Spring 2024

Our spring has been busy, and we are eager to share new project openings, recent awards, updates about our team, and other happenings around the office. Read on for more. 


We recently celebrated our 30+ anniversary! We are grateful to have come together with such a strong community with shared goals of creating a more sustainable and equitable built environment. Here’s to another 30+! 

HELP ONE Enriches a Brooklyn Block


This is the first phase in HelpDevCo’s development creating nearly a full block of affordable and supportive housing. The complex design deploys setbacks, height and palette variation to complement the three unique street contexts it fronts. Building A’s double-height lobby and a continuous ribbon of canopy facing the nearby subway station illuminate the sidewalk as a welcoming beacon in the evenings. C+GA attended the ribbon cutting ceremony hosted by HELP USA, as well as the unveiling of "We Make the City’s Grid," a large-scale ceramic tile mosaic mural by artist Derrick Adams gracing the Building A lobby. 


HELP ONE is the winner of Interior Design Magazine's 2024 NYCxDESIGN Award in the Supportive Housing category.



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Fulton Community Re-Entry Center Opens


The Fulton Community Re-Entry Center has opened in the Bronx! Designed to support the Osborne Association’s mission to replace punitive systems with community-generated solutions, C+GA transformed this former Church House turned prison into a community facility for the neighborhood, space for nonprofits, and a home for justice-involved individuals with 140 transitional reentry beds and a holistic support structure. C+GA attended the ribbon cutting ceremony.


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Exploring Mass Timber Construction in Queens


As part of NYC’s Mass Timber Studio and the New York City Economic Development Corporation (NYCEDC)’s climate innovation program, C+GA is studying the use of mass timber and its integration with the design of affordable housing at Hillside Avenue in Jamaica Queens. Expanding the use of mass timber, composed of engineered wood products, provides a low carbon alternative to traditional concrete and steel. 


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Marcus Garvey Extension Phase II Moves Forward


Marcus Garvey Extension embarks on its final phase in creating a dense, connected, pedestrian-friendly community. Buildings C/E complete the streetwall along the revitalized Livonia Ave, rounding out the new town center. A subtly changing palette ties together these complementary buildings, while the massing steps down into the residential context of the 1970s Marcus Garvey Village. Onsite services for individuals re-entering from incarceration will be provided by the Osborne Association. 


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Honors and Awards

Three Arts and 819 Grand Street win NYSERDA's Buildings of Excellence Awards


C+GA is a proud recipient of multiple NYSERDA Buildings Of Excellence Awards for our projects at 819 Grand Street and Three Arts, a Blue Ribbon winner, for St. Nicks Alliance and WSFSSH, Inc. respectively. NYSERDA’s Buildings of Excellence is a $58 million competition that recognizes and rewards the design and operation of carbon neutral or zero carbon emitting multifamily buildings. We are grateful to be recognized as a leader in sustainable architecture for our carbon neutral building design. 

Better Project Award, U.S. Department of Energy


Melrose North received a 2024 Better Project Award from the U.S. Department of Energy’s Better Buildings Initiative. Its Passive House design integrates sustainability features and nonprofit space for S:US and DreamYard.

Best Design, Commercial Property Executive


Marcus Garvey Extension Phase I won Gold in the Best Design: Mixed-Use category at Commercial Property Executive’s 2023 Influence Awards ceremony.

Women in Architecture AIANY Recognition Award


Nai-Hua Chen is the 2024 recipient of the Women in Architecture AIANY Recognition Award! This award honors a recently licensed woman architect who demonstrates strong leadership skills.

Team Updates

Mark Ginsberg, FAIA, LEED AP


Partner Mark Ginsberg’s essay “Renovation” was “one of the highlights” of “Death and Life of Marcus Garvey Village: a Case Study” in Housing the Nation: Social Equity, Architecture, and the Future of Affordable Housing. See More



Mark was honored at IMPACCT Brooklyn's AGLOW Gala celebrating 60 years of community impact.


Mark spoke at the CHPC Luncheon alongside Bronx Pro Group’s Samantha Magistro to present the Impact Award for Housing to Joanne Page and Stanley Richards for their work with The Fortune Society. 


Mark also hosted a presentation for Korean government officials on our low carbon future and NYC Local Law 97, followed by a tour of a NYCHA campus with Seo Choi and Alyssa Clayburn.

Crystal Ng RA, LEED AP, CPHC


Director of Sustainability Crystal Ng participated in the Green Homes Rewire Working Group, where she explored new ways to build climate positive neighborhoods. 


She also recently co-hosted a booth at the Earth Day 2024 Festival alongside New York Passive House.

Matt Melody AIA + Mitch Hartig RA, LEED GA


Partner Matt Melody and Architect Mitch Hartig presented HELP ONE in the AIANY Interiors Committee Speed Presentation competition on the theme of "Belonging and Beyond," highlighting HELP ONE's sustainable, socially responsible and community-oriented approach to design.

Discover Architecture Program


Emily Bartels, an intern from Bard High School Early College Queens, joined the C+GA team for the AIA New York Discover Architecture Program! Associate Chris Perrodin met with Emily to discuss 3D printing and architectural modeling, while Seo Choi taught her the basics of 4D building information modeling with Revit.

Pankaj Nauriyal RA, LEED AP BD+C, WELL AP


Pankaj Nauriyal is WELL AP certified! We are thrilled to see him take this next step in advancing health and wellness in his design and documentation of community based projects at C+GA.

Nai-Hua Chen AIA, LEED AP BD+C


Nai-Hua Chen served as a mentor in The Architectural League of New York’s One-to-One Mentorship Program. Her mentee, Osaruyi Amadasun, an Architecture Student at City Tech, CUNY, toured our office and met architectural staff.  

Aleiya Als Assoc AIA


Aleiya Als recently participated in Professional Day at Excellence Girls Middle Academy! She provided students with an overview of the industry, school requirements and a typical day in the life of architects. 

New Staff

Kreset Desy

Sanjana Lahiri

Grace Morenko


Vaishali Patel-Vertes


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