The International Council of Shopping Centers (ICSC) recently hosted the annual New York Deal Making Conference at the Jacob K. Javits Convention Center. CCA Metro went behind the scenes of the emerging tradeshow to meet the team of union contractors and members of the New York City District Council of Carpenters who are bringing one of the largest retail conventions to NYC.

The Javits Center is one of the busiest convention centers in the United States. Hosting over 175 events a year, and generating $2 billion in economic activity, there is no question that union carpenters and contractors are critical to maintaining the convention center’s legacy.

We entered the exhibition floor through the administrative entrance, which is the same entrance that all union members are required to enter and exit through every day.

The informational desk near the entrance is also where members receive their daily assignments.

The exhibition floor was bustling with union members working on all facets of the upcoming trade show. They were engaged in floor layout, pipe and drape work, carpeting, booth maintenance, and rigging of signs for exhibits, among other tasks.

Hosted by the International Council of Shopping Centers, the New York Deal Making Conference focused on the emergence of retailers and the future of retail development. The event also hosted an Innovation Lounge with interactive product demonstrations, including facial recognition programs, holographic retail displays and more.

With over 530 exhibitors invited to showcase, there was no shortage of creativity! Colorful displays and modern booths transformed the global pavilion.

Teamwork! Our union brothers and sisters worked closely to complete tasks efficiently.

The 2018 New York Deal Making Event spanned over 206,000 Sq. Ft. and attracted over 10,000 attendees within its three-day run. The event received wide praise for facilitating an international networking event of key players in retail and commercial real estate around the globe.

Union Carpenters from the New York City District Council of Carpenters are always committed to giving back to the community, and using their skills and abilities for the greater good.

Earlier this month, we took a trip to the Javits Center to check out the installation of the Hockey arena for the 2018 Special Olympics Regional Floor Hockey Tournament and 50th Anniversary event. Accompanied by more than 75 coaches and 200 volunteers, over 350 athletes from New York City, Long Island and Hudson Valley participated in the tournament this past weekend.

Among those volunteers are the union members from the NYC District Council of Carpenters who came together to install four, 40 x 80′ hockey rinks. The arena is made from sport court flooring, which provides superior traction, and shock absorption that is suitable for high-performance action.

Installation for the sport court flooring was completed within one day and was promptly disassembled and removed after the tournament.

Congratulations to Special Olympics NY on their 50th year anniversary, and thank you to all of the volunteers for coming together to bring this exciting event to fruition! #BuildingNewYorksBEST!

Earlier this year, the Carpenter Contractor Alliance of Metropolitan New York had the special opportunity to tour the construction of the New York City Proton Therapy Center in East Harlem, New York. They spent the day with some members of Millwright Local Union 740, Varian Medical Systems and Bay Crane to learn about proton beam therapy and the value of having a specialized facility in New York.

The NYC Proton Therapy Center will be the first and only cancer treatment facility of its kind in the state of New York (there are currently 27 operational Proton treatment centers in the U.S.). Cancer treatment often requires prolonged commitment and travel when treatment options are limited. The introduction of a specialized radiation treatment facility in New York City will mitigate the expense of travel and give local cancer patients the ability to access radiation treatment that may not have been an option in the past.

Construction of the proton beam therapy center has been in the works since 2009. This past October, the medical equipment was delivered to the site and installed by members of Millwright Local Union 740 in conjunction with the engineers from Varian Medical Systems.

Pictured: 90- ton cyclotron accelerator is raised and lowered on to a stable surface before being moved to its permanent destination in the facility. Bay Crane is the contractor on the site and is responsible for the delivery and installation of the mechanical equipment.

Before being placed, Union Millwrights used laser alignment tools to center the cyclotron and welded the base plates for the upright columns that would be used to support the accelerator.

The cyclotron is the first step in generating a source of protons to be accelerated through the proton beam before reaching the patient. It contains a superconducting magnetic field that contains the protons until the final energy of 250 million electron volts (approximately 60% of the speed of light!) is achieved. Union Millwrights worked in tandem with a Geodetic Network Survey team to ensure precision alignment and service for all the mechanical equipment on the site.

Once the protons are ready for delivery, they are transported through a high vacuum steel pipe that focuses and steers the magnetic units. The pipes are connected to the steel gantry room, where the protons will reach the patient and the cancerous tumor.

At the end of the pipeline, they came across a series of steel gantries, each under different phases in their construction. The steel gantry in the first room has been rotated 180 degrees in preparation for additional attachments. Precision is crucial in the installation of the machine — a mere thousandth of an inch could alter and slant the rotation. Proper training and thorough planning by Union Millwrights are critical to the success of the machine’s operation.

The steel gantry in the first room has been rotated 180 degrees in preparation for additional attachments. The New York Proton Beam Center will have four treatment rooms. Three of the rooms will contain rotating gantries, and the fourth room will house a fixed beam.

Once completed, the steel gantry will be able to rotate +/- 180 degrees around the patient to precisely deliver the proton beam to the exact shape and location of the tumor. 

As they made their way down to the third gantry room, they got a front-row view of the magnet girder being installed. Union Millwrights worked together with others to safely lower the girder segments onto the spine of the Gantry. These spine magnets help transport the proton beam from the cyclotron to the patient throughout the +/- 180 degrees of rotation.

The spine magnet being carefully lowered onto the surface of the gantry.

Once the girder segment is lowered and placed onto the surface, it must be bolted down within a precise torque specification. Union Millwrights will then perform this alignment so that there is zero deflection in the beam as it travels to the patient.

The second gantry room gave them a close-up view of what the magnetic girder segment would look like once it has been properly placed and ready for the next phase of its completion.

Image credit: Varian Medical Systems

The New York Proton Center is a monumental addition to the New York City healthcare system. Once completed, the center will be able to treat dozens of patients daily, most notably children who are susceptible to organ damage from standard x-ray radiation treatment. The driving forces behind the new center are Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, Mount Sinai Hospital, Montefiore Medical Center and the New York City Economic Development Corporation.

For exclusive interviews with the contractors and Union Millwrights on the site, click Here!

We’d like to give a big thank you to all the union members who generously offered their time and expertise to inform CCA Metro about the equipment, processes and team effort necessary to bring this state-of-the-art facility to New York City. Special thanks to the engineers at Varian Medical Systems, employees from Bay Crane, general contractor Gilbane and the Local Union 740 Millwrights who are Building New York’s Best!