Koch center stage at BOMA.

Former New York Mayor Edward I. Koch and lawyer James Gill shared the podium BOMA/NY's September Luncheon with Koch reminiscing about the past and predicting the immediate future -- a clean sweep for Gore -- with Gill looking further downline and declaring that "Green technology is the wave of the future and it's rolling ashore at Battery Park City."

Playing the role of political pundit, Koch announced he saw a Gore victory on the national levels having a coattails effect, sweeping Hillary Rodham Clinton into office in New York State. He felt that her opponent, Rick Lazio, had lost long before the infamous first debate. "You can see it in the way he conducts himself," New York's 105th Mayor said. "There's a carelessness about him." He did add that, "Hillary has baggage. And she is not liked-but respected."

While he did not comment on the mayoral race, he did add that he had no interest in running again. "The people threw me out and they must be punished!" he joked. But he did argue for term limits, stating that incumbents rarely lose and pointing to the last major local election where everyone was returned to office. "Legislators get into the habit of believing God appointed them."

James Gill, currently a lawyer with Robinson, Silverman, Pearce, Aronsohn & Berman, addressed the BOMA/NY luncheon in his role as Chairman of the Battery Park City Authority in developing River Terrace, the world's first "green" high-rise residential building. River Terrace is the recipient of the Global Green Award, a worldwide environmental organization dedicated to encouraging the use of green technologies, and headed by Mikhail Gorbachev.

When developed, the 26-story tower situated at the edge of the Hudson River, had to conform to a series of green guidelines that had never before been met. "We met all of them, and these groundbreaking rules are now in the RFP for future green towers, " said Gill.

Among the groundbreaking practices at the residential high-rise are:

* The recycling of gray and black wastewater, which is now cleaned onsite and used to flush toilets and for irrigation and air-conditioning roof gardens to cool the building in the summer and retain heat in the winter.

* Power generated by fuel cell and photo voltaic methods

* Low-flush toilets.

The use of used materials and renewable materials throughout non-toxic pest control Green buildings, Gill admitted, could present obstacles, not the least of which is the ability to make a profit. But careful planning made the building feasible, and Albanese Development Corporation has been able to sell the units in the 250-unit structure to their financial advantage.