John Jay College students and staff should be ready to see construction projects on both the Jay Walk and at the 57th Street Haaren Hall entrance during the Fall 2024 semester.
Although this construction was set to take place over the summer, Anthony Bracco, the Executive Director of Facilities, disclosed that a majority of these construction projects are anticipated to begin and finish during the Fall 2024 semester; some of these projects may continue into the Spring 2025 semester.
Bracco also shared that while the project timeline has not been delayed, “The timing is dependent on the multiple agencies and businesses involved in the projects.”
The Jay Walk will be receiving several updates including “Increasing the height of the railing, adding safety phones, and replacing a broken glass panel on the exterior of the New Building facing the JayWalk,” said Bracco.
The glass panel above the Jay Walk stair seating area developed a crack and needs to be replaced.
“We are working with the Dormitory Authority of the City of New York to get a contract with a repair company to measure and replace the glass,” he said. “Given the placement of the glass and the complexity, we anticipate completion in spring 2025,” said Bracco.
Presently, the Jay Walk is open for student use, but Bracco stated that parts of the space, such as the stair seating area (see photo to left), will remain closed. Bracco also explained that the roped-off “safe zone” may have to expand while the contractor makes repairs.
Destinee Swift, a John Jay student majoring in criminology, was confused by the yellow-taped safety zone on the Jay Walk. “The [stair] seating area was closed,” she said. “Last semester, all of spring, it was closed for whatever reason. It doesn’t look like nothing is broken—it’s just closed,” said Swift.
Joseph Garcia, a student majoring in fire science, commented on his first visit to the Jay Walk this semester, “It was a sight to see, and very different from what I’m used to,” he said. “I mean there are more people, more students, and a lot of the places I used to go to are yellow-taped off,” said Garcia.
Besides the roped off staircase, Garcia noticed another construction project occurring on the Jay Walk.
“There was a trash area right there at the wood [patio]. [I’m] not sure what that was really about,” said Garcia.
After an update from Bracco, it turns out that Gracia was describing the replacement work being done on the wood deck seating.
“The seating area had some structural wood that had deteriorated over time and needed to be replaced. We temporarily removed the top decking to expose the deteriorated pieces which have been predominantly replaced at this point,” said Bracco. “We are in the process of re-installing the top decking.”
The construction plans also include replacing water damaged windows in Haaren Hall during the fall semester.
Bracco shared that many window units in the building are “past their useful life,” which is making them energy inefficient. “All windows in Haaren Hall with units that do not meet or exceed the current energy efficiency guidelines will be replaced,” said Bracco.
Besides its windows, Haaren Hall will also be receiving repairs to its exterior this semester.
“[During] part of the normal cycle of City inspections of our building façades, [we learned that] several conditions in the stonework were noted and need to be addressed,” said Bracco.
The scaffolding required by this project has not gone unnoticed by John Jay students.
“I was like—oh okay—we are doing construction. Nice,” said Swift.
Bracco explained, “the scaffold is required for safety purposes until the repairs are complete.”
Bracco also shared that the full scope of the Haaren Hall entrance construction project has yet to be finalized; work on the entrance of the building will continue into upcoming academic years.
“We anticipate replacing the skylight above the 10th Avenue escalators,” said Bracco. “We launched the planning phase for the Haaren Hall skylight and lobby renovation, which will begin a few years from now.”
Besides the obvious aesthetic reasons for the current and future construction, Bracco declared that the future changes made at Haaren Hall should also have a positive impact on the overall traffic flow of the entrance.
“We also hope to improve the flow of students, faculty and staff from the 10th Avenue entrance through the rest of the building,” Bracco said.
Other present and upcoming construction projects on campus include the continued construction of Club Row, work on the Digital Creation Labs, and the replacement of electrical infrastructure in Haaren Hall.
Bracco stated, “We will share details with the community as these projects get underway.”
