Dormitory Authority of the State of New York
CCNY Science Building/CUNY ASRC Project
Draft Environmental Impact Statement
Page 1-1
Chapter 1. Project Description
Introduction
This chapter describes the Proposed Project, the Proposed Action required to facilitate the
Proposed Project, the purpose and need for the Proposed Project, as well as the project goals and
objectives. This project is being reviewed pursuant to the State Environmental Quality Review Act
(“SEQRA”), Article 8 of the Environmental Conservation Law (“ECL”), and its implementing
regulations (6 N.Y.C.R.R. § 617), which are collectively referred to as “SEQR,” or the “SEQR process.”
The environmental review will follow SEQR and the City Environmental Quality Review (“CEQR”)
Technical Manual1 generally will be used as a guide with respect to environmental analysis
methodologies and impact criteria for evaluating the Proposed Project in this Draft Environmental Impact
Statement (“DEIS”), unless stated otherwise.
The Proposed Project was also reviewed in conformance with the New York State Historic
Preservation Act of 1980 (“SHPA”), specifically the implementing regulations of Section 14.09 of the
Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation Law (“PRHPL”), as well as with the requirements of the
Memorandum of Understanding (“MOU”), dated March 18, 1998, between the Dormitory Authority and
the New York State Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation (“OPRHP”).
Proposed Project and Proposed Action
The Dormitory Authority of the State of New York (“DASNY” or the “Dormitory Authority”)
has received a request from The City University of New York (“CUNY”) to finance and construct The
City College of New York (“CCNY”) Science Building (“CCNY Science Building”) and two CUNY
Advanced Science Research Center buildings (hereinafter, the “ASRC I Building,” the “ASRC II
Building,” and, together, the “ASRC Buildings”). The development of the CCNY Science Building, the
ASRC I Building, and the ASRC II Building composes the “Proposed Project.” The Proposed Project is
also referred to as the “CCNY Science Building/CUNY ASRC Project.” More specifically, the Proposed
Project would be built in two phases. Phase I would involve the simultaneous construction of the CCNY
Science Building and the ASRC I Building, which would have a shared ground-floor level and cellar.
Phase II would entail the subsequent construction of the ASRC II Building with a connection at the
ground-floor level to the CCNY Science Building and ASRC I Building. The CCNY Science Building
would provide state-of-the-art laboratories, as well as a vivarium and imaging facilities (both to be shared
with the proposed ASRC Buildings) for existing faculty and CCNY programs. The ASRC Buildings
would contain new state-of-the-art laboratories and provide support space to sustain advanced CUNYwide scientific research programs. The ASRC Buildings would also support the concept of an integrated
university by providing state-of-the-art core facilities and laboratory space for use by CUNY's top
research faculty at a single location. All three facilities would be sited on the South Campus of the
CCNY campus, which is located in the borough of Manhattan, New York County, New York (see Figures
1-1 through 1-4).
1
The City of New York, Mayor’s Office of Environmental Coordination, City Environmental Quality Technical
Manual, October 2001.
Legend
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Sources: MapPLUTO, NYCDCP; LION version 03D, NYCDCP.
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The Louis Berger
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Figure 1-1
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Schiff House (Day Care Center)
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54
The Towers of CCNY (Student Residence)
Existing Buildings
Project Site/CCNY
Campus
1. THIS SITE PLAN IS A GRAPHC
REPRESENTATION AND DOES
NOT REFLECT THE EXACT DIMENSIONS OR LOCATIONS OF THE
FOOTPRINTS OF BUILDINGS WITHIN THE CAMPUS.
Development Parcel
NAC
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54
Source: Dormitory Authority of the State of New York.
CCNY Science Building/
CUNY ASRC Project
Existing Campus Map
The Louis Berger Group, Inc.
Figure 1-2
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Proposed Location of CCNY Science,
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Figure 1-3
C
2006 KOHN PEDERSEN FOX ASSOCIATES P.C. All Rights Reserved.
Schiff House
Mott School
Structural Biology Center
CCNY Science Building
SAUDLA
A.P. Randolph High School
ASRC I Building
ASRC II Building
The Louis Berger Group, Inc.
Figure 1-4
Proposed Layout and Massing of Project
CCNY Science Building/
CUNY ASRC Project
The Towers at CCNY
Dormitory Authority of the State of New York
CCNY Science Building/CUNY ASRC Project
Draft Environmental Impact Statement
Page 1-6
With respect to SEQR, the Proposed Action would consist of DASNY’s authorization for the
expenditure of tax-exempt bond proceeds for the Proposed Project as part of the CUNY Program. In
addition, DASNY would also be undertaking the construction of the Proposed Project. The proceeds of
the tax-exempt bond issuance would be used to finance Phase I of the Proposed Project, which would
consist of the final design, development and construction of the CCNY Science Building and the ASRC I
Building.2 It should be noted, however, that this Environmental Impact Statement (“EIS”) analyzes the
potential for cumulative environmental impacts to occur as a result of full implementation of both Phase I
and Phase II of the Proposed Project. The total construction cost for the Proposed Project is estimated to
be $684,281,872.3
Purpose and Need for the Proposed Project
The City University of New York is in the midst of a 10-year (2005–2015) campaign to
strengthen its science programs. With this campaign — “The Decade of Science” — CUNY is investing
in the sciences by hiring more full-time faculty in the sciences, supporting research initiatives, and
enhancing the facilities and infrastructure needed for advanced, cutting-edge research. This hiring effort
is reflected in recent and planned “cluster” hiring, intended to strengthen CUNY’s faculty strength in
targeted fields and particularly in the sciences.
State-of-the-art research facilities are a critical component of the Decade of Science campaign.
Such facilities are key to attracting and retaining high-quality faculty and students in today’s competitive
market. Talented researchers and students are choosing institutions with modern research facilities and
the latest amenities. Modern scientific research facilities with advanced equipment will provide CUNY
faculty and students with the equipment and facilities needed to aggressively pursue advanced research
and to compete for state and federal grants.
High-caliber research facilities are also an important component in fulfilling CUNY’s mission as
a center of educational opportunity for all, and particularly for low-income and minority students.
The proposed CCNY Science Building and ASRC Buildings are proposed to meet this overall,
CUNY-wide need. They are also proposed to meet additional needs, as discussed below.
CCNY Science Building. Historically, CCNY’s Division of Science has been highly regarded
throughout the country. CCNY’s science alumni include Dr. Jonas Salk, developer of the polio vaccine,
nine Nobel Prize winners and hundreds of world-renowned doctors, research scientists, and teachers.
Consistent with this reputation, CCNY has the largest number of Ph.D. students in the sciences of any
CUNY campus. To maintain a competitive position in today’s scientific fields, however, and to return
CCNY to its status as one of the top research institutions in the United States, new research equipment
and laboratories are required and these cannot be accommodated in the existing facility at CCNY.
CCNY’s Division of Science is currently housed in the 13-story Marshak Science Building,
which has served as the primary science facility at CCNY for the past 35 years. Over the years, modest
alterations and renovations have been made in an effort to keep pace with and respond to the changing
needs of the Division of Science. However, because of its design, the Marshak Science Building cannot
be updated to provide modern, state-of-the-art laboratory space. The Marshak Science Building was
2
3
Note that Phase II of the Proposed Project currently is not funded.
Skanska USA Building, Inc., EIS Alternatives - Estimate Summary Comparison Form, July 31, 2007.
Dormitory Authority of the State of New York
CCNY Science Building/CUNY ASRC Project
Draft Environmental Impact Statement
Page 1-7
designed to house teaching laboratories, classrooms, and light research rather than intense research.
Consequently, the original design did not anticipate the exhaust air volumes and system flexibility
required by modern laboratory facilities. A future renovation program is planned for the Marshak Science
Building to modernize the building, but even with this program, the current needs of the Division of
Science cannot be met in the building for the following reasons:
ƒ
The Marshak Science Building has low floor-to-ceiling heights that cannot accommodate the
ventilation equipment required for high-intensity laboratories. As a consequence, the
building’s mechanical system cannot currently support the air handling requirements of its
fume hoods, and it cannot be renovated to do so.
ƒ
The spacing of the structural bays at the Marshak Science Building does not allow creation of
contemporary laboratory modules. Modern university laboratories are being designed in
flexible modules that accommodate laboratories, support space, and office space and that can
be readily changed to meet evolving demands in research science. Large, open floor plates
are most conducive to development of such modules.
ƒ
The Marshak Science Building does not have space that is suitable for vibration-sensitive or
dust-sensitive equipment.
ƒ
Even if these structural deficiencies were not present, the Marshak Science Building does not
have enough capacity to accommodate all of the research space as well classroom space
required by the current Division of Science programs. This is particularly true because the
planned renovation program at the Marshak Science Building will involve major upgrades to
the building’s mechanical systems that will require allocating much more of the building’s
existing space to mechanical space.
A feasibility study completed for renovation of the Marshak Science Building identified these
deficiencies at the building and recommended developing a new building to address the needs of the
Division of Science.4
ASRC Buildings. Like CCNY, the other CUNY campuses have outdated, structurally deficient
facilities that cannot accommodate modern research laboratories. The need for modern science facilities
and high-end instrumentation to support advanced research is most pressing at three of CUNY’s
campuses: CCNY, Hunter College, and Lehman College.5, 6 At each of those schools, the science
buildings were built decades ago and were not designed for research. To meet this need, CUNY is
seeking to create one centralized research center that provides state-of-the-art laboratory space and other
facilities in one location for use by top research faculty from all the CUNY campuses. This facility
should provide equipment that meets the needs of current and future research in the areas of Photonics,
Structural Biology, BioSensing/Remote Sensing, Nanotechnology, and Neuroscience, which are being
handled in an ad hoc manner at CUNY campuses today.
4
Flad and Associates. Marshak Building Renovation Feasibility Study. June 2001.
Cooper Robertson and Partners, Architecture and Urban Design, Hunter Master Plan, June 1999.
6
Polshek Partnership Architects LLP, Lehman Master Plan, October 2002.
5
Dormitory Authority of the State of New York
CCNY Science Building/CUNY ASRC Project
Draft Environmental Impact Statement
Page 1-8
One centralized research facility would provide several important benefits to the CUNY system:
ƒ
It would provide all CUNY researchers with the high-end instrumentation they need that
would otherwise be unavailable, because it would be too expensive to replicate at each of the
institutions.
ƒ
It would facilitate the development of an integrated research network throughout the CUNY
system. Working together would enrich the quality of work and educational value for all
involved institutions.
ƒ
It would encourage cross-disciplinary research, consistent with modern scientific trends.
ƒ
Similar to the CCNY Science Building, its new design would accommodate contemporary
laboratory modules and would provide the amenities and support expected by high-caliber
research scientists.
A centralized, modern facility of this nature cannot currently be readily accommodated on any of
the CUNY campuses other than CCNY. Moreover, for reasons of centrality, in order to provide easy
access for researchers from other CUNY institutions, it is important to locate the ASRC complex in
Manhattan. CCNY’s South Campus is the most suitable location for the proposed ASRC Buildings due
to its central location and the availability of land.
Without the ASRC Buildings, CUNY’s scientific research would continue to be at a disadvantage
in an extremely competitive field. Insufficient and outdated facilities make it extremely difficult for the
colleges to recruit top faculty and students. Furthermore, grants cannot be obtained to support research
that is conducted in outmoded laboratories.
Goals and Objectives of the Proposed Project
CCNY and CUNY initiated a planning process which resulted in development of facility
programming for the CCNY Science Building and the ASRC I Building in 2006. During that process,
primary and secondary goals and objectives were identified and developed. The primary intent of the
Proposed Project is to establish centralized state-of-the-art research facilities to serve CCNY and all
CUNY campuses. The principal design goals and objectives include the following:
ƒ
Provide needed facilities for CUNY to become a leader in scientific research;
ƒ
Build a facility to recruit and retain faculty and enable program growth;
ƒ
Develop an interdisciplinary science community, encouraging cross-discipline interaction;
ƒ
Provide accessible shared “core facilities,” a vivarium, and amenities to support the CCNY
7
Science Building and ASRC Buildings;
ƒ
Preserve opportunities to accommodate future development on the South Campus;
ƒ
Provide a flexible design for the buildings (consistent with a “loose-fit, long-life” concept) to
support current advanced science research and the ability to adapt to the future of science;
7
Examples of core facilities include nuclear magnetic resonance (“NMR”) imaging, electron microscope imaging, and
magnetic resonance imaging (“MRI”); examples of amenities include building entrance lobbies and the auditorium and café that
are planned for the first floor of the ASRC I Building.
Dormitory Authority of the State of New York
CCNY Science Building/CUNY ASRC Project
Draft Environmental Impact Statement
Page 1-9
ƒ
Provide an efficient floor plate at a minimum of approximately 25,000 gross square feet for
the ASRC Buildings;
ƒ
Provide an efficient floor plate at a minimum of approximately 34,000 gross square feet for
the CCNY Science Building; and
ƒ
Incorporate green building design criteria such as those equivalent to Silver standards under
the LEED® Green Building Rating System.
Additional secondary objectives were developed during both the master planning process and the
refinement of project alternatives subsequent to scoping. These additional criteria are best described as
considerations, since they represent factors to be taken into account for the alternatives analysis and are
not considered fatal flaws or “go/no-go” decision points. The additional considerations are as follows:
provide a gateway from the North Campus to the South Campus; create a campus environment with
buildings at a scale that is lower than or commensurate with the height of existing North Campus
buildings and respectful of the surrounding community; provide a central green space for the campus and
future occupants of the proposed buildings; preserve natural features; compatibility with nearby sensitive
uses; utilize buildings and existing natural features to organize campus spaces and circulation; provide
adaptable and flexible floor plates that are able to support the evolving nature of scientific research use
over time; maximize the flexibility for safe use of various chemicals; minimize the amount of rock
excavation necessary to construct the Proposed Project; minimize the shadow impacts of the proposed
new buildings on St. Nicholas Park; and minimize the distance for primary utility distribution from the
North Academic Center (“NAC”) Central Utility Plant (located on the North Campus of CCNY) to the
Proposed Project.
Description of Proposed Project
As referenced earlier, the Proposed Project would be built in two phases. Phase I would involve
the construction of an approximately 122,682-gross-square-foot (“gsf”), 3-story plus mechanical
penthouse CCNY Science Building, and an approximately 136,408-gsf, 5-story plus mechanical
penthouse ASRC I Building connected to the CCNY Science Building by an 125,829-gsf shared groundfloor level and cellar. Phase II would consist of the subsequent construction of an approximately
212,000-gsf, 5-story plus mechanical penthouse ASRC II Building with a connection at the ground-floor
level to the CCNY Science Building and ASRC I Building.
As noted above, the Proposed Project buildings would be joined by a shared ground-floor level
that would house state-of-the-art imaging facilities, a shared vivarium, and mechanical space. The
Proposed Project would include landscaped areas consisting of a central green space (the “Campus
Green”) between the CCNY Science Building and ASRC I Building and pathways adjacent to the new
buildings. The Campus Green would contain landscaped areas, trees and benches. Green building design
criteria would be incorporated into the Proposed Project.
The full build-out of both phases would total approximately 596,919 gsf, and it is planned that
construction of both phases would be continuous and occur over an approximate 6-year construction
period. Phase I is anticipated to commence in early 2008 and end in 2011. The construction period for
Phase II would begin once Phase I is finished and would be completed in 2013. As described in the
following section, the Proposed Project would be constructed on approximately 7.1 acres of land (the
“Development Parcel”) situated on CCNY’s South Campus.
Dormitory Authority of the State of New York
CCNY Science Building/CUNY ASRC Project
Draft Environmental Impact Statement
Page 1-10
Overall, the Proposed Project would entail the demolition of three existing South Campus
facilities, underground storage tank (“UST”) removal at the Boiler Plant and Eisner Hall, construction of
the three buildings and shared ground-floor level, the development of the Campus Green, installation of
two USTs to fuel emergency generators, relocation of a fueling station (and conversion to natural gas) for
CCNY fleet vehicles, construction of a new electrical conduit and point of entry upgrades, upgrades to the
existing chillers in the NAC Central Utility Plant on the North Campus, the use of additional capacity
from the existing boilers in the NAC Central Utility Plant, and the completion of utility connections to the
proposed buildings. In addition, the analyses in the EIS assume that there would be a 21-foot-tall,
acoustical-louvered screen installed along the perimeter of the proposed buildings’ rooftops, which would
be designed to attenuate noise generated by the buildings’ stationary noise sources (rooftop laboratory
ventilation exhaust fans). The final selection of the fans, their exact location on the building rooftops, and
the design specifications of the acoustical screens would be completed as part of the final design for the
Proposed Project and would not be known until then. These elements of the Proposed Project are
described below in greater detail, as well as other public actions that the Proposed Project would likely
require.
The Development Parcel. The Development Parcel is situated on approximately 7.1 acres of land
on the South Campus. Existing uses on the Development Parcel include Eisner Hall, a vacant and unused
building; the Boiler Plant, an old facility used for storage only; and the athletic track and field facility.
Eisner Hall and the Boiler Plant are buildings 32 and 35 on Figure 1-2, respectively, and the track and
field is labeled as the Herman Goldman Center. These three facilities would be demolished to enable
construction of the Proposed Project. The CCNY Science Building would be located on the western
portion of the Development Parcel, while the ASRC Buildings would occupy the eastern portion (see
Figures 1-3 and 1-4).
Pedestrian and vehicular access to the South Campus and the Development Parcel is provided by
the entry gate on Convent Avenue near the Schiff House at West 133rd Street. Pedestrian access is also
available via the entrance gate to the South Campus on the southeast corner of West 135th Street and
Convent Avenue.
Project Site History. CCNY is a public college that is part of the CUNY system, located in
Upper Manhattan. The location of the Proposed Project (the “Project Site”) is the 35-acre CCNY campus,
generally bounded by West 141st Street to the north, St. Nicholas Terrace to the east, West 130th Street to
the south and Convent and Amsterdam Avenues to the west (see Figures 1-1 and 1-2). The CCNY
campus is divided into the “North Campus” and “South Campus” by West 135th Street.
CCNY was founded in 1847 as the Free Academy of the City of New York. As the first free
public institution of higher education formed in the United States, City College was originally intended to
provide children of immigrants and the poor with an equal opportunity to receive higher education. In
1851, a curriculum was developed including Math, History, Language, Literature, Drawing, Natural
Philosophy, Experimental Philosophy, Law and Political Economy and, over time, schools of Education,
Business and Civic Administration, and Engineering were developed. Brilliant working-class and poor
students began attending CCNY, thus further building its reputation for academic excellence and earning
the college titles like “the poor man’s Harvard.” The school’s academic success continued throughout the
20th century and into the twenty-first century, as CCNY boasts a 1996 defeat of well-respected
institutions Harvard and Yale in the “Superbowl” of the American Parliamentary Debate Association and
recognition of the Model United Nations Team as an Outstanding Delegation in 2003. Colin L. Powell,
Ed Koch, Henry Kissinger, and Upton Sinclair are among the many notable CCNY alumni. A total of
Dormitory Authority of the State of New York
CCNY Science Building/CUNY ASRC Project
Draft Environmental Impact Statement
Page 1-11
approximately 13,244 students were enrolled at CCNY for the fall 2006 semester, roughly 22 percent at
the graduate level and 78 percent at the undergraduate level.8
From 1849 to 1906, CCNY was located in downtown Manhattan at Lexington Avenue and 23rd
Street in the Free Academy Building. In 1906, CCNY moved to its current location in upper Manhattan
where a neo-Gothic campus comprised of five buildings was established. At the center of campus,
Shepard Hall was built on Convent Avenue as the largest building and designed based on a Gothic
cathedral plan with its main entrance on St. Nicholas Terrace. The four other buildings, Baskerville Hall,
Compton Hall, Harris Hall, and Wingate Hall, formed the campus quadrangle. The campus quadrangle is
enclosed by what is known today as the North Campus arches, a set of four arches on the main avenues
entering and exiting the campus. The first five gothic buildings opened in 1906 and the sixth, Goethals
Hall, was completed in 1930. The six landmark-status buildings were designed by the noted architect
George Browne Post and are superb examples of English Perpendicular Gothic style. The historic
buildings feature six hundred custom-designed grotesques that represent the practical and the fine arts and
are among the first buildings, as an entire campus, to be constructed in the United States in this style.9
At present, CCNY’s School of Architecture is housed in Shepard Hall, along with the Department
of Media and Communication Arts, the Department of Music, and additional departments and offices.
The Art Department currently occupies Compton-Goethals Hall,10 while Baskerville Hall contains
classrooms, lecture auditoriums, student club rooms and also houses the High School for Mathematics,
Science and Engineering at CCNY (“MSE”), a New York City public high school. After having
undergone a multi-year, multi-million dollar renovation that ended in the spring of 2003, the present-day
Harris Hall serves as the new home for The Sophie Davis School of Biomedical Education. East of
Harris, Wingate Hall features a new fitness center on its top floor that was recently opened by the
Athletics Department. The fitness center contains an indoor track, cardiovascular training equipment, a
weightlifting area with machines and free weights, and also offers fitness classes. The Writing Center and
Office of Student Services are also located Wingate Hall.
Since CCNY’s campus facilities were becoming vastly overcrowded, when the College of the
Sacred Heart moved to Westchester County in 1952, CCNY purchased the vacated property. Thus
CCNY expanded its boundaries to include the Sacred Heart buildings between West 130th and West 135th
streets, from St. Nicholas Terrace in the east to Convent Avenue in the west. This expansion effectively
created the “South Campus” of CCNY, and the portion of the campus north of West 135th Street became
known as the “North Campus.”11
By the late 1960s, the South Campus of CCNY had fully integrated the former Sacred Heart
buildings into a campus environment, and additional buildings were constructed on the South Campus as
the function of the older buildings were adapted to suit the CCNY needs. Eisner Hall was one of the
buildings that CCNY acquired when it purchased the College of the Sacred Heart property. It is located
8
This number includes part- and full-time students. In fall 2006, CCNY had a total of 9,399 full-time-equivalent
(“FTE”) students (7,953 at the undergraduate level and 1,446 at the graduate level). At CCNY, graduate students are in Masters
or Advanced Certificate programs. Office of Institutional Research, City College of New York, City Facts, Fall 2006, 2007.
9
http://www1.ccny.cuny.edu/prospective/about/campusmap.cfm, accessed August 2007.
10
Since their construction in the early 1900s, the individual Compton Hall and Goethals Hall buildings have been
connected and the building complex is now referred to as Compton-Goethals Hall (http://www.ccny.cuny.edu/aboutus/campus/
artbldg00.htm, accessed August 2007).
11
The Louis Berger Group, Inc. Phase IA Cultural Resource Assessment, The City College of New York Campus,
Manhattan, New York, 2006. Prepared for DASNY.
Dormitory Authority of the State of New York
CCNY Science Building/CUNY ASRC Project
Draft Environmental Impact Statement
Page 1-12
in the southeast portion of the South Campus, west of St. Nicholas Terrace between West 131st and West
132nd Streets. In 1952 it was renovated prior to its use as classrooms and offices by the College’s Art
Department and Architecture and Engineering unit.12 Currently vacant and unused, Eisner Hall would be
demolished as part of the Proposed Project to make way for the proposed buildings.
The Schiff House Early Childhood Development Center (“Schiff House”) was originally
constructed in 1912 as a residence for priests assigned to College of the Sacred Heart, and also served as
the residence for the President of CCNY from 1952 to 1969. Situated on the South Campus, east of
Convent Avenue and north of West 133rd Street, the Schiff House offers child care services to students
and also houses the Child Development and Family Services Center. Another remaining structure on the
South Campus that is associated with the College of the Sacred Heart is an inactive boiler building (the
“Boiler Plant”). Estimated to have been erected in the late 1880s, this facility is situated south of Aaron
Davis Hall and currently is used for storage only. The Boiler Plant, like Eisner Hall, would be
demolished as part of the Proposed Project to enable development of the proposed science buildings.
Mott Hall also was constructed when the College of the Sacred Heart occupied the property in 1938.13
Although situated within the bounds of the CCNY South Campus, the property is leased to the New York
City Board of Education (“NYCBOE”). Located on the east side of Convent Avenue at West 131st Street,
this building presently houses a New York City public intermediate school (Intermediate School 223,
Mott Hall).
The A. Philip Randolph Campus High School, the New York Training School for Teachers and
New York Model School, is a New York City public high school and a landmark-status building located
on the north side of West 135th Street between Convent Avenue and St. Nicholas Terrace. Constructed
from 1924 to 1926, this was the first facility to be developed expressly as a “model school” for practice
teaching, to ensure a sufficient supply of teachers for the New York City school system.14 It is not part of
the CCNY campus.
Originally built in 1931 as a gymnasium for the College of Sacred Heart, the former CCNY Park
Building served as the South Campus gym until the late 1990s. It is located on the western side of the
South Campus, north of West 131st Street along Convent Avenue. Since then, it has been substantially
remodeled and recently expanded into a complex of three connected buildings. Although located on the
CCNY South Campus, this facility has been leased to and houses the New York Structural Biology
Center (“NYSBC”). NYSBC, which officially opened in December 2002, is an independent state-of-theart research center established by a consortium of ten institutions.15
Formerly known as the “Y” Building, the School of Architecture, Urban Design and Landscape
Architecture (“SAUDLA”) Building was originally constructed in 1957 as the Morris R. Cohen Library
of CCNY. It is situated at the northern end of the South Campus, immediately south of West 135th Street
between St. Nicholas Terrace and Convent Avenue. This building served as the college library until 1982
12
Ibid.
Ibid.
14
http://www.nyc.gov/html/lpc/downloads/pdf/reports/nytrainingschool.pdf, accessed August 2007.
15
The New York Structural Biology Center, a Section 501(c)(3) corporation incorporated in the State of New York,
was established by the following ten institutions: Albert Einstein College of Medicine of Yeshiva University, The City
University of New York, Columbia University, Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, Mount Sinai School of Medicine, New
York University, The Rockefeller University, Wadsworth Center of the Department of Health, the Joan and Sanford Weill
Medical College of Cornell University, and The State University of New York. (http://www.nysbc.org, accessed January 2007)
13
Dormitory Authority of the State of New York
CCNY Science Building/CUNY ASRC Project
Draft Environmental Impact Statement
Page 1-13
when the campus’s library functions moved to the newly erected NAC Building.16 Now undergoing
extensive renovations, the SAUDLA Building will serve as the future home CCNY’s School of
Architecture (currently located in Shepard Hall) in 2008.
On the North Campus, the modern Steinman Hall was erected in 1962 at the northernmost end of
the CCNY campus to replace facilities in Compton Hall and Goethals Hall. This building was named for
David Barnard Steinman (CCNY Class of 1906), a renowned civil engineer and bridge designer, and
houses CCNY’s Grove School of Engineering. The Administration Building was constructed across from
(south of) Shepard Hall on the east side of the North Campus circa 1963. College administration offices,
including the President’s, Provost’s and Registrar’s Offices, are housed in this building. Designed by
Skidmore, Owings & Merrill, the 13-story Marshak Science Building was built in 1971 and is situated
south of the Administration Building. Named after the former CCNY president and well-known physicist
chemist Robert Marshak, this building is the home of CCNY’s Division of Science and also contains
teaching and research laboratories, classrooms, computer labs, the Nat Holman Gymnasium,17 the
Jeremiah Mahoney Pool and outdoor tennis courts.
Construction of the NAC Building began in the 1970s and was completed in 1984. The largest
academic facility on campus, the NAC Building spans three city blocks and houses 2,000 classrooms,
labs, meeting rooms, and lecture halls in addition to many computer labs, the Finley Student Center, the
Cohen Library, and a utility plant (the “NAC Central Utility Plant”).
Aaron Davis Hall was built in 1979 and is situated along the east of Convent Avenue between
West 133rd and West 135th Streets on the South Campus. This complex provides facilities for the Leonard
Davis Center for the Performing Arts, and features a 750-seat proscenium theater, a 175-seat experimental
theater and a 75-seat rehearsal studio.
The most recent CCNY development has occurred on the South Campus. In 1993 the Herman
Goldman Center, also referred to as the athletic track and field facility, was built between Eisner Hall and
the Park Gym building. It is an outdoor complex comprised of a National Collegiate Athletic Association
(“NCAA”)-regulation 400-meter track, an artificial-surface playing field, and seating. Under the
Proposed Project, similar to Eisner Hall and the Boiler Plant, this facility would be removed to enable
construction of the proposed buildings. The Towers at the City College of New York (“The Towers”), a
new 600-bed student residence hall that opened for the 2006 fall semester, is the latest addition to the
CCNY campus. Situated at the southeastern corner of the South Campus at West 130th Street and St.
Nicholas Terrace, this residential building ranges in height from six to 11 stories. The Towers is the
CCNY’s first on-campus student residence building and, in its second year, is at 98 percent occupancy.
Phase I of the Proposed Project — CCNY Science Building and ASRC I Building
Phase I of the Proposed Project would result in the construction of the three-story plus
mechanical penthouse CCNY Science Building and the five-story plus mechanical penthouse ASRC I
Building. Refer to Figure 1-5 for a profile section of the two Phase I buildings, looking north. An overall
breakdown of the space program is presented by functional area in Table 1-1 below. The CCNY Science
Building is described first, followed by the ASRC I Building and the shared ground-floor level.
16
The Louis Berger Group, Inc. Phase IA Cultural Resource Assessment, The City College of New York Campus,
Manhattan, New York, 2006. Prepared for DASNY.
17
Holman Gym seats approximately 2,500 spectators and serves as a large, modern multi-purpose facility, home to
many of the CCNY's varsity athletic teams (http://www.ccny.cuny.edu/aboutus/campus/science00.htm, accessed August 2007).
ASRC I Building
The Louis Berger Group, Inc.
Figure 1-5
Phase I Section Looking North
CCNY Science Building/
CUNY ASRC Project
Phase I- Section Looking North
Source: Flad & Associates/ Kohn, Pederson Fox & Associates/ GPR Planners Collaborative, Inc.
CCNY Science Building
Cellar
Shared Ground-Floor Level
Campus
Green
Dormitory Authority of the State of New York
CCNY Science Building/CUNY ASRC Project
Draft Environmental Impact Statement
Page 1-15
Table 1-1. Overall Space Program for Phase I of the Proposed Project
CCNY Science
Building
ASRC I
Building
Total Shared
Space2
Phase I Total
BUILDING FUNCTIONS1
Building
Support Amenities Vivarium
Total
GSF
Lab
Office
122,682
47,699
15,237
1,325
0
136,408
47,143
18,415
1,473
125,829
26,500
8,833
384,919
121,341
42,485
Core
Facilities
Mechanical
Space, etc.
0
1,987
56,434
6,629
0
0
62,748
6,115
0
13,590
12,910
57,881
8,913
6,629
13,590
14,898
177,063
Notes:
1
The area breakdown by building functions are approximate and reflect programmed percentages. Final construction drawings
may vary. The building function categories included in the table are further defined below.
ƒ Laboratory: Research laboratories, laboratory support areas and linear equipment room;
ƒ
ƒ
ƒ
ƒ
ƒ
Office: Enclosed offices, open office work stations and office support areas;
Building Support: Central data room, material storage, shipping/receiving, operation and maintenance office and work
rooms;
Amenities: Entrance lobbies, auditorium and café;
Vivarium: Animal holding space, procedure space and vivarium support;
Core Facilities: Clean room laboratory, nuclear magnetic resonance (“NMR”) imaging, electron microscope images and
magnetic resonance imaging (“MRI”);
ƒ
Mechanical Space, etc.: Mechanical and electrical rooms, toilets, elevators, interstitial space, circulation, stairs, penthouse
and wall construction.
2
“Total shared space” includes shared ground-floor level and cellar spaces that would be developed under Phase I of the
Proposed Project.
Source: Flad and Associates, Inc., 2007
The CCNY Science Building would provide state-of-the-art research laboratories and would
feature easy to reconfigure spaces and flexible infrastructure arrangements. The flexible design is
necessary to support current and future research efforts of existing faculty and CCNY programs currently
located in the existing 13-story, 649,458-gsf Marshak Science Building. The new CCNY Science
Building would be used by existing CCNY faculty and staff and would be dedicated to research activities,
while teaching and instructional spaces would remain in the Marshak Science Building. The new CCNY
Science Building would serve as a complement to the Marshak Science Building, as it would provide the
needed research laboratory space, mechanical and support systems that the Marshak Science Building
cannot. As part of a future related project, once Phase I of the Proposed Project is completed, the
Marshak Science Building would be reprogrammed and renovated and would continue to be used by the
Science Department for office space, classrooms and instructional space that does not require the highend mechanical infrastructure of the new CCNY Science Building.18
18
At present, no design plans regarding the reprogramming and renovation work at the Marshak Science Building have
been developed. After the CCNY Science Building is operational, a study would be conducted at the Marshak Science Building
to determine the details of the reprogramming and renovation. The future Marshak Science Building reprogramming and interior
renovation project can be characterized as a right-sizing or growth-serving initiative in that it would provide adequate space for
existing CCNY programs and activities and is not expected to generate new users, other than what is accounted for in the current
CCNY enrollment and employee projections. This growth would occur with or without the Proposed Project or the Marshak
Science Building reprogramming and interior renovation.
Dormitory Authority of the State of New York
CCNY Science Building/CUNY ASRC Project
Draft Environmental Impact Statement
Page 1-16
The CCNY Science Building would include three levels above grade plus a mechanical
penthouse, as well as a shared ground-floor level and cellar.19 The building design is primarily organized
by department including:
Materials Chemistry/Nanomaterials/Condensed Matters Physics,
Spectroscopy/Photonics, Environmental Science/Remote Sensing, Structural Biology/Biochemistry and
Biophysics, Cancer Biology and Bio-Organic Chemistry, Cellular and Molecular Biology/Immunology/
Ecology and Evolution, and Neurobiology. The building has been designed to include open laboratory
modules that provide for maximum flexibility in terms of adapting individual module layouts to
accommodate the specific needs of the researchers as they change over time. Figure 1-6 exhibits a typical
floor plan for the CCNY Science Building. The CCNY Science Building would be connected by a shared
ground-floor level with the ASRC Buildings. Like the Marshak Science Building, the proposed building
would be designed to accommodate laboratories conducting Biosafety Level Two (“BSL-2”) research.20
Similarly, the highest containment requirements programmed for the proposed shared vivarium fall within
the Animal Biosafety Level Two (“ABSL-2”) categories.21 Refer to Chapter 21, Public Health, for a
more detailed discussion of how the design of the proposed buildings provides the appropriate primary
and secondary barriers that are required for BSL-2 and ABSL-2 environments.
Once constructed, virtually all faculty and staff using the CCNY Science Building would be
existing CCNY employees.22 Construction of the CCNY Science Building would begin in early 2008 and
end in 2011. See Figures 1-7 through 1-9 for elevation profiles of the proposed CCNY Science Building.
The ASRC I Building would be CUNY’s premier science facility occupied by researchers who
would be recruited on a national level. State-of-the-art laboratories and support space to sustain advanced
CUNY-wide scientific research programs would be provided by the proposed building. The ASRC I
Building would accommodate advanced research in the areas of structural biology, nanotechnology,
photonics, neuroscience, and biosensing/remote sensing, and would contain laboratories, support space,
19
It should be noted that the cellar would occupy space that is situated underneath roughly the northern half of the floor
plate for CCNY Science Building.
20
The United States Center for Disease Control and Prevention (“CDC”) specifies four levels of biocontainment
precautions for biological agents, Biosafety Levels 1 (BSL-1) through 4 (BSL-4). Higher numbers denote greater risks to the
external environment than lower numbers. BSL-1 is appropriate for work involving well-characterized agents that are not known
to consistently cause disease in healthy adult humans, and that are of minimal potential hazard to laboratory personnel and the
environment. The laboratory is not necessarily separated from the general traffic patterns in the building. BSL-2 is similar to
BSL-1 and is suitable for work involving agents of moderate potential hazard to personnel and the environment. It differs from
BSL-1 in four ways: (1) laboratory personnel have specific training in handling pathogenic agents and are directed by competent
scientists; (2) access to the laboratory is limited when work is being conducted; (3) extreme precautions are taken with
contaminated sharp items; and (4) certain procedures in which infectious aerosols or splashes may be created are conducted in
biological safety cabinets or other physical containment equipment. It should be noted that there are no specific ventilation
requirements for BSL-2 laboratories (United States Department of Health and Human Services Centers for Disease Control and
Prevention and National Institutes of Health, Biosafety in Microbiological and Biomedical Laboratories, 4th Edition).
21
The four Animal Safety Biolevels (ABSLs) describe animal facilities and procedures applicable for activities
involving animals infected with agents assigned to BSLs 1-4, respectively (United States Department of Health and Human
Services Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and National Institutes of Health, Biosafety in Microbiological and
Biomedical Laboratories, 4th Edition).
22
It is assumed that an average of approximately 740 persons would occupy the three new buildings on a daily basis:
292 for the CCNY Science Building, 224 for the ASRC I Building, and 224 for the ASRC II Building. However, the vast
majority of the CCNY Science Building users would be existing CCNY faculty and staff, and the most of the ASRC Building
users would be existing CUNY-wide faculty and staff (with the exception of occasional visiting scholars). It is further assumed
that the Proposed Project would generate a total of approximately 117 new full-time equivalent jobs overall (see Table 2-1 in
Chapter 2, Regulatory and Analytical Framework).
Source: Flad & Associates/ Kohn, Pederson Fox & Associates/ GPR Planners Collaborative, Inc.
The Louis Berger Group, Inc.
Figure 1-6
CCNY Science Building/
CUNY ASRC Project
CCNY Science Building
Typical Floor Plan
Source: Flad & Associates
Note that the 21-foot-tall, acoustical-louvered screen, as depicted, was utilized for EIS analysis purposes and may change during final design.
CCNY Sceince Building: East Elevation
The Louis Berger Group, Inc.
Figure 1-7
CCNY Science Building - East Elevation
CCNY Science Building/
CUNY ASRC Project
GROUND-FLOOR
LEVEL
Source: Flad & Associates
Note that the 21-foot-tall, acoustical-louvered screen, as depicted, was utilized for EIS analysis purposes and may change during final design.
CCNY Science Building: West Elevation
The Louis Berger Group, Inc.
Figure 1-8
CCNY Science Building - West Elevation
CCNY Science Building/
CUNY ASRC Project
GROUND-FLOOR
LEVEL
CCNY Science Building:
South Elevation
CCNY Science Building:
North Elevation
Source: Flad & Associates
Note that the 21-foot-tall, acoustical-louvered screen, as depicted, was utilized for EIS analysis purposes and may change during final design.
GROUND-FLOOR
LEVEL
The Louis Berger Group, Inc.
Figure 1-9
CCNY Science BuildingSouth and North Elevations
CCNY Science Building/
CUNY ASRC Project
GROUND-FLOOR
LEVEL
Dormitory Authority of the State of New York
CCNY Science Building/CUNY ASRC Project
Draft Environmental Impact Statement
Page 1-21
and connections to the shared vivarium and state-of-the-art imaging facilities. Recognizing the evolving
nature of academic research, the facility design includes flexible open laboratories supported by a linear
equipment room to accommodate different types of research. Offices for resident faculty and postdoctorates also would be provided. Depending on the need of the staff and researchers, the adaptable
space program features work stations that can easily be converted into offices, and vice versa. See Figure
1-10 for a typical floor plan for the ASRC I Building.
The first floor of the ASRC I Building would house common space also accessible to CCNY
Science Building and ASRC II Building users. The anticipated shared amenities include a café, an
auditorium, and an open lobby featuring exhibit space. The ASRC I Building, like the CCNY Science
Building, is being designed for BSL-2 research. The emergency generators for the CCNY Science
Building and ASRC I Building would be located on the roof of the ASRC I Building.23
Construction of the ASRC I and CCNY Science Buildings would occur simultaneously (early
2008 to 2011). It is estimated that once constructed, 224 users would access the facility over an average
24-hour period. See Figures 1-11 through 1-13 for elevation profiles of the proposed ASRC I Building.
As noted above, the proposed buildings would have access to a common ground-floor level that would be
located below Level 1 in each building, extending beneath the Campus Green. The shared ground-floor
level would contain approximately 113,887 gsf of space and would house a mechanical mezzanine at the
pump room as well as an electrical distribution room (the “Electrical Distribution Room”). The common
ground-floor level would contain laboratories, workstations, a clean room, a vivarium, state-of-the-art
imaging facilities, the loading dock and shipping and receiving areas, and other spaces to be shared by the
proposed buildings (i.e., unique or specialized laboratory equipment support shops). Figure 1-14 depicts
the shared ground-floor level plan. A UST to fuel emergency generators would be located adjacent to the
shared loading dock that is planned for the east side of the southernmost portion of ASRC I Building.24
Students and workers would be able to access the South Campus from the shared loading dock area.
The CCNY Science Building would contain an 11,942-gsf cellar below the shared ground-floor
level.25 Laboratory space would occupy the cellar situated below the CCNY Science Building. The
Proposed Project would house a total of 125,829 gsf of shared space when the common cellar and groundfloor level areas are combined.
Phase II of the Proposed Project — ASRC II Building
Phase II of the Proposed Project entails the construction of the proposed ASRC II Building.
Similar to the ASRC I Building, the ASRC II Building would contain new state-of-the-art laboratories
and support space to sustain advanced CUNY-wide scientific research programs. The ASRC Buildings
would support the concept of an integrated university by providing state-of-the-art core facilities and
laboratory space for use by CUNY's top research faculty at a single location.
23
The two 2,000-kilowatt-hour (“kWh”) emergency generators would be for life-safety support purposes only and
would be used to supply electricity to the CCNY Science Building and ASRC I Building in the event of a power loss in the area.
The generators also would be run for about 20 minutes per month to assure that they are continually working.
24
The 12,000-gallon UST would contain ultra-low sulfur diesel (“ULSD”) fuel and would have the capacity to provide
24 hours of full operation of the emergency generators.
25
Since it would be accessible via the common ground-floor level, the cellar is considered to be part of the Proposed
Project’s shared space.
Source: Flad & Associates/ Kohn, Pederson Fox & Associates/ GPR Planners Collaborative, Inc.
The Louis Berger Group, Inc.
ASRC I Building
Typical Floor Plan
Figure 1-10
CCNY Science Building/
CUNY ASRC Project
Source: Flad & Associates
Note that the 21-foot-tall, acoustical-louvered screen, as depicted, was utilized for EIS analysis purposes and may change during final design.
ASRC I Building: East Elevation
The Louis Berger Group, Inc
Figure 1-11
ASRC I Building- East Elevation
CCNY Science Building/
CUNY ASRC Project
GROUND-FLOOR
LEVEL
Source: Flad & Associates
Note that the 21-foot-tall, acoustical-louvered screen, as depicted, was utilized for EIS analysis purposes and may change during final design.
ASRC I Building: West Elevation
The Louis Berger Group, Inc
Figure 1-12
ASRC I Building- West Elevation
CCNY Science Building/
CUNY ASRC Project
GROUND-FLOOR
LEVEL
ASRC I Building:
South Elevation
Source: Flad & Associates
Note that the 21-foot-tall, acoustical-louvered screen, as depicted, was utilized for EIS analysis purposes and may change during final design.
ASRC I Building:
North Elevation
GROUND-FLOOR
LEVEL
The Louis Berger Group, Inc
Figure 1-13
ASRC I Building-North and South Elevations
CCNY Science Building/
CUNY ASRC Project
GROUND-FLOOR
LEVEL
NYSBC
CCNY Science Building
Aaron Davis Hall
SUBSTATION
The Towers
SAUDLA Building
SWITCH GEAR
ASRC II Building
ASRC I Building
Source: Flad & Associates/ Kohn, Pederson Fox & Associates/ GPR Planners Collaborative, Inc.
CCNY Science Building/
CUNY ASRC Project
Shared Ground-Floor Level
The Louis Berger Group, Inc.
Figure 1-14
Dormitory Authority of the State of New York
CCNY Science Building/CUNY ASRC Project
Draft Environmental Impact Statement
Page 1-27
The ASRC II Building would be similar to ASRC I in nature and use (although it may include
additional research areas). While space programming for the ASRC II Building has not yet been
completed, the facility is expected to house approximately 212,000 gsf of research and laboratory space in
a five-story plus mechanical penthouse building. The ASRC II Building also would share the groundfloor level space that would connect the CCNY Science Building and ASRC I Building and would
contain the shared state-of-the-are imaging facilities, vivarium, mechanical space, and loading dock. The
exact nature of the research to be performed is unknown and may change over time as new research
initiatives are developed. Prior to final design, the Biosafety containment level for ASRC II Building
would be determined. However, for the purposes of the analyses in this DEIS, it is assumed that the
proposed building would be designed for BSL-2 research. The ASRC II Building would include state-ofthe-art technologies and controls that are in compliance with all applicable requirements to assure worker
and public safety. The emergency generator for the ASRC II Building would be located on its roof.26
The approximate 2-year construction period for the ASRC II Building is expected to follow Phase
I, beginning in 2011 and ending in 2013. For analysis purposes it is estimated that once constructed, 224
users would access the building in an average 24-hour period. Since it is assumed that the ASRC II
Building would be virtually identical to ASRC I Building in terms of its nature, use and design (and since
elevation drawings are not yet available for ASRC II), please refer to Figures 1-11 through 1-13 for a
conceptual depiction of the elevation profiles for the proposed ASRC II Building.
Access to the Proposed Project
Pedestrian and vehicular access to the Proposed Project would continue to be provided from the
entry gate on Convent Avenue near the Schiff House at West 133rd Street. Pedestrian access from the
entrance to the South Campus on the southeast corner of West 135th Street and Convent Avenue also
would be maintained. Additionally, a pedestrian entrance to the Campus Green from St. Nicholas Terrace
is envisioned in the space between the ASRC I Building and the ASRC II Building, and pedestrian access
to the southern end of the new Campus Green would be available via a stairway/ramp connecting to a
pedestrian walkway that leads to The Towers. The main entrances to the proposed buildings would be
from the Campus Green, or from the east side of the CCNY Science Building and the west side of the
ASRC Buildings. The proposed buildings would comply with the Americans with Disabilities Act
(“ADA”) standards for accessible design.
Truck access for deliveries would be available from St. Nicholas Terrace to the shared loading
dock located on the east side of the ASRC I Building at its southernmost extent. Goods received at that
point would be distributed to the CCNY Science Building and the ASRC II Building via the shared
ground-floor level. Emergency vehicles would have access to the CCNY Science Building from the entry
gate at Convent Avenue and West 133rd Street, and to the ASRC Buildings from the loading dock
entrance on St. Nicholas Terrace.
26
One 2,000-kWH emergency generator would be used for life safety-purposes only, and also would be run for about
one hour each month to ensure that it is continually working. To provide 24 hours of full operation of this generator, a 5,000gallon UST containing ultra-low sulfur diesel would be required. Like the 12,000-gallon UST for the CCNY Science Building
and ASRC I Building generators, it is expected that this 5,000-gallon UST also would be located next to the loading dock
planned for the ASRC I Building.
Dormitory Authority of the State of New York
CCNY Science Building/CUNY ASRC Project
Draft Environmental Impact Statement
Page 1-28
Site Preparation, Existing Utility Upgrades and New Utility Services
To enable construction of the proposed buildings, the Proposed Project would involve the
demolition of the following three existing features: (1) the approximately 5,230-gsf, 1-story Boiler Plant,
which is currently inoperable and used for storage-purposes only; (2) the approximately 38,754-gsf, 4story Eisner Hall, which is currently vacant and unused; and (3) the outdoor athletic track and field
facility.27 Building demolition would be confined to the South Campus. Underground tank removal at
the Boiler Plant and Eisner Hall also would be required, as well as the relocation of an existing fueling
station (and conversion to natural gas) for CCNY fleet vehicles.
The existing CCNY vehicle fueling station is situated between the Boiler Plant and Aaron Davis
Hall, and includes diesel and gasoline fueling systems. Because it is expected that CCNY fleet using
gasoline or diesel would utilize off-campus filling stations in the future with the Proposed Project in
place, the relocation of the diesel and gasoline fueling systems would not be necessary. Instead, the
vehicle fueling station would be relocated to CCNY’s Convent Avenue parking lot and converted to
natural gas (“NG”) as part of the Proposed Project. The NG vehicle fueling station would be located
adjacent to Convent Avenue, approximately halfway between West 133rd and West 131st Streets. (See
Figure 1-2 for the location of this parking lot.) Natural gas would be piped in from the existing NG line
buried underneath Convent Avenue and no excavation would be necessary to construct the station. A
connection from NG filling station to the Convent Avenue NG line would be installed underneath the
existing Convent Avenue sidewalk, which would be coordinated with the New York City Fire
Department (“FDNY”) and Con Edison. The NG vehicle fueling station would be situated on top of a
concrete pad, would result in the loss of approximately 2 to 3 parking spaces in the Convent Avenue lot,
and would be constructed in accordance with applicable regulations.
In addition, the Proposed Project would include upgrades to certain existing campus utility
services and the installation of utility services to provide thermals (heating and cooling systems), signal
lines (voice and data) and electricity to the new buildings. In particular, the Proposed Project would
include upgrading the existing chillers in the NAC Central Utility Plant to provide Chilled Water
(“CHW”) and the use of additional capacity from the existing boilers in the NAC Central Utility Plant to
provide Medium Temperature Hot Water (“MTHW”) to the Proposed Project. As depicted in Figure 115, the Proposed Project also includes trenching for, and the installation of, new MTHW piping and
separate CHW piping from Manhole (“MH”) #5 to MH #7, and signal lines from Signal Manhole
(“SMH”) #3 to the vicinity of MH #7 to service the proposed buildings. This “Project Alignment” would
generally run east and south from MH #5 and SMH #3, parallel to SAUDLA’s northern and eastern walls,
to MH #7.28
The routing for the Project Alignment would be the same as that for new electrical service to the
existing SAUDLA Building, which will be installed as part of a separate CCNY infrastructure project
while SAUDLA is unoccupied.
27
The entire athletic track and field facility would be removed at the commencement of Phase I construction activities
and would be replaced with reinforced concrete aggregate (“RCA”) until completion of Phase II, when the RCA would be
replaced with seeded grass and/or landscaping.
28
It should be noted that the routing for the Utility Corridor would likely be the same for any future development on
the South Campus.
MH #5
Medium Temperature Hot Water
MH # Manholes
Chilled Water
SMH # Signal Manholes
Campus Signal Distribution
POE
Points of Entry for
Electrical Service
SMH #3
MH #7
POE
0
30
60
feet
1 inch equals 30 feet
Source: Flad & Associates
CCNY Science Building/
CUNY ASRC Project
Proposed Utility Routing
The Louis Berger Group, Inc.
Figure 1-15
Dormitory Authority of the State of New York
CCNY Science Building/CUNY ASRC Project
Draft Environmental Impact Statement
Page 1-30
SAUDLA is scheduled to reopen in December 2008. In order to avoid the expense and disruption
that would be caused by the sequential excavation and construction in the same location, a Design
Alternate is currently being considered for the CCNY Utility Project which would allow for the
installation of thermal and signal conduits for the Proposed Project simultaneously with the electrical
service for the SAUDLA building.29 Combining the installation of these utilities while the SAUDLA
Building is unoccupied would minimize environmental impacts, construction duration (and costs to a
public institution); and eliminate the need to disrupt electrical service or discontinue operation of the
SAUDLA Building to construct utilities for the Proposed Project or other future South Campus
development. If the Design Alternate is selected as part of the CCNY Utility Project, the Utility Corridor
would be constructed as part of that project prior to DASNY’s decision regarding whether or not to
approve the Proposed Project. Nevertheless, in order to ensure the environmental impacts of constructing
the Utility Corridor as part of the CCNY Utility Project have been fully analyzed and considered so that
such an approach is no less protective of the environment, the analysis of environmental impacts will be
presented twice: once in the separate environmental review undertaken for the CCNY Utility Project;30
and then again in this DEIS.
Finally, the Proposed Project would require the construction of a new electrical conduit to serve
the proposed new buildings. The electrical conduit would extend west from new points of entry on St.
Nicholas Terrace, that would be located adjacent to the points of entry that will be installed to service the
existing SAUDLA Building as part of the CCNY Utility Project, to the Electrical Distribution Room that
would be located in the northeast portion of the ground-floor level of the ASRC I Building. It is
anticipated that once the Proposed Project has been constructed, the electrical service to the SAUDLA
Building would be rerouted from the new points of entry to this Electrical Distribution Room. This
rerouting would enable the SAUDLA Building’s electrical service to utilize the transformers that would
be installed in the Electrical Distribution Room instead of the exterior-mounted transformers that will be
installed as part of the CCNY Utility Project. These exterior-mounted transformers would then be
removed. The electrical conduit is included as part of the Utility Corridor (see Figure 1-1).
A detailed description of the Utility Corridor and related work is presented in Chapter 13,
Infrastructure.
Marshak Science Building
Due to existing exterior deficiencies in the Marshak Science Building, CUNY has determined that
repairs are required to safeguard building occupants and the public. Therefore, this structure is currently
undergoing a façade and curtain wall renovation under a separate renovation contract. Once the proposed
CCNY Science Building design is completed, a space program to renovate the Marshak Science Building
would be prepared as part of a future related renovation project. The space planning effort would take
into account the major research programs that would be moved out of the Marshak Science Building into
the new CCNY Science Building.
29
The simultaneous installation of the electrical service for the SAUDLA Building as part of the CCNY Utility Project
and the Project Alignment for the Proposed Project would be accomplished by constructing a trench that would be wider and/or
deeper along the north and east sides of the SAUDLA Building than the trench that would otherwise be required for the CCNY
Utility Project.
30
Dormitory Authority of the State of New York, State Environmental Quality Review Negative Declaration Notice of
Determination of Nonsignificance for The City College of New York Utility Project, Borough of Manhattan, New York County,
New York, November 26, 2007.
Dormitory Authority of the State of New York
CCNY Science Building/CUNY ASRC Project
Draft Environmental Impact Statement
Page 1-31
At present, no design plans regarding the reprogramming and interior renovation work at the
Marshak Building have been developed. After the CCNY Science Building is operational, a study would
be conducted at the Marshak Science Building to determine the details of the reprogramming and
renovation. The future Marshak Science Building reprogramming and interior renovation project can be
characterized as a right-sizing or growth-serving initiative in that it would provide adequate space for
existing CCNY programs and activities and is not expected to generate new users, other than what is
accounted for in the current CCNY enrollment and employee projections. This growth would occur with
or without the Proposed Project or the Marshak Building reprogramming and interior renovation.
The CCNY Science Building would be used by existing CCNY research faculty and staff and
would be dedicated to research activities; it is expected that teaching and instructional spaces would
remain in the Marshak Science Building. Research labs and support space would be provided for
chemistry, biology, physics and other advanced research activities where spatial or environmental
demands cannot be reasonably provided in a renovated Marshak Science Building. The proposed CCNY
Science Building would help to bridge the gap between the activities that the aging Marshak Science
Building can support and modern state-of-the-art facilities that high-profile university research requires.
Without appropriate facilities, the faculty at CCNY would not be able to conduct high quality research
and would not be able to compete for the grants necessary to support their research.
Other Public Actions
The Proposed Project may require several environmental permits and approvals from city and
state agencies. Potential required permits and/or approvals that are anticipated may include:
ƒ
State Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (“SPDES”) General Permit for Stormwater
Discharges from Construction Activity from New York State Department of Environmental
Conservation (“NYSDEC”), which includes the preparation of a Stormwater Pollution
Prevention Plan (“SWPPP”) for construction activities;
ƒ
If dewatering activity would be required during construction of the Proposed Project, then
approval from New York City Department of Environmental Protection (“NYCDEP”) may
be necessary in order to discharge water from dewatering activities into the sewer system;
ƒ
Approval from New York City Department of Transportation (“NYCDOT”) to relocate the
existing curb cut on St. Nicholas Terrace (in the vicinity of Eisner Hall) further north, to
enable access to the shared loading dock that is currently planned to be located in the groundfloor level of the proposed ASRC I Building; and
ƒ
City of New York Fire Department (“FDNY”) approval for the natural gas vehicle fueling
station.
Eminent Domain
On August 1, 1999, CUNY entered into a Lease Agreement with NYSBC, whereby CUNY
leased a portion of the South Campus, the former Park Gymnasium Building and parking lot (101
Convent Avenue) to NYSBC for the use of the premises as research laboratories and facilities as well as
classrooms and offices.31 This building is in close proximity to the Development Parcel and its
31
Lease Agreement between The City University of New York and the New York Structural Biology Center, dated
August 1, 1999, as amended, December 2002.
Dormitory Authority of the State of New York
CCNY Science Building/CUNY ASRC Project
Draft Environmental Impact Statement
Page 1-32
operations would be affected during the construction period of the Proposed Project. CUNY and DASNY
are consulting with each other in an attempt to minimize the effects of construction of the Proposed
Project on NYSBC operations. However, CUNY and DASNY are statutorily empowered to employ the
state’s powers of eminent domain.32 As part of the Proposed Project, CUNY or DASNY may employ the
state’s powers of eminent domain to acquire so much of the leasehold interest as may be necessary for the
period of time NYSBC would be adversely affected by the excavation and construction activities,
including, but not limited to, any negative easement contained in Article 8 of the First Amendment to the
Lease Agreement.
The leasehold interest that is subject to the taking is that of NYSBC in the Lease, made as of
August 1, 1999, between CUNY on behalf of The City College of New York, as Landlord, and the
NYSBC, as Tenant, and in the First Amendment To Lease, made as of December 20, 2002, between the
Landlord and Tenant. The premises described in the Lease and the First Amendment To Lease are
located at Block 1957, Lot 1 in Manhattan and comprise the land and improvements thereon (the
"Premises"). The taking would be for one year. If the parties fail to reach an agreement on the
compensation for the taking of the Premises, such compensation would be paid pursuant to the Eminent
Domain Procedure Law (“EDPL”). During the period of the taking, NYSBC at its discretion may remain
in possession and occupancy of the Premises and continue to use the Premises as provided in the Lease
and the First Amendment To Lease. In that case NYSBC would pay CUNY as and for use and occupancy
during the period of taking in an amount agreed upon by CUNY and NYSBC. If the parties do not reach
an agreement, the amount to be paid by NYSBC as and for use and occupancy would be determined by
the court pursuant to the EDPL.
CUNY has been in discussions with NYSBC about appropriate compensation in the hope of
resolving the matter without the use of eminent domain.
32
See New York Education Law § 6213(2) and New York Public Authorities Law § 1680(2).