Building Congress, 80-years-young, honors McCall and Ross.

The New York Building Congress celebrated its still-youthful 80th birthday last Thursday at the New York Hilton, honoring developer Steve Ross of the Related Companies and New York state comptroller H. Carl McCall with achievement awards.

The generally conservative Congress has attracted its share of Democrats lately, snaring Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton to speak at its May luncheon at Windows of the World. And McCall, of course, is New York state's highest ranking Democrat and a likely gubernatorial candidate in 2002.

But Thursday's birthday bash was a largely nonpartisan affair, with both Ross and McCall stressing the importance of investing, in the city's future with the currency of infrastructure. And both assured the 1,000-plus in attendance that the city was strong and getting stronger.

"Real estate works in cycles, and today can be called a 'cooling off' cycle," Ross said. "I think it's good for New York to catch its breath, and good for the industry to be reminded that things don't just go up. But this downturn or whatever we'll call it won't be as bad as the early 1990's."

Demand, Ross reminded everyone, remained white hot, and pointed out that Manhattan wasn't getting any larger.

"The outer boroughs are exploding, though everybody still wants to be in Manhattan. But the only area where growth is possible is on the far West Side," Ross said, with a chuckle at the obvious plug to projects underway by the Related Companies. Ross and company are currently building the new AOL Time Warner Center at Columbus Circle, and Ross is one of the backers of New York 2012, an organization working to bring the Summer Olympics to New York. The group advocates building an Olympic stadium - which the New York Jets may also find some use for - over the Long Island Rail Road's train yard west of Penn Station. Some $2 billion in other projects in all five boroughs, according to the group, would not only spruce up some troubled areas but benefit the city for years. Among the improvements would be an extention of the No. 7 subway train west to the site, which would finally link Penn Station with Grand Central Terminal, and a subway that would run the length of Second Avenue.

"We've got to get behind the Olympics," he said. "It's not about the games... It's about staying the greatest city in the world."

McCall agreed with Ross that the city wasn't about to sink into the Atlantic and that the path to further glory lays in transportation improvements. Election day 2000, while troubling for the nation in general, was awful for New Yorkers because statewide voters rejected a $3.8 billion transportation bond package that would have done more than just plug a few holes.

"The bond's failure left a $3.8 billion hole in our plans," said McCall. "Unfortunately, the need for that money didn't just disappear. We still have a lot of work to do and we must find a way to address those needs."