Report From Cornell NYC Tech Vice President Cathy Dove - Roosevelt Island Campus Construction Starting Soon, Community Construction Task Force Formed And Construction Web Site Launch Next Week

Cornell NYC Tech Vice President Cathy Dove

 Image of Cathy Dove From Crains NY Business

sends this report to the Roosevelt Island community.

After much planning, everyone at Cornell Tech is excited to be nearing the start of construction on the Island, expected to begin in the first quarter of 2014. In anticipation of this significant milestone, we are now setting in motion a series of activities designed to keep all Islanders fully informed and to ensure we fulfill our commitments to the community.

Next week we will convene the Cornell Tech Community & Construction Task Force. The twelve member task force includes a number of Island community leaders, including representatives appointed by and representing: Community Board 8; Council Member Lappin; Assemblyman Kellner; Senator Serrano; Congresswoman Maloney; and Borough President Stringer.

The goal of the task force is to provide a forum for these representatives of the community to be well versed in the campus development, to bring issues forward, and to have an ongoing dialogue with members of the Cornell Tech team. It will be a place to provide forward-looking information and to ensure that the campus and residents are in close communication throughout construction.

In addition to creating this task force, we want to ensure that all members of the community have direct access to information about the construction project. Next week we will launch our new construction website. The website – construction.tech.cornell.edu – will be a repository for detailed information about the construction process, and will be updated regularly so Islanders know exactly what’s going on at the site and what to expect in the days and weeks to come. Once construction starts, I encourage everyone to check the site regularly for updates.

All of this activity is a precursor to the anticipated start of construction early next year. Detailed planning for the first phase of the campus is going very well – such as how barging will be accomplished, and bringing on Forest City Ratner as a development partner. We look forward to sharing these exciting plans and new images of our buildings in the coming months.

Keeping the community informed is just one of the important commitments that Cornell Tech has made to the community. Cornell has a proud history of being a good neighbor and community partner, and we intend to exceed those expectations on Roosevelt Island. In addition to the measures I’ve already described, we will implement a robust communications program that will include announcing a designated community liaison and conducting regular town hall meetings. For the construction itself, we have taken extraordinary measures to minimize the impact of construction on the Island, including significantly reducing truck trips by re-using demolished materials on-site, implementing an aggressive barging program and adhering to the most stringent air quality standards and monitoring.

As we approach the start of construction – and really establish a physical presence on the island – I thank everyone again for all of the great support you have shown. By bringing a state-of-the-art sustainable campus, beautiful new public open spaces, increased economic activity, educational programs for public school students and access to university programming to Roosevelt Island, Cornell Tech plans to be an integral part of the Island’s future success.