Building Congress Event
ANNUAL MEMBERSHIP MEETING & CONSTRUCTION INDUSTRY LUNCHEON FORUM
EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR FOYE PLEDGES GREATER EFFICIENCY FROM THE PORT AUTHORITY
Nearly 600 members of the design, construction and real estate industry attended the New York Building Congress Annual Membership Meeting and Construction Industry Luncheon Forum, held on January 23 at the Mandarin Oriental New York in Manhattan. They came in part to hear Patrick J. Foye, who addressed the Building Congress for the first time since being installed as Executive Director of the Port Authority of New York & New Jersey.
Mr. Foye spoke about ongoing and future Port Authority projects such as the World Trade Center rebuilding, the reconstruction of the Goethals Bridge and the raising of the Bayonne Bridge. In addition, he said it is his mission to make the Port Authority more efficient and significantly reduce the amount of time it takes to undertake and complete major capital projects.
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"If we believe that the infrastructure projects we all work on are important; if we believe that the current and future prosperity of the region are dependent on their rapid completion; if we believe, as we all do, that unemployment is too high and that current levels of unemployment in the construction trades are far too high, then we must work together to move these projects forward quicker," Mr. Foye said.
"Today, there is a drag on our economy measured in the tens of billions of dollars annually in lost productivity from freight delayed in the Harbor or on the Van Wyck, in airline passengers circling the region's airports, in commuters stuck in traffic," he continued. "The cost of these inefficiencies is huge and growing."
Mr. Foye said he has issued a challenge to his Port Authority colleagues to cut 25 percent of the cost and 25 percent of the time for regulatory review out of each infrastructure project.
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The Annual Membership Meeting portion of the agenda included reports on Building Congress membership growth, finances, and highlights of 2011 events and policy initiatives. It also marked the initiation of newly elected Chairman John M. Dionisio, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of AECOM, a Fortune 500 company and global provider of professional technical and management support services to a broad range of markets, including transportation, energy, water and government.
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The New York Building Congress, a broad based membership association celebrating 91 years, is committed to promoting the growth and success of the construction industry in New York City and its environs.
