Alexander Wolf & Son celebrates its 100th birthday.

When asked how his grandfather's firm has managed to stay in business for so long--Alexander Wolf & Son has just celebrated its 100th anniversary--Daniel Bernstein points out that success often depends on careful planning.

"You never want to get too big too fast," he says. "We stay [on top] by maintaining our reputation and by doing what we say we will."

Controlled growth and repeat business certainly seem to have played a role in the firm's evolution from a small bricklaying outfit to a 40-person construction management company. Bernstein's grandfather had originally been a bricklayer, but after a number of years in the business he managed to expand his services to general contracting and even get business with some of the biggest real estate and insurance firms in the city. When Bernstein's uncle Charles joined the company after World War II it numbered all of 15 people, but to date, Alexander Wolf & Son has done work for the United Nations, Tishman Speyer Properties, Cushman & Wakefield, CBS and the UJA Federation, among many Others. Bernstein believes that because the people at the firm are not pre-occupied with finding new clients, they are able to do an excellent job of serving existing ones.

"We are interested in maintaining relationships," he explains. "Most of our clients are people that we have worked with for decades."

Bernstein himself joined the firm's ranks as a teenager, when he would spend his summers working as an assistant superintendent.

"Basically, I tagged along with the superintendent, ran some errands and observed the projects in progress," he laughs. "It was just to see if I was interested in coming into the business."

He found out that he definitely was cut out for it. Though his father dreamt of seeing him as a doctor, Bernstein got an engineering degree from Cornell University and came back to Alexander Wolf & Son immediately afterward, working in the daytime and attending New York University School of Business at night. Today, he runs the business with his cousin, Richard Wolf. According to Bernstein, one of them is involved in every project the firm undertakes as a way to maintain a high quality of service.

"When I started here, the firm was in business for 65 years," he points out. "You don't want to be known as the one who dropt the ball."

So far, he and Wolf have been successful, even receiving a 2004 Build NY Award for the renovations to the UN General Assembly room. The project included the installation of a new ceiling, new lighting and a new sound system and now Bernstein proudly shows off a photo of a new and improved General Assembly. Alexander Wolf & Son has also recently done work around the Grand Central Terminal, renovating several dozen guestrooms and the executive offices at the Grand Hyatt Hotel. Right now, the firm is busy with projects at Columbia University and the Bronx Preparatory Charter School, as well as with additional alterations to the UN campus. Some of these include new construction, as opposed to renovation, the work that Alexander Wolf & Son has built a niche in, but Bernstein says the novelty appeals to him.

"What interests me are projects that are a little bit out of the ordinary," he admits.

At the same time, Bernstein has to keep in mind the firm's future. His cousin's son Peter has already joined the company, but Bernstein's own heir is currently undergoing training with Marsh Construction Company, a job Bernstein hopes will prepare him for the eventual task of running the family business.

"We have them start at the bottom and work their way up, which is the same thing that my uncle did," he says about Alexander Wolf & Son's fourth generation. "they go from estimating to budget planning to administration, but they always have to have their eye on client development."

And as far as the firm motto is concerned, Bernstein wants them to keep in mind only three things--"Integrity, responsiveness and intelligence."