Brooklyn's Progress
April 2002

The Brooklyn Chamber of Commerce will host the second annual Building Brooklyn Awards on May 29 to honor construction projects that have a positive impact on the borough’s economy and quality of life, special honoree for the evening will be Jeffrey Wilpon of The Brooklyn Baseball Company and Brooklyn Cyclones fame. The event recognizes eight projects in the categories of office building, office interior, industrial, retail, residential, civic/non-profit, educational and public works. A total of 30 projects were nominated. In order to be eligible for the awards, projects had to be new construction or renovation projects completed between January 1 and December 31, 2001. A panel of judges will review the projects and tabulate the scores. The panel includes: Phyllis Sperling from New York City Tech, Vincent Battista from the Institute of Design and Construction, Regina Myer from the Department of City Planning’s Brooklyn Office, John Benguiat who is a Special Assistant to Borough President Marty Markowitz, and Susan Doban from Susan Doban Architects. Also on the panel are: Brendan Coburn from Coburn Architects, Barbara Mishara -- President of the Brooklyn Chapter of the American Institute of Architects, Kenneth Adams -- Brooklyn Chamber President, and Marilyn Gelber from the City Planning Commission. Wilpon is Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer of Brooklyn Baseball Company, which owns the Brooklyn Cyclones, the New York Mets affiliated single "A" minor league baseball club. Jeffrey has spearheaded the entire development of the Cyclones and has worked, in partnership with the City of New York, to oversee every aspect of the planning, design and construction of KeySpan Park, the team's new ballpark located in Coney Island. As Senior Vice President of Sterling Equities, Inc., he is responsible for actively supervising major new building construction and renovations, major tenant installations and retail and commercial leasing for commercial and residential properties. He is a member of several boards including WNYC, the New York Hall of Science, the Hospital for Special Surgery, the Real Estate Board of New York, and Chairman of the New Destiny Housing Corporation. Born in Brooklyn, Jeffrey started playing baseball at an early age and went on to play at the University of Miami, a Division I team. He was the Montreal Expos' fourth round pick in the second phase of the 1983 Winter Free Agent Draft and spent part of the summer with the Jamestown Expos in the New York - Pennsylvania League before deciding to pursue a career in business. For photos and information about all 30 nominations, visit http://www.ibrooklyn.com/buildingbrooklyn2002/index.html.