For Release: Immediate, Tuesday, August 14, 2001

Mayor, Chief Judge Break Ground for Bronx "Superblock"

DASNY Executive Director Hails "Unprecedented Program" of Court Construction

A rendering of the Bronx Criminal Court Superblock project.

Mayor Rudolph W. Giuliani, Chief Judge Judith S. Kaye and Dormitory Authority Executive Director Thomas J. Murphy broke ground today on the $324.7 million Bronx Criminal Court Complex, nicknamed the "Superblock."

Chief Administrative Judge Jonathan Lippman and New York City Criminal Justice Coordinator Steven Fishner also attended the groundbreaking at the construction site, located at East 161st Street and Sherman Avenue, near Grand Concourse Boulevard.

The courthouse will have 10 stories, with 1.11 million square feet over a 2.5-block area. The building will include space for the New York City Police Department and Corrections Department. The Dormitory Authority is providing construction project management services on behalf of New York City. The project will create 47 Supreme Court Criminal Term parts - eight new ones and 39 other relocated from the Merola County Courthouse and the Family Criminal Court in the Bronx.

Mr. Murphy said, "We at the Dormitory Authority value our collaboration with Mayor Giuliani and Criminal Justice Coordinator Steven Fishner as partners in this historic and unprecedented program to finance and construct court facilities around the City. We have sold more than $1.2 billion in bonds for this program, and we appreciate the confidence that the City and the Office of Court Administration have placed in us." Chief Project Manager John Andrus will head up the Dormitory Authority's project team, supervised by Rick Bianchi, Senior Director of Project Management.

Mayor Giuliani said, "When this complex is completed, it will serve as a constant reminder of our City's commitment to the administration of justice. It will reinforce the perception that our legal system is the bedrock upon which our society is founded."

Chief Judge Kaye said, "This new facility - a spacious building that will allow for the maximum efficiency in court operations - will ensure a dignified environment for decades to come."

Noting that this project is the ninth new courthouse project in New York City in recent years, Judge Lippman said, "The new building will have 47 courtrooms, providing sorely needed space for this borough's overburdened Supreme Criminal Courthouse."

Mr. Murphy said, "We are very pleased to work with the Bronx Overall Economic Development Corporation and the Bronx community to register and encourage minority- and women-owned businesses to participate in the competitive opportunities offered by the Superblock. Joe Ithier, the Corporation's president, is a member of the Dormitory Authority's Board, and his work has been of great benefit and is greatly appreciated."

The Superblock is being constructed under a project labor agreement, Mr. Murphy noted, saying, "We owe a special thanks to Ed Malloy and the Building Trades Council. Ed's leadership has been invaluable in helping us secure this project labor agreement, a program of labor harmony and project cost savings wholeheartedly supported by Governor Pataki."

The New York City Board of Education plans to build a new High School for Law, Government and Justice adjacent to the court complex, to give the school's 733 students more exposure to the day-to-day workings of the court.

For more information, contact Press Officer Claudia Hutton at (518) 257 3382, or CHutton@dasny.org.

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