Press Releases

April 29, 2016

New York City Department of Design and Construction Hosts 50 Kids for 2016 Take Your Child to Work Day

Children Made 3D Study Models of City Projects Their Parents Helped Build

Contact:
Shavone Williams
Public Information Officer
718-391-1583

Dan Leibel
Junior Public Information Officer
718-391-1251

Long Island City, NY—In observance of national Take Your Child to Work Day, 50 kids filled the DDC’s office atrium on Thursday, April 28, to spend the day making large scale three-dimensional study models of DDC projects from across the five boroughs, including the Bronx Museum of Art, Central Park Precinct in Manhattan, Weeksville Heritage Center in Brooklyn, Ocean Breeze Athletic Complex in Staten Island and the Queens Botanical Garden.

The parents of the children are the architects, engineers, project managers, administrative staff and a broad variety of DDC employees that worked to build the very projects the children spent the day modeling. The program was open to children between the ages of 8 and 13 years old.

“Our STEAM initiative’s ‘Take Your Child to Work Day’ is an excellent program because it connects the people who currently build the city to the future generation of public builders,” said DDC Commissioner Feniosky Peña-Mora. “Our projects put an emphasis on community engagement, resiliency, sustainability, equity and healthy living. This program is a perfect way to connect our agency to the youth of the city in a way that exposes them to the work that we do and lets them interact with the buildings they see in their daily routines.”

The DDC STEAM education initiative hosts programs for New York City youth year-round. Its Young Engineers Program, which delivers educational programming about engineering, architecture and construction, has taught over 200 New York City public school students in 6th and 7th grade about sustainable city planning and the built environment. Last year, STEAM hosted 42 children for Take Your Child to Work Day.

“Take Your Child to Work Day is a great opportunity to educate kids about their parents’ professions as well as expose them to ideas, designs, concepts and technologies they might not otherwise be exposed to in traditional school curriculums,” said Deputy Commissioner of Community Partnerships and STEAM Initiatives, Lee Llambelis. “While other kids might just be sitting in an office cubicle, we’re happy to bring interactive STEAM programming to the children that come to DDC’s office.”

About the NYC Department of Design and Construction
The Department of Design and Construction is the City’s primary capital construction project manager. In supporting Mayor de Blasio’s lenses of growth, sustainability, resiliency, equity and healthy living, DDC provides communities with new or renovated public buildings such as such as firehouses, libraries, police precincts, new or upgraded roadways, sewers, water mains in all five boroughs. To manage this $10 billion portfolio, DDC partners with other City agencies, architects and consultants, whose experience bring efficient, innovative, and environmentally-conscious design and construction strategies to city projects. For more information, please visit nyc.gov/ddc.