Jacob K. Javits Convention Center is a large convention center located on Eleventh Avenue, between 34th and 38th streets, on the West side of Manhattan in New York City. It was designed by architects I. M. Pei and partners. The revolutionary space frame structure was undertaken in 1979 and finished being built in 1986 and named for United States Senator Jacob K. Javits, who died that year. The Center is operated and maintained by the New York City Convention Center Operating Corporation.
The exhibit space is over 675,000 square feet (62,700 m2). Planning and constructing a convention center on Manhattan's west side has had a long and controversial history,[1] including efforts starting in the early 1970s to produce a megaproject involving a redevelopment concept.
When the Center opened, it replaced the New York Coliseum as the city's major convention facility, making way for the demolition of the Coliseum and future construction of the Time Warner Center at Columbus Circle.
In 1995 the Independent Review Board charged that jobs at the Center had come under Mafia control.[2]
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410 s/f Upper Exhibition Hall
250,000 s/f Lower Exhibition Hall
100,000 s/f Special Events Hall (seating capacity 3,800) / Meeting Rooms (102)
63,000 s/f Cafeteria / Restaurant / Lounge; 75,000 s/f Concourse (1,000' x 90' x 75' high)
65,000 Crystal Palace (270' x 270' x 180' high)
60,000 s/f Galleria (360' x 90' x 90')
24,300 s/f River Pavilion (270' x 90' x 135' high)
50 loading docks on two levels;
1.1-acre public plaza with water walls and pedestrian link under 11th Avenue;
60,000 s/f surface parking for 140 cars[3]
On October 16, 2006, a groundbreaking ceremony was held to mark the symbolic start of a $1.7 billion expansion project. The project, which would have expanded the center's size by 45 percent, was scheduled for completion by 2010. Architect Richard Rogers led the design team. However, the physical constraints on the project site imposed by the Bloomberg administration complicated the design and caused the cost to soar to $5 billion.
In April 2008, Governor David Paterson decided to move forward with merely a renovation with a severely revised budget of $465 million.