The City University of New York (CUNY)

Advanced Science Research Center

City University of New York (CUNY)

CUNY'S Advanced Science Research Center

Project: CUNY’s Advanced Science Research Center 

DASNY’s Role: Financed and built by DASNY. 

Details: CUNY’s Advanced Science Research Center (ASRC), a glass-enclosed laboratory created to breed discoveries that will take medicine and technology in new directions, was financed and built by DASNY. It is adjacent to a new, state-of-the-art science building at City College of New York (CCNY), the Center for Discovery and Innovation, which also was financed and built by DASNY. The two facilities represent an investment of approximately $700 million, making them the highest value project in DASNY’s history. The work was completed in DASNY’s Fiscal Year 2016. 

With its flowing floor plans and open central stairway, the building promotes intellectual cross-pollination and partnerships between labs. Researchers from all initiatives work side-by-side in the ASRC’s core facilities, sharing equipment that is among the most advanced in the world. 

The structure is a shift from tradition where each discipline is typically in a different wing or even a different building. Communal spaces like a café and tea rooms offer the opportunity for scientists to mingle and discuss their work. 

Impact: Initiatives being sought at ASCR include new medicines to combat Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s diseases, and solutions to the world’s water problems. They’re also examining how light can be used to detect bacteria in a terrorist attack and find cancer without a biopsy, among other avenues of research. 

For New York City and the Harlem community that immediately surrounds it, the ASRC represents a promising economic future. As a strategic element of New York State’s commitment to science, innovation and economic development, the ASRC is located on the south campus of CCNY, a home of the Start-Up New York business program.