The New York Chapter of the New York State Society of Professional Engineers (NYSSPE) was presented with an Engineers Week Proclamation from Manhattan Borough President, Scott Stringer,during its dinner event on February 20th, 2013, as part of the 2013 Engineers Week celebration in New York City. The dinner event, which was held at the Cornell Club, was also attended by Deputy Commissioner of the NYC Dept. of Design & Construction, Eric C. Macfarlane, PE, who gave a presentation on the topic of New York City’s Climate Risks and Infrastructure Reconstruction Challenges. NYSSPE’s Past President, William Prazenka PE, attended the event as well.
The Borough President’s Proclamation acknowledges the reliance of New York City’s economy on skilled, creative engineers to design urban infrastructure, as well as those individuals and organizations that perform exemplary service on behalf of their community through unique achievement in their professional endeavors (see photo of proclamation). Accepting the Proclamation on behalf of NYSSPE was New York Chapter President, Toby Hansson PE and Chair of PEs in Construction Group, Rudi Sherbansky, PE.
The Office of the Manhattan Borough President recognized the central importance of engineers in the innovative economies of the 21st century by recently proposing the Empire Engineers Initiative – a joint city/state financial aid program designed to both encourage New Yorkers to enter engineering programs and to attract young engineers to New York.
During his tenure as Borough President, Mr. Stringer convened a first-of-its-kind citywide conference on transportation, Manhattan on the Move, bringing together more than 500 policy makers, advocates, and business and community leaders to develop recommendations for solving the transportation challenges facing the city. Among the Borough President’s other engineering related projects are the following:
- Worked with community groups to craft Principles for Development for the West Side Rail Yards and ongoing work with the City and the MTA to implement these principles and ensure a transparent planning process for the future development of the yards.
- Go Green East Harlem!, a collaborative community-based initiative aimed at breaking the pattern of harmful environmental conditions that have been part of East Harlem’s history for decades, including a green building conference with 400 participants on the practicalities of sustainable new development and retrofitting, as well as green roofs and nontoxic building maintenance practices.
- Take me to the River, a project to create a community-based plan for the Riverside Park area from 137th to 157th Street for which the Borough President secured a $475,000 grant from the State Department of Environmental Protection. In his first two years in office the Borough President allocated $4,225,000 to parks and playgrounds in Manhattan.
- Rezoning of 35 acres in West Harlem—intended to increase affordable housing, to help the neighborhood maintain its historic character while also benefiting economically from Columbia University’s expansion.
- Authored reports that led to reforms on issues like defective boilers in rent-regulated housing units, the City’s failure to enforce building codes, and its poor supervision of elevators in Housing Authority buildings.
Prior to being elected Borough President in 2006, Mr. Stringer served for 13 years in the New York State Assembly.
The New York State Society of Professional Engineers (NYSSPE) is an organization consisting of engineering professionals from all disciplines and employment sectors that advocates licensure, promotes the ethical, competent and lawful practice of engineering, and enhances the image and interests of its members and the engineering profession. NYSSPE provides education, career development, networking opportunities, and other benefits to engineering professionals and students, advocates the interests of engineering professionals and protects the public through an effective government relations program.
The above post was prepared by one of the NYSSPE’s volunteer members. The NYSSPE facilitates posting on this blog, but the views and accounts expressed herein are those of the author(s) and not the views or accounts of NYSSPE, its officers or directors whose views and accounts may or may not be similar or identical. NYSSPE, its officers and directors do not express any opinion regarding any product or service by virtue of reference to such product or service in this blog.
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