Happy News Years all! 
Everything went smoothly too. No attacks, everyone was okay, and everyone had a good time, even though it was frigid.
The year is fresh, the quarter is fresh, and thus, tomorrow, let the permit process begin, and the towers start working towards their inception, construction, completion, and most importantly, their integration into the urban fabric. Like a fine wine, some towers age well and can define a neighborhood, and its a testament to a winning design.
Happy New Year, chaps!
While I’m not confident about its prospects, I hope that 2 WTC gets a tenant and starts this year.
Looking forward to:
9 Dekalb finally getting off the ground
One Vanderbilt making initial impact on skyline
Start of replacing the NYC subway signal system
CPT reaching top out (Is that possible this year?)
Tower Verre top out and complete cladding
80 South moving from proposed to under construction
2 WTC rising (prefer Foster design though)
Permits for more super-tall (preferably office buildings) and NYC first mega-tall
More like a wish list lol
Also 99 Hudson topping out (maybe at the end of 2018?) should be pretty cool - the facade is looking real nice so far… 900 feet doesn’t seem so mind-blowing these days, but 99 Hudson is taller than any building in Miami, Minneapolis, Pittsburgh, Denver, Boston, etc. It will help unify JC’s downtown and will be very prominent from many vantages.
To add with everyone, 125 Greenwich topping out, close to clad being done by the end of the year
Oh yeah, let’s not forget taking down the external elevator on 3WTC, every year there is always one building where it seems the external elevator stays up FOREVER…2016 it was 56 leonard for example…
Happy belated new years everyone! I’m looking forward to seeing the Journal Square area finally starting construction on its many projects. Or at least any move towards actually starting haha. Also looking forward to seeing what Related has in mind for the western rail yards as well as the opening of the last section of the High Line.
I was just walking around jsq 2 days ago and realized that aside from a few very small projects, jsq is dead at this point. None of the large or medium sized projects have anything going on. So I too am really looking forward to some new progress there in 2018.
aside from all the other great projects already listed above, I am also looking forward to watching the spiral and 50 hy start to rise side by side this year. I dont love either design and both had more potential, but it will be cool to see 2 monstrous office towers rise across the st from each other.
Also looking forward to seeing the new group of 700+ ft towers to start rising in LIC.
For Philly, I’m looking forward to seeing the Comcast Technology Center completed, the Schuylkill Yards towers to start (they started working on the Bulletin Building in December) and the W Element Hotel to be finished maybe by the end of the year
Really looking forward to that Schuylkill Yards project. Will you be our photographer? 
Well of course! I can’t wait to document Schuylkill Yards and Philly District 30…a 30 year documentary of construction! I’m sure more buildings will be proposed in Philly through time
Completion of the full-length Second Avenue Subway ?
We will likely all be dead before that happens.
The second phase of Second Avenue Subway is probably to start its construction by 2030…still long way to go…
Well 3 WTC opened up, cross it off your BINGO cards folks.
In case you missed it Domino Park opened up recently and they did a great job!
Well, so far the biggest disappointment in 2018 is not having a tenant lined up for 2WTC 
Also still missing the 56 Leonard bean…
shoutout to @oneWTClights who wanted to see Amazon select the WTC for HQ2, not quite, but can’t be too down in the big picture
For the most part, the other items discussed are coming along or completed.
I’m thankful and hopeful that, with the coming of Amazon, developers see the potential of all five boroughs. Once you go outside Manhattan, architects and engineers have more options than only building up. I think Apple Park by Norman Foster is a beautifully designed building. Something like that comes within the realm of possibility once you’re able to look past Manhattan’s skyscrapers. I hope that there is a visible shift away from just Manhattan when people think of the great buildings of New York.
Apple Park as more like the last gasp of the suburban 20th century. It treads the same ground as Saarinen’s office parks. It’s another example of Foster’s retreading of old ideas and designs. It also has more parking space than office space.
If anything Amazon coming to NYC is further proof that bean counters and decision makers are realizing that the suburban model is a dead end. Just look at Bell Labs in Holmdel where they’re spending tens of millions of dollars to try to build it up.
I hope Foster steps up his game for Park ave.
For a 2019 list, we should expect CPT, 111W57, 425 Park to top out. Hopefully One Vanderbilt follows that. Others to look forward to are the Amazon HQ2 design being released, HY phase 2 release and for the love of god 2 World Trade to finally rise. The shed, shops at HY and the Vessel should open right before summer, so that’ll be great to see when I come back for a 2 day trip in August
