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Rafter life! City Tech appeases ancient spirits with beam-raising ceremony

Rafter life! City Tech appeases ancient spirits with beam-raising ceremony
Photo by Jason Speakman

Call it a team building exorcise.

Downtown’s New York City College of Technology celebrated the erection of the final beam of its new Jay Street building on June 22 with a “topping off” ceremony — an ancient Scandinavian builders’ tradition meant to ward off any angry tree-dwelling spirits that may have been displaced by the construction. Traditionally, Norse workforces are said to have placed a tree and flags atop the frame and toasted it with a hearty ale, but the City Tech construction-crew members opted for the more modern variation of painting the last beam white and signing it with their names.

A college spokesman downplayed the threat of vengeful phantoms in the nabe, but hailed the ceremony as a major step toward the building’s completion.

“I don’t think there are any angry forest spirits in Downtown Brooklyn — I hope not — but it marks an important milestone in construction,” said Steve Soiffer, a top aide to the college president.

The eight-story Klitgord Center at 285 Jay St., between Tech Place and Tillary Street, will house a health clinic, a 1,000-seat auditorium, and an 800-seat gymnasium. It will also be where the dentists, optometrists, and x-ray experts of tomorrow hone their skills, which means some areas of the new building will be fitted-out with lead-lined walls and extra-strong floors that can withstand weighty equipment, including 75 new dental chairs.

Downtown Beacon: Renderings show the bright new building rising at 285 Jay St., the future home of New York City College of Technology’s vision and dental programs.
New York City College of Technology

The heavy-duty decor will take a long time to install, Soiffer said. Workers broke ground on the $405-million project in October 2013 and aren’t expected to wrap up until Spring 2017.

“The infrastructure of this is going to be extremely complicated,” he said.

And that date can’t come quickly enough, Soiffer said. The college has had the expansion in the works for more than a decade as its enrollment numbers have ballooned. The school had about 11,000 scholars in 2011 and now boasts more than 17,000, he said.

The university originally planned to construct its new digs in partnership with mega-developer Bruce Ratner, who wanted to build a 100-story, Renzo Piano-designed skyscraper dubbed Mr. Brooklyn on the site. But the two parties parted ways in 2008 amidst skyrocketing projected costs and the financial downturn, and the college forged ahead on its own.

Reach reporter Noah Hurowitz at nhurowitz@cnglocal.com or by calling (718) 260–4505. Follow him on Twitter @noahhurowitz
Never forget: Developer Bruce Ratner once planned to build the city's tallest residential tower at the site that now hosts a more modest eight-story facility.