Featured Construction Project: The new JetBlue terminal at JFK

JetBlue layovers may actually be a pleasurable experience at JFK.

It is not the 26 new gates you keep hearing about or the 20 security lanes... when it comes to JetBlue’s T5, the buzz seems to be all about the food. The 800 million dollar JFK terminal will have 55,000 sq. ft. of dining and shopping space and is planned to be ready for hungry travelers this fall.

JetBlue’s T5 is the first terminal to be constructed post 9-11, hence the extra security lanes. It’s great to get past this step of the flight travel process as quickly as possible!

The latest news indicates that this project will be completed under budget and ahead of schedule! The team of dedicated, ambitious companies that helped complete this project included the Nigro Firm, Inc, who performed a construction document coordination/constuctability review to help ensure the best start possible.

Post security, there will be numerous restaurants, including many that will not offer the typical franchise-type airport fare. Since many travelers spend an hour or more waiting for flights, T5 developers decided to bank on the fact that most are going to get hungry and many may want something other than a hamburger or a slice of pizza. T5’s chef-driven restaurants will include
AeroNuova (Italian trattoria), Deep Blue (sushi/Asian), La Vie (brasserie), Piquillo (tapas) and Revolución (Mexican). One can only wonder though, what will it be like to eat a high-end meal with a plastic spork?

The building will be full of light from the numerous windows and high ceilings and will offer free wi-fi. For convenience it will have a direct skywalk connection to the JFK AirTrain.

Turner construction has been contracted for the construction management and the architects were Gensler and Associates. Other partners include ARUP, DMJM Harris/AECOM, URS, Parsons Brinkerhoff and Project Consult, the Rockwell Group, and the Port Authority of NY and NJ.

To see more projects that the Nigro Firm has performed construction document reviews on, see our Abbreviated Project List or contact us directly for more information.

What Makes the Nigro Firm Stand Out? We Love What We Do!

As I was tiding up the office the day after a job was FedEx-ed out, I was thinking about how much fun the project was. It also got me thinking about marketing, who knows why. However, I want to share my thoughts with everyone who is interested in knowing about, contracting or even doing coordination reviews for your upcoming construction projects.

First thing, the Nigro Firm strongly believes in and encourages competition. We know we can please some of the people all of the time or please all of the people some of the time, but we can’t please all of the people all of the time. And we want all of the people constructing buildings to use a coordination review on their drawings all of the time.

Not only that, but competition is a motivating force for us to continue to improve… and we love to improve! Meeting challenges and stretching our brains is a big part of what makes this work so fun for us.

Doing business with someone means having a relationship with them. People have a tendency to trust or “click” with certain other people or personality types or business approaches. With our variety of competitors, I hope there will be a match and a place where a good relationship can develop for everyone who’s building a building.

We have worked with many of our competitors in the past and it’s been a tremendous win-win situation. See the Partnering area of our Nigro Firm web page. I am not going to say that we are better than they are, and I’m not going to say we are less than they are… we are just different. However, after looking at all the web sites, they mostly say the same thing. The wonderful unique differences between us is not always apparent. So, what I do wish to say is, we like what we do and are happy when we are reviewing a project and we do it very well. We enjoy working with our clients to make their lives a little better and brighter.

It isn’t easy to market these days. Doing business isn’t in a home town where everyone knows everybody. Doing business is working with folks across an entire country or even the entire world.

Working to find that good relationship with businesses you need to successfully run your business is worth all the money and work it might take.

Author: Shirley Nigro

Other marketing articles posted by the Nigro Firm:
Marketing: Telling a great story with the help of Seth Godin
Business Networking: Wonderful things can come in unusual ways

The Funniest Travel Story Ever: A Reviewer Goes to Montreal

This may indeed be our longest blog ever posted by the Nigro Firm, but it is worth it, it is hilarious.

One of our construction document reviewers, who is an inexperienced traveler, especially in the post 9/11 era, wrote this story about his trip to Montreal. I guess this guy is lucky he does not have to fly to review construction documents.

Please read and enjoy.

It started with getting up early in the morning Wednesday to make it to the airport two hours before our flight. I, not being a world traveler like my wife, asked why. She said it was because of the long lines to get through security. We made it to the airport, parked the car, rode a “short” bus to the terminals and walked in.

We walked, very quickly, up to the ticket giver guy. He didn’t smile…actually he didn’t show any emotion but gave us a bunch of stuff and took our suitcases. Janet kept everything but gave me back my passport and one piece of paper and said come on and took off. I tried to keep up but it was tough. Just when I thought I would forever lose her in the distance she stopped in a long line. I reached her and realized this was the dreaded security line. I have never been through a metal detector without it going off but Janet had grilled me pretty well about what I could bring and what I couldn’t. It went something like this:

Janet: Empty all your pockets.

Me: *Emptying my pockets with a look of distrust* (I am the boyscout type that carries everything from duct tape to a leatherman, which I never leave the house without).

Janet: Leave all of that home.

Me: *Curl up on the floor in the fetal position*

Security

After we got in line I asked Janet about those other papers she got and she said I would get the appropriate papers at the appropriate time. As the security people got closer I have to admit I was nervous. When we finally got there I took out three of those big gray bins and emptied my pockets into the first one (yea I know, I don’t listen), put my laptop and carry-on in the second and then put my jacket in the third. They then made me take off my boots and put them on the belt. I then nervously walked through the thing and it didn’t beep. I was so happy I wanted to walk through it again just to hear it not beep but decided they would probably then strip search me or something so I decided against it. So I figured the hard part was over we could relax and wait for the plane. Janet though was scooping things up out of those bins and running off again. I grabbed my stuff, started to put a boot on and she said “No, just grab it and come on.” So I grabbed all of my stuff and took off hoping they didn’t think something was up and that was the reason why we were running. Luckily we were just going over to a bench so we could get organized. We finally got everything put back on and in and I figured a leisurely stroll to the gate but Janet was gone again. We got to the gate and she put everything down on a couple of chairs and said she was going to the restroom and to wait right there. I sat down and waited. When she got back I asked her if we would be boarding soon. She said in about an hour and a half. I sat there dumbfounded. I thought to myself, why were we running through the airport then? Never mind, I’ll go shopping. I went to the store next to us. After looking at every item in the store three times and buying some water and Dr. Pepper I had killed ten minutes. So I sat down and pulled out my book. I was reading the five book trilogy of The Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy. Why he calls five books a trilogy I don’t know.

Take-Off and and a Thing Called Turbulence

We finally boarded and got settled. My anxiety was high. I’ve never liked being in any vehicle that I’m not in control of. Through my life whenever I was taught the Bernoulli principle they always taught it around an airplane wing. I would listen, make some calculations and figure out quickly that there was no way a plane should get off the ground from the Bernoulli principle. When people ask me why I hate to fly I just tell them I don’t believe in the Bernoulli principle. This has worked great until I told Preston that and he said “That’s not how a plane flies.” Well, this really freaked me out. I’ve looked at planes many times and there is just no way they should be flying. They are big, made of metal and just have tiny wings. I figure I may have got Bernoulli wrong but Preston doesn’t usually mess up Physics. As all of this is going through my mind, I’m sitting staring out a window. I got a wing seat so I can see the wing and how it works. There is a “flap” on the back and I decide it must be pointing downward now and then it straightens out and that is what makes it go up. As we hurl ourselves down the runway in a plane that consists of a third fuel, a third metal and a third humans - my eyes are fixated on the wing and when the flap thingy is going to move. Well, pretty soon we get airborne and the flap never moved. Panic starts to set in as now I have no idea how a plane works and figure it must just run off of faith. Everyone on board simply believes it will fly. I figure I’ll be OK as long as I can see the wing and the ground…I think this ...as the plane goes into the clouds. I turn to Janet for reassurance that we aren’t going to die and she is dead…no, she is just dead asleep, how can she sleep through this? Then the plane starts shaking, I mean shaking bad, you can see the wing tip bouncing. I know this can’t be normal. I look around the cabin and people are reading, sleeping and chatting completely unaware that they are going to die! The captain then says he apologizes for the "slight" turbulence and that we should be out of it in about ten minutes. I just keep thinking, “I should have driven to Montreal.”

After a while these Stewardess’s ask if I want something to drink. This wakes up Janet and we get something to drink. She asks me how I’m doing and I say “fine.” She starts to read. I figure I will try and do that for a while. Reading actually helps. I start to relax and even enjoy looking out the window on occasion at the crop circles (not the alien kind but rather those farmer create with the use of circular sprinkler systems) and various other landmarks. From this high up the cars all look like tiny little cars. It’s not long before we start our descent. This starts the acid in my stomach bubbling again. Janet is chatting about how long we have (2 hours) and other chit chat and I’m trying to concentrate all of my happy thoughts to the captain so he doesn’t kill us. About 30 seconds out my stomach acid finally bubbles up into my mouth leaving a nasty acid taste …this of course is the point where Janet asks me what I feel like having for lunch. I calmly explain to her that I don’t feel much like eating right now and let’s discuss it after the crisis is over. She looks at me funny and says OK. We land without incident and taxi to the gate.

Landing

The captain turns off the seat belt light and the plane people come to life, well at least two thirds of them do. I figure about one third are the “real travelers,” these people just sit in their seat and wait because they know it will be a while. Then there are the third who are “impatient experienced travelers" i.e. Janet who just wants to get off the plane. These people stand up and jockey for position. Then there is the third that are the inexperienced who jump up because they don’t want to be left on the plane on accident. Janet jumps up, throws me my stuff from the bin and jockeys for her position. I do too but she ends up a few people in front of me. I figure it’s not a big deal because we have two hours here so we’ll just take our time and wander through the airport. As we disembark Janet waited for me at the end and makes some comment about me being too nice and takes off like a rocket through the airport again. Well, by now my back hurts, my hips hurt, my knees hurt and I just can’t keep up. The last I see her she is hurdling chairs like OJ Simpson in that 1970’s commercial. A man in a walker passes me and I tell him if he runs into a hot redhead to tell her that I’m coming as fast as I can. He says he’ll relay the message and takes off too fast for me to grab onto his walker and let him drag me along. Eventually Janet comes back for me and this is when I learn the travelers rule. You have to run to your gate make sure everything is OK and then you can relax. Now this doesn’t exactly make sense to me because typically she would just make sure the gate does indeed exist and then would look at the TV screen and check on our flight. Logically, I think we can assume the gate does exist and those TV screens are everywhere but by the number of people at the gate two hours early I can tell this is not just her rule but an acceptable rule of travel.

We then ate at Popeye’s chicken (I don’t recommend it) and sat down to wait for the next plane. It arrived and we boarded it. This time wasn’t quite as bad as the first but it was still a little nerve racking. The flight was longer so I had more time to calm down between take off and landing and I think that helped.

Flying Home

Coming home wasn’t as scary; however, for the first leg to Chicago I couldn’t sit by my wife which was annoying. She was only four seats in front of me but she may as well been in the front on the plane. When we got to Chicago and ran to our gate, Janet went to the restroom and I went up to the cute blond behind the counter and flirted a little and then told her I was scared and could she change our seat assignments so that I could sit by my wife so she could comfort me. We got the second row back from the front next to each other. Janet was happy and so was I. The last flight I hardly got nervous at all and decided that faith after all might not be a bad way to fly a plane. I still think I will stay grounded for a while though.

To read more about our reviewer's wife and her speedy legs, see Compassion in the workplace: Going the extra mile...or 26.

To read about how this reviewer helped us meet a crisis deadline situation, see Creative Problem Solving: Meeting deadlines.

Wonder, just what it is the Nigro Firm does, see What does the Nigro Firm do?

Construction Humor Speaks the Universal Language

Our site, Blueprint Bluepers has enjoyed International traffic since day one. Humor speaks the universal language and the terms "construction humor" and "construction cartoons" are searched on from all over the world.

Though you may notice that much of our traffic comes from the US, you will also notice visitors from many other places. Keep in mind, that this map only reflects September 12th, 2008.

Standard Google Map:


Hybrid Google Map:


Since we understand that humor is an international language we have spent quite a bit of time creating this site, to not only help promote our company name, but to also help relieve stress levels everywhere. This site includes construction cartoons, construction humor and tales and stories.

According to numerous researches, laughter decreases the level of stress hormones like cortisol, epinephrine, adrenaline, dopamine and growth hormone. And it increases the level of health-enhancing hormones like endorphins and neurotransmitters. Laughter also increases the number of antibody-producing cells and enhances the effectiveness of T cells. So in conclusion, laughter helps support a stronger immune system and decreases the negative physical side effects of stress.

Go ahead, relax and laugh. Here is our newest cartoon, we have more coming soon.



And please, check out our site Blueprint Bluepers.

Construction Projects: Why sometimes the small jobs are better

Sometimes it seems that those of us who work in the construction industry are always looking for the next "big job."

However, after working on projects with over 2000 drawings...which is stressful for everyone involved...we occasionally rethink our stance. Yes, sometimes the small construction projects are much sweeter. Small for us meaning a construction project with a build cost of under 30 million.

Benefits of working on small projects:

• Fewer interested parties to work with, less likely to have a large board of directors or other complicated and slow approval processes.
• Requires a smaller team and less resources to complete.
• Construction drawing review can be completed quickly...and almost joyously, compared to large projects which are much more complex.
• More likely to be able to work directly with interested party.

Recently, we completed a smaller project, that may lead into a series of small projects, we are very much looking forward to the opportunity to work on these projects.

Will we still take large projects? Very likely, we love a challenge and of course they look great in our portfolio.

Have a project coming up? Give us a call.

How to Use our Construction Cartoons

We love to share our construction cartoons....but not necessarily our bandwidth.

So, if you would like to post our Blueprint Bluepers cartoons to your website, forum or blog please link to our Photobucket album. Currently, we have 10 full-color original construction cartoons in this album.

Including our first, The Circulating Pimp.


All we ask is that you please include the entire cartoon with attributions/credits. And please do not sell them or alter them in any way.

Of course you are also welcome to print them out, we offer large printable versions from our website Blueprint Bluepers, see the cartoon section.

If you would like to learn more about our featured artist, Chaise Payan, click here.

If you have construction related cartoons or humorous stories that you would like to share, see our contribution guidelines.

New JFK Terminal: JetBlue puts on the ritz

Forget sitting at Starbucks for four hours waiting for your flight...avoid the jitters...and indulge in some fine dining instead.

The new T5 terminal at JFK is expected to be ready for weary, hungry travelers this fall and will include many high-end restaurants that will offer everything from sushi to Italian to an americanesque steak house.

We performed a construction document coordination review on the drawings for this terminal before ground breaking and are happy to hear that T5 is under budget and ahead of schedule....we hope we had something to do with that.

Please stay tuned for more information about this new terminal in our next newsletter.

How much experience does the Nigro Firm, Inc have reviewing airport terminal drawings?
Plenty. If you have a project like this coming up, give us a call, we would like to see your project be under budget and ahead of schedule too.