CUNY Master Plan 2012-2016

MISSION PART FOUR
computer-based modeling and simulation that are a requisite for performing advanced multidisciplinary
research. The facility will contain spaces dedicated to state-of-the-art scientific computing hardware, laboratories
for visualization, computer labs flexibly designed to encourage collaborative student research,
high-tech instructional laboratories, general purpose classrooms, and dedicated student work areas.
The Academic Village/Conference Center at York College will be built on the site of the existing Classroom
Building. This new facility will house the School of Business, classrooms, enrollment services, student
activities, a bookstore, a café and an exhibition gallery. The nine-story building will be four times
larger than the Classroom Building and will occupy approximately 160,000 square feet. Also within the
building will be a state-of-the-art conference center that will be available for use by the community.
Ennead Architects are designing this facility, and it will transform, not only the campus, but downtown
Jamaica, Queens, as well. The project cost is estimated at $250 million.
Finally, in CUNY’s previous Master Plan (2008-2012), a number of major capital projects were cited as
in construction. These projects are now completed and serving the colleges:
• At John Jay College, the new 625,000 GSF building designed by Skidmore Owings and Merrill at a
cost of approximately $557 million is being completed in early 2012. This multi-use facility includes
science labs, classrooms, student services, a computer center, faculty and administrative offices, and
support spaces. The completion of this facility will deliver half a campus to the college in one project.
John Jay has long served as an anchor in its community. The building is a welcome addition to the
neighborhood; its street-level multipurpose room and café, and the Jay Walk, a third-floor outdoor
quad, are open to the public. The new building at John Jay is an excellent example of CUNY facilities’
consumer orientation and focus on student space. The “Quad in the Air” is meant to bring students
together, to give a campus feeling to an academic building in an urban environment.
• In 2010, Medgar Evers College’s Academic Building I, designed by Polshek Partnership Architects,
opened. The new $235 million facility houses state-of-the-art classrooms and computer labs for all
disciplines, as well as instructional labs and faculty offices for the School of Science, Health and
Technology, and the college’s main dining facility.
Construction and renovation add needed space and better facilities for students and faculty. However,
a good educational institution is also a good neighbor, as well as a leader in economic development and
sustainable practices. Fueled by record enrollments and lower construction costs in recent years, CUNY’s
capital program has about $2 billion of projects in the pipeline, from state-of-the-art laboratories to
major renovations of historic buildings. In the 2010-2011 fiscal year, CUNY spent $604 million on capital
projects across 21 campuses. Collectively, these projects will provide about 1.9 million square feet of
space and generate an estimated 14,000 jobs over the lifetime of the work. In every neighborhood that
CUNY inhabits, the college becomes part of the fabric of the community.
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