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West (Hudson River) side of the Center

From the West 30th Street Heliport

Front (east side) of the convention center

Jacob K. Javits Convention Center from a distance

Western side

Jacob K. Javits Convention Center is a large convention center located on Eleventh Avenue, 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 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.

Expansion

On October 16, 2006, a groundbreaking ceremony was held to mark the symbolic start of a $1.7 billion dollar 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 dollars.

In April 2008, Governor David Paterson decided to move forward with merely a renovation. The budget is $465 million for the whole ordeal.

[edit] Trivia

In the song "AT&T," the indie rock band Pavement references the Javits Center, with the line "Jacob, Jacob Javits I'd like to thank you for everything/Primarily your glass house." The song appears on their 1995 album, Wowee Zowee.

The outside of the building was used in the episode "Bret Gives Up the Dream" in an episode of Flight of the Conchords.

[edit] See also

[edit] References

^ Convention site called a danger; West Side Group Will Sue on Ground of Pollution Environmental Study, New York Times, New York, N.Y.: Aug 22, 1973. pg. 56, 1 pgs ISSN 03624331