September 8, 2023

Building Community: Campus Facilities Update for Fall 2023

Dear Students, Faculty, and Staff,

Welcome back to the new academic year. Over the past few months, the Campus Facilities and Operations and Buildings and Grounds teams have been hard at work to improve our physical infrastructure while addressing continuing challenges.

I would like to bring to your attention a few ongoing or potential facilities projects that may cause delay or disruption as well as notable improvements that we were able to accomplish.

Ongoing Projects That May Cause Inconvenience and Challenges

• Elevators: Unfortunately, our elevators function in ways that cause excessive wear-and-tear to parts and operations, leading to problems even after relatively recent upgrades and maintenance. Elevator operation issues may create longer than average elevator lines in both the Newman Vertical Campus (NVC) and the Field Building at 17 Lexington Avenue (17 Lex). Please allow extra time to get to your offices and classes in those buildings. If you are able to do so, we encourage you to use the stairs and/or escalators to access the first five floors of both buildings. As we actively investigate and plan for more permanent elevator replacements, we will continue to expedite repairs and restore elevator operations as new parts are needed.
• Phase 2 Renovation for 17 Lex: Phase 2 renovation is set to begin this semester and includes new ADA-compliant 1st floor restrooms and a single-occupancy, all-gender restroom; new finishes in the Mason Hall lobby; a new elevator for Mason Hall; and removing the 6th floor mezzanine and leveling the floor. The renovation is expected to take 24 months to complete. We anticipate that the first portion of the physical work, abatement and demolition, will begin this fall. The demolition of the existing restrooms will occur in the 1st floor lobby area behind the elevators, in the alleyway adjoining all three South Campus buildings (17 Lex, the Administration Building, and Steven L. Newman Hall), and on the 6th floor and 6th floor mezzanine.
• Conversion of the Former Bookstore to the New BOSS at the NVC: In partnership with our DASNY colleagues, Baruch is working with an architectural firm on schematic designs to transform the former bookstore space into a new all-inclusive, permanent Baruch One Stop Shop (BOSS). We anticipate that the bidding process and start of construction will take place in late 2024. Construction is expected to take approximately 15 months to complete. In the meantime, the Pop-Up Student Space in the former bookstore has experienced issues with the cooling system. We are working with our CUNY and DASNY counterparts to address this issue as quickly as possible. The Pop-Up Student Space will remain closed until the cooling issue is resolved.
• Elevator Lobby Modernization in the Information and Technology Building (ITB): Each elevator lobby will be renovated, including new flooring, new wall tiles, and new call buttons as well as ceiling and signage modifications. This work is expected to take 12 months to complete and will begin this fall. As we move through the construction process, Campus Facilities and Operations will send separate campus announcements informing occupants of possible elevator disruptions.
• Interior Improvements at the Annex Building: Per lease extension agreement, interior improvements will begin in the Annex Building, which include new restroom fixtures, new flooring, improved energy-efficient lighting, and painting. When the College receives firm start dates for this work, we will update and coordinate with each business group.

Notable Campus Improvements

• Campus-wide Interior Upgrades: We are slowly but surely refreshing and upgrading interior conditions of campus buildings with painting and furniture installation, managed by Baruch’s in-house Interior Designer Jodi Ling, with assistance from Baruch’s Buildings and Grounds staff.
• ITB Roof Replacement: After considerable effort, the roof replacement project for the ITB was completed in August.
• Restroom Renovation: Restroom renovations in three campus buildings—the Administration Building, the NVC, and the ITB—have been successfully completed.
• All-Gender, Single-Occupancy Restrooms: All-gender, single-occupancy restrooms are now available on campus. These include restrooms on the 1st floor of the Administration Building, the 1st floor of the ITB, and the 3rd floor of the NVC. For the locations of all-gender restrooms, please check the Campus Facilities and Operations webpage.
• 17 Lex Water Bottle Filling Stations: Over the summer, Buildings and Grounds worked tirelessly to improve the overall environment in 17 Lex. We are happy to announce the installation of new water bottle filling stations on the 4th, 8th, 9th, 10th, 11th, 12th, 13th, and 15th floors.
• Campus Facilities Work Request Management System Upgrade: The Archibus Work Request System received a CUNY-wide software upgrade that went live this month. Each department has authorized users that can submit and monitor work requests. Please contact Frank Antonucci, Archibus System Administrator, at [log in to unmask] with any questions you may have.
• Campus-wide Shredding Pick-Up: Pick-up services shall resume this fall. Please consult the College’s and University’s policies and guidance on Record Retention and Disposition prior to any document shredding.

We wish to celebrate the campus improvements we were able to achieve over the past few months and apologize in advance for the delay and inconvenience caused by construction and facilities-related work. To everyone in the campus community, thank you for your interest, continued patience, and cooperation and stay tuned for more updates and progress in the months to come.

Sincerely,

Larry Manganello, MBA, CFM

Assistant Vice President, Campus Facilities and Operations