most of which will be spent to renovate the current convention center and replace its dark glass windows with clear, energy-efficient panels.
Photo from NY Magazine
5 comments:
They have got to be kidding. A window replacement? That's it? Do we really need that? This smells fishy. And of course, the real cost at the end is always many times what the projected budget was to start. This sounds very, very fishy. Who has the contract?
Go back to square one. What is the rationale for expanding the center? NYC is losing to other cirties who are building convention cemters that are bigger, better. A small expansion and window replacement does not address that. Politicians! I say leave as is.
Everyone runs away from Jacob Javits because the labor costs and corruption are out of control.
Oh yes, corruption. That drives conventions to other cities more than anything else it is true. What happened to that guy who was apointed a few years ago to oversee the operations and clean it up? I guess they cleaned his clock. Greed is bringing this city down.
What happened to that guy who was apointed a few years ago to oversee the operations and clean it up?
That guy cleaned up the place for good. It the union scale pay, rules, cost of this city and a space that is simply too small to bring the largest of exibits here. Javits is now a good place to showcase anything but it desperately needs to be enlarged. Maybe Gov. Patterson can get the Fed money applied to Javits rather than the hi-speed train to nowhere (Buffalo who?)
This so called expansion is nothing more than a waste of money. The reason New York isn't getting the larger shows is because they don't have the space needed for any major event. How can they call what is going up anexpansion of any kind? Its not even attached to the Javits Center. This new pop up building will be able to host nothing more than an upscale flea market.
As far as the cost problems exhibitors are complaining about it isn't workers wages. You want to know what is causing these large scale events to start looking towards other cities try looking at how much it costs a display in drayage. Explain how its cheaper to bring freight across country or even through customs than is to take freight from the dock to the display.
Its always easier to take the salary from a worker than it is to look at the general contractors outrageous price tags.
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