Crystal Windows Supports “George to the Rescue” NBC TV Project
-Manufacturer Donates Products for New Jersey Fire-Damaged Home- FLUSHING, NY, June 24, 2019 –National manufacturer Crystal Window & Door Systems was pleased to announce its products played the leading fenestration role on a recently filmed episode of the Emmy Award-winning home improvement television show George to the Rescue. This NBC TV series features the efforts of home improvement contractor George Olyphant to provide critical contractor renovation services for the houses of families in dire need, such as suffering a serious family illness or other crisis. George to the Rescue is entering its 10th season and will air on NBC’s NY Metro Area broadcast affiliate Channel 4 in the fall. Crystal donated windows and a sliding patio door for this George to the Rescuerestoration project at a modest one-story ranch home in the New York City suburb of West Orange, NJ. The home improvement project for an immigrant family from Guyana included restoration of the kitchen following a damaging fire and a bedroom makeover for their young son suffering from a serious illness. Shown above are the Crystal windows arriving, window installation by Montclair, NJ general contractor RTH. Shown below are the installed patio door and a twin window unit, and Crystal Marketing Manager Steven Yu(left) and show host George Olyphant with new Crystal windows. “Crystal was invited to participate in this heart-warming project by host George Olyphant’s team, and we didn’t hesitate to help,” said Steven Yu, Marketing Manager for Crystal. “We knew our popular energy efficient vinyl windows and patio doors would be perfect for the project.” For the kitchen remodel, Crystal donated two twin Series 300 single-hung tilt-in sash vinyl windows and a Series 1500 vinyl sliding patio door. The Crystal Series 300 2-⅝” jamb twin units use a continuous head and sill frame to horizontally combine 2 single-hung windows. The Series 300 features fusion welded frame and sash corners, constant force balances, and a ⅞” insulated glass unit (IGU). The Crystal Series 1500 vinyl patio door has a 4-⅝” frame depth, fusion welded frames and sashes, an extruded frame screen, and strong, safe tempered glass lights for the 1” IGUs.For enhanced energy efficiency, the Series 300 and the Series 1500 both used Vitro Solarban 60 low-E glass and Argon gas filled insulated glass units. To facilitate easy installation and maintenance, the windows and door feature integral nailing fins and a standard white extruded finish. Crystal has participated in numerous home improvement construction TV shows including A&E’s Flip This House and Flipping Boston, DIY Network’sAmerican Rehab: Restoring Victoria, and Fox’s Home Free.
Crystal Windows Plays Role in NYC Affordable Housing Solutions
-Manufacturer Supplies 792 Windows for New Building in Chelsea- FLUSHING, NY, May 23, 2019 –Crystal Window &Door Systems, the award-winning national manufacturer, is playing a role in New York City’s efforts to solve its affordable housing crisis. One of the newest buildings in the DeBlasio Administration’s Housing New York Plan to construct or preserve 300,000 units of affordable housing during the period 2014 to 2026 is 425 West 18th Street, and Crystal Windows is proud to be the fenestration supplier for the exciting new building. Located in the resurgent West Chelsea section of Manhattan, 425 West 18th Street is part of the existing adjacent New York City Housing Authority (NYCHA) 1962-era Fulton Houses complex. The new 18-story building has 160 studio, 1-bedroom, and 2-bedroom rent-stabilized apartments set aside for different tiers of tenant income eligibility. Energy efficient and sound attenuating Crystal Series 5600 and 5100 aluminum windows provide grand views for the new residential property at 425 West 18th Street in New York City Crystal furnished the newly constructed building with 792 quality energy efficient aluminum framed windows. In most openings, the large windows were combined to provide apartments with dramatic 7’ to 8-½’ wide by 7’ tall nearly floor-to-ceiling vistas. The Crystal heavy-commercial Series 5600 2- and 3-lite Aluminum Slider is the primary window used on the project. The thermally-broken 3-¼” jamb depth window is AW-PG40/PG50 AAMA rated and features a continuous full-height clip latch pull rail and stainless-steel sash rollers. Most of the building’s openings used large 85”, 90”, or 102” wide by 67” tall sizes of the Series 5600, and some openings used 3-lite sliders as wide as 120”. For this project, the sliding windows included Crystal’s optional metal sash stop devices to limit openings to 4”. In some instances, to maintain aesthetics, the sliding windows were specified with 2” wide exterior applied vertical grids. The other window used at 425 West 18th Street was the Crystal Series 5100 Fixed Picture Aluminum Window with continuous head and sill to accommodate two or three individual lites. The Series 5100 is a thermally-broken 3-¼” jamb depth frame window which boasts an outstanding AW-PG100 AAMA rating. In most cases, this window’s continuous head and sill frame paired an insulated glass unit (IGU) with an HVAC PTAC louver. Both windows feature 1” IGUs which were specially glazed for energy efficiency and to attenuate sound transmission into the apartments from the busyManhattan streets. All the double-glass IGUs used Guardian’s 3⁄16” Low-E SN68 product for the exterior glass and 5⁄16” clear laminated, or for large size sashes,9⁄16” clear laminated interior glass. For greater thermal performance, all IGUs were Argon filled. Crystal supplied 323 apartment PTAC model AEL-42 Type 7116 louver units manufactured by Reliable Products, Inc. of Geneva, AL. Crystal sourced the louvers for the project and factory installed them into the Series 5100 window frames. To facilitate the tall window configurations, Crystal stack mullions were used to vertically combine windows in the building openings. Several of the larger apartments used Crystal 90° corner mullions for fenestration configurations which wrapped around the building’s corner. A variety of Crystal installation clip, receptor, and subsill accessories were used for securing the windows to the building. All Crystal windows and exposed installed accessories were finished in a durable AAMA 2604 powder coat black color finish. The 425 West 18th Street building is owned by NYCHA. Artimus Construction of Manhattan was the construction manager, and GernerKronick&Valcarel (GKV) Architects of Manhattan designed the striking building. Vista Skywall Systems of Flushing, NY was the fenestration installer.
Crystal Windows Trade Show Exhibit Wins Top Honors
-Manufacturer’s Display Named “Most Creative” At Major Expo- FLUSHING, NY, April 10, 2019 –National manufacturer Crystal Window & Door Systems earned top honors for its exhibit at the recent BuildingsNY Show, an annual major building design, construction, and property management industry trade show. The Crystal display was awarded most Creative Booth Design by BuildingsNY Show organizer Reed Exhibitions, a leading international trade show planner for a wide variety of industries around the world, and the show’s major sponsors the Associated Builders & Owners (ABO) of Greater New York and New York Association of Realty Managers (NYARM). Crystal Window & Door Systems’ exhibition display was awarded most Creative Booth Design by the organizers ofNew York City’s leading annual property trade showBuildingsNY The Crystal winning display incorporates its energy efficient windows and doors into the booth’s surrounding walls backlit with panoramas of the New York skyline. This gives viewers the experience of being in an upscale apartment or office and seeing the beauty and visual impact of Crystal’s products firsthand. A slide show featuring Crystal’s many notable projects around the nation and company news can be seen on a monitor built into another wall. To draw visitors to the exhibit, Crystal built a large interactive video game display inside an actual Crystal window. Event attendees playing the game could win prizes throughout the show’s exhibit hours. “Our exhibit is relatively new, less than a year old, so this was an unexpected and very pleasant surprise to receive an award,” said Steven Yu, Marketing Manager for Crystal. “Crystal has participated in the BuildingsNY Show for many years, and all the exhibitors do a great job of showing their products and services, which makes being named Most Creative quite an honor.” This year’s BuildingsNY Show was held at the Javits Center in Manhattan, on April 2-3 and featured a full agenda of informational seminars and presentations in addition to exhibits by 250 product and service providers to New York’s vast realty community. Over the two days, thousands of architects, engineers, property managers, developers, contractors, and building owners toured the exhibit hall.
Crystal Pacific Windows & Doors Workforce Expands
– Number of Manufacturing Employees Approaches 100 Milestone – RIVERSIDE, CA, March 15, 2019 – Crystal Pacific Window & Door Systems (known as Crystal California) has dramatically increased its workforce in recent years and is now approaching the 100-employee milestone. As of the end of 2018, the workforce size has increased almost 80% in the two years since early 2017 and 113% in the four years since the end of 2014. The seven-year-old vinyl and uPVC window manufacturer, located in Riverside, CA, is the West Coast division of national award-winning manufacturer Crystal Window & Door Systems headquartered in New York City Riverside, CA-based Crystal Pacific Window & Door Systems (known as Crystal California) has expanded its workforce almost 80% since early 2017 in response to increased sales and market presence Sergio Garcia, General Manager for Crystal California, stated “Our workforce growth is directly attributable to our enormous success introducing new products, increasing sales, and expanding our presence in the marketplace. Crystal’s workforce growth exemplifies the resurgent national economy and the rebounding Riverside business community. Of course, credit also goes back to our parent company’s strategic vision seven years ago, during economically challenging times, to launch a West Coast operation here in Riverside.” Over the past few years, the company has made great strides to bring online new production equipment, launch new products, grow sales, and add experienced production workers and sales staff. Increasingly, Crystal California is involved with supplying large notable construction projects as well as serving major window dealer/distributors in California and neighboring states.
Major New York City Replacement Project Uses Crystal Windows
-National Manufacturer Supplies Nearly 14,000 Windows for Windsor Park Co-Op – FLUSHING, NY, February 28, 2019 –Crystal Window & Door Systems, the national manufacturer based in Queens, NY, is nearing completion of one of the largest window replacement projects in the City of New York. Crystal has successfully supplied nearly14,000 energy efficient replacement windows for the sprawling Windsor Park Co-Op complex. Windsor Park Co-Op encompasses 20 six-story apartment buildings spread over 46 park-like acres in the Oakland Gardens section of Queens, NY. Windsor Park has 1,830 apartments of various sizes and is home to over 5,000 residents. The window replacement work, one of the largest in the region at this time, began in late 2017 and is scheduled for completion within the next few weeks. All the window replacement work was accomplished while apartments remained occupied, always a challenging effort. “Crystal was delighted to join with our installation partner Ecker Windows to provide the residents of Windsor Park with new energy efficient windows,” said Jimmy Zhou, Crystal’s Senior Account Manager for the project. “This 14,000-window project demonstrates Crystal’s ability to effectively supply major multi-year, very large quantity window projects. While Crystal has furnished windows for numerous other large-scale projects, such as Lefrak City in Queens, and Harbor Point in Stamford, CT, this one was particularly satisfying since it is so close to our factory and is home for some of our employees.” The Crystal Series 2600 aluminum double-hung was the predominant window used for the project. The 3-¼” frame depth window has tilting sashes, a ⅞” insulated glass unit (IGU) pocket and is AAMA rated CW-PG50/HC50.A strong proven weather-resistant energy-efficient window, the Series 2600 features a deep sill pocket, three layers of sill weatherstripping, a continuous full-width bottom lift rail clip lock, and a continuous full-width variation of the standard anti-drift head clip lock. For increased energy efficiency, the double-pane insulated glass units used double-strength thickness Vitro Solarban 60 and clear glass with argon gas filling. Bathroom windows were specified with obscure glass. Crystal Windows supplied nearly 14,000 new energy efficient aluminum windows for Windsor Park Co-Op Apartments in Queens, NY. Special oriel style windows and insulated panels accommodated new air conditioning units while ensuring weather-tightness, security, and a uniform appearance of the 20 six-story buildings in the complex. While most of the Series 2600 windows were ordered as single units, several thousand were specified as side-by-side twin units, which utilized the model line’s continuous master frame option. Part of the project featured several hundred quadruple and quintuple horizontally combined units using mulled Series 2600 windows. For easy operation, most of the bottom sashes were equipped with Ultra-Lift block-and-tackle balances. In addition to the Crystal Series 2600, the building basement window replacements also used over 300 Crystal aluminum Series 2300 2-light sliding and Series 8530 project-in hopper windows. The basement windows were specified with dual-pane tempered IGU glass. To facilitate installation, the windows were ordered with 2” perimeter face flange (casement fin) frames. Crystal also supplied matching clips and snap trim to aid the new window installation process. All the windows and exposed installation accessories were finished in Crystal’s standard AAMA 2604 durability bronze color powder coat paint. A key factor in selecting the supplier and installer for the Windsor Park window replacement project was how the new windows would accommodate several thousand new window air-conditioning units. The Windsor Park Co-Op Board was seeking to have all the new air-conditioning units installed in a common fashion to provide a uniform and attractive exterior appearance for all the buildings in the complex. The window installer Ecker Windows and Crystal partnered on an inventive solution. Crystal fabricated the windows that would have air-conditioning units, whether single or in twin combinations, in an oriel style. The oriel style windows had a standard height size top sash but a dramatically shorter bottom sash which with the sashes closed left an open gap in the lower portion of the master window frame. The installer specially adapted the oriel windows and supplied insulated panels cut perfectly to fill the open gaps and fit the new air-conditioning units. This innovative solution provides a uniform meeting rail look for all the windows and allows the shorter lower oriel sash to be locked closed, providing both security and weather-tightness. The Windsor Park window replacement work is part of a major $22 million capital improvement effort undertaken by the Co-Op Association. Besides new windows, the multi-year, multi-phase project includes new window air conditioning units, elevators, intercoms, and pool and tennis complex improvements. Owners of the property, the Windsor Park Co-Op Association, retains AkamLiving Services of New York City as its property manager, and its subsidiary PMG Project Management Group, also of New York City, as overall project manager for the capital improvements. Engineering services for the window replacement work was provided by Lawless & Mangione Architects & Engineers of Yonkers, NY. One of the New York area’s largest and most experienced fenestration firms, Ecker Windows of Yonkers, NY, is the window installer for the massive project.
Crystal WindowsSponsors New International Art Exhibit
FLUSHING, NY, February 7, 2019 –The Crystal Foundation, the philanthropic arm of national manufacturer Crystal Window & Door Systems, unveiled its latest art exhibit on February 4, 2019, the eve of the Asian Lunar New Year, at the Crystal headquarters in Flushing, NY. The modern art creation -The Tree of Hope is an homage to the sport of baseball with an eye toward environmental consciousness and world unity. The Tree of Hope is a 25-ft. tall structure with an 8-ft. diameter base comprised of baseballs from around the world and illuminated by 10,000 energy efficient LED lights. Over 30 countries have contributed 25,000 baseballs, some new but most used in actual games from Little Leagues to the Major Leagues. Professional U.S. teams such as The Mets, Phillies, Orioles, and Yankees have donated baseballs for this project, along with teams from Canada, Latin America, Taiwan, Korea, Japan, Europe, and more, with many of the balls signed by baseball legends and entire teams. Symbolizing the unity and positive energy that art and sports bring to the world, the Tree of Hope project has been two years in the making from concept to installation. It is planned that the Tree of Hope will be on exhibit at the 2020 Olympics in Tokyo at the baseball events. “As a long-time supporter of the arts, I am very pleased to sponsor the Tree of Hope and its creator, Lin Shih-Pao,” said Crystal Foundation Chairman Thomas Chen, who is also the Chairman and Founder of Crystal Windows. “I feel the true hidden value of this contemporary work is the incredible international response to Lin’s invitation to donate baseballs to the project. Countries from around the world are represented here in the spirit of unity and hope, as its lighting ushers in the Lunar New Year.” The Crystal Foundation, philanthropic arm of manufacturer Crystal Window & Door Systems, sponsored art exhibit Tree of Hope, with 25,000 donated baseballs from 30 countries around the world as a symbol of the unifying power of sports and art. World-renowned Taiwanese artist Lin Shih-Pao, who brings thought-provoking works of art to life from discarded and recycled materials, is the Tree of Hope creator. Mr. Lin is also the artist-in-residence at Crystal Park, Thomas Chen and The Crystal Foundation’s 200-acre art and nature preserve in Dutchess County, NY. Mr. Lin has exhibited extensively throughout Japan, Taiwan, and New York; he studied art in college in Japan and at graduate school at NYU. The Crystal Foundation was established in 2002by the Chen Family to support art, culture and educational initiatives. In the New York area alone, the non-profit has supported exhibits at Flushing Town Halland Queens Museum, and Queensborough Community College art and education programs.
Crystal Windows Sponsors Major Winter Festival
FLUSHING, NY, November 28, 2018 –National manufacturer Crystal Window & Door Systems, based in New York City, is a major sponsor of the inaugural NYC Winter Lantern Festival at Snug Harbor on Staten Island. The 5-week event, which runs Wednesday to Sunday evenings from November 28, 2018 through January 6, 2019, is an outdoor seven-acre cultural celebration featuring breathtaking holiday light displays and traditional Asian performing arts, as well as interactive exhibits. “Crystal is proud to be a sponsor of this exciting festival of art and culture right here in New York City,” said Thomas Chen, Chairman and founder of Crystal Windows. “Through our non-profit Crystal Foundation and other organizations I helped establish, Crystalsupportsart, educational, and cultural initiatives, and this Winter Lantern Festival is a perfect example of such an effort. The festival highlights the craft of Chinese lantern making, with some exhibits as tall as 30 feet, as well as performances by dancers, martial artists, and painters. It promises to be a thrilling time for all ages.” Chen and The Crystal Foundation are longtime patrons of the arts. In addition to a vast private collection of antique Chinese wood windows and doors, Chenis in the process of establishing in Dutchess County, New York, a large outdoor art and nature preserve. In New York City, Chen supports permanent exhibit halls at Queensborough Community College’s Art Gallery andThe Queens Museum showcasing the works of international artists. The NYC Winter Lantern Festival is held at Snug Harbor on Staten Island, evenings Wednesday through Sunday each week starting November 28 until January 6. Admission starts at $15 and includes all exhibits and performances. The NYC Winter Lantern Festival is produced and managed by New York Events & Entertainment. Snug Harbor Cultural Center & Botanical Garden is a regional destination that offers arts, education, horticulture, agriculture, and recreation on a large open campus with several restored New York City landmark buildings,14 distinct botanical gardens, and an urban farm. For directions and further information, see www.snug-harbor.org or www.nycwinterlanternfestival.com.
Crystal Provides Waterfront Views for Queens, NY Luxury Condos
FLUSHING, NY, October 30, 2018 –New energy efficientCrystal windows and doors provide spectacular views for apartments at the newly constructed Allura Waterfront Resort in Queens, New York. Crystal Window & Door Systems, the award-winning national manufacturer, provided 842 high-end windows and sliding and swing terrace doors for the striking new development at 109-09 15th Avenue in College Point, NY. The 6-story Allura building with 134 apartments has floor-to-ceiling glass and metal panel façades on multiple sides of the building, offering occupants great views of the waterfront and LaGuardia Airport across Flushing Bay. The Allura complexis U-shaped, with two parallel wings that protrude towards the water, and most of the units have full-length glass railed balconies. Crystal windows and doors were combined in horizontally ganged and vertically stacked configurations to provide most of the apartments’ floor-to-ceiling glass façadeelements. The majority of the window products supplied were the Crystal architectural Series 8500 Aluminum Outswing Casement and Series 8510Aluminum Fixed Picture windows. Over 700 of these windows were used, predominantly in 2-, 4-, or 6-window configurations in sizes up to 84” wide by 96” tall. In some instances, operating casements and fixed sashes were combined in dual panel master frames. “Crystal’s high-end architectural window line is perfect for this type of project,” said Joe Zhao, Crystal’s project manager for the Allura condo development. “Our 8500 Series offers strength, beauty, weather resistance, sound attenuation, and clean narrow contemporary sightlines, enhancing the architect’s design and the building’s location on the waterfront across from the airport.” The Crystal Series 8500 Casement with 2-⅝” frame has an outstanding AW-PG100 rating, dual-arm operator, and double row bulb weatherstripping. For this project, the casements were specified with a beautiful satin chrome operating handle and 4” sash opening limit devices. The Crystal Series 8510 Fixed Picture also has a 2-⅝” frame depth and is AW-PG85 rated. To provide building residents access to the extensive balconies, over 120 heavy-commercial Crystal Series 1280 Aluminum Sliding Patio Doors were installed. The 2-panel sliding doors were fabricated in large sizes up to 72” wide by 96” tall. In some instances, the Series 1280 doors were combined with two sidelight windows to span floor-to-ceiling openings 96” wide by 96” tall. The Series 1280 has a strong frame depth of 4-9⁄16”, an AAMA AW-PG50 rating, adjustable dual-tandem, stainless steel ball bearing rollers, and a heavy-duty latch handle. Additional access to the balconies in the larger apartments was provided by 22 of the Crystal Series 1450 Aluminum Swing Terrace Door. Specified at 36” wide by 96” tall, these Crystal floor-to-ceiling products continued the building’s use of impressive glass façade elements. The Series 1450 has a frame depth of 3-¼”, an advanced insulated strut thermal break system and is AW-PG75 rated. The door has a multi-point lock system and an opening limit bar for added safety and security, especially important with a wind-gust prone waterfront exposure. All the Crystal window products feature 1” insulated glass units (IGUs) with Vitro3⁄16” Solarban 60 low-E glass and argon gas filling. Tempered glass was used where required by code or otherwise appropriate. The Crystal combination window and door systems used 3-piece and other mullion systems to gang and stack the units. Setting and anchoring the window systems in place was facilitated with a variety of Crystal installation accessories including head and jamb receptors, subsills, sill pan flashing, snap trim with clips, L and F shape clips, and other anchoring components. Most of the Crystal windows, doors, and exposed mullion and anchoring accessories were finished with a durable AAMA 2604 rated Simulated Anodized Silver powder coat paint. Windows installed in the building’s brick façades, which face the adjoining streets, were finished in AAMA 2604 Bronze color powder coat paint. Waterfront Resort, Inc. of Corona, NY, is the owner of the Allura condo development. Lam & Lam Design, also of Corona, is the project architect and engineer. The general contractor is King’s Construction USA Group, Corona, and the fenestration installer is Marvel Contracting of Oakland Gardens, Queens. Gamco Corporation of Flushing, NY, supplied the extensive balcony glass railing systems. The 180,000 sq. ft. building includes 134 apartments in 1-, 2-, and 3-bedroom layouts, underground parking, and will have 70 boat slips when the marina area is completed. A fitness center, spa, pool, and sundeck add to the resort atmosphere. A spacious, attended lobby welcomes residents and first floor conference room and business center are available for events. The Allura Waterfront Resort has been nominated for several local area building awards, in part due to the complexity and challenge of the project site, which requiredextensive pilings and bulwarks for stability of the site prior to construction of the foundation and building.
Crystal Windows Supplies New Luxury Jersey City High-Rise
FLUSHING, NY, August 17, 2018 –National award-winning manufacturer Crystal Window & Door Systems has supplied heavy-commercial aluminum windows and louver HVAC panels for the new luxury rental high-rise The Lenox in Jersey City, NJ. Located at 207-213 Van Vorst Street, the 15-story building used a total of 2,043 energy efficient Crystal windows and 155 louver panels supplied through Crystal, factory installed in the window framing. Situated in the resurgent Paulus Hook neighborhood of Jersey City, the building features 255 rental studio, 1-, 2-, and 3-bedroom apartments and ground floor retail space. The inclusion of several roof setbacks, a courtyard, and a mixed façade of brick, metal panels, with large expanses of glass windows affords The Lenox great architectural appeal. Adjacent to the waterfront, Crystal’s fenestration provides apartment occupants with outstanding views of New York City, the Hudson River, a nearby marina, and Jersey City’s booming downtown district. The Lenox project predominately used the Crystal Series 5100 fixed picture aluminum windows, with nearly 1,000 units ordered. This 3-¼” frame window boasts an outstanding AW-PG100 AAMA rating and several of the individual Series 5100 units were specified as large as 59-¾” x 108”. While most of the Series 5100 windows were outfitted with the traditional double-glass insulating glass units (IGUs), many received a louver glazing to accommodate the apartment PTAC units. Reliable Architectural Products of Geneva, AL supplied155Model AEL-42 Type 7116 louvers, which were factory installed by Crystal into the Series 5100 window frames. The project also involved the use of almost 900 Crystal heavy-commercial Series 5600 aluminum two-lite sliders. The 3-¼” jamb depth Series 5600 window is AW-PG40/PG50 AAMA rated and features a continuous full-height anti-drift pull rail, stainless steel sash rollers, and optional metal sash stop limit devices. Some of The Lenox building openings called for large individual sizes of the Series 5600, up to 94” x 75”. The third Crystal window used by the Jersey City project was the Series 8910 aluminum fixed picture window, with about 200 of this heavy-duty architecturally rated 3-¼” window supplied. The Series 8910 was incorporated in the façade design in some instances to provide tall unobstructed floor-to-ceiling views, up to 98-½” high. Many of the windows for The Lenox were combined in large vertically stacked and horizontally ganged configurations. Some combination units formed mini-window wall systems and included as many as 9 individual windows spanning impressive openings as large as 184” wide by 122” tall. A variety of Crystal stack, 3-piece, and H-mullionswere used to securely join the units. Crystal’s high-performance subsill with receptor and receptor clip systems anchored the combination and individual windows to the building openings. All the Crystal windows were finished in a durable AAMA 2604 environmentally sustainable special Crystal Grey or bronze powder coat paint color. All three of the project’s Crystal window models feature 1” IGUs. Depending on specific building openings and code requirements, the IGUs were specified with either 3⁄16” or ¼” double-pane glass, much of which was tempered. All IGUs were supplied with Vitro Solarban 60 glass with Argon gas filling. The developer for the project were Fields Development Group of Hoboken.Also from Hoboken, the project architect was the Marchetto Higgins Stieve firm and Fields Hi-Rise Construction served as General Contractor. McLaren Engineering Group of Woodcliff Lake, NJ provided structural engineering design and construction support for the project.
Crystal Windows Receives Crain’s NY Family Business Award
FLUSHING, NY, July 9, 2018 –Crystal Window & Door Systems was recently recognized as one of the most notable family businesses in the New York metro area by Crain’s New York Business magazine. In the June 25th, 2018 edition of the magazine, Crain’s presented the winners of its inaugural Family Business Awards. Crystal was one of 15 family-owned and operated companies selected from a broad field of more than 100 nominees for their success and positive impact on the region’s economy. The winning companies were also honored at an evening reception held at Crain’s Manhattan headquarters on June 28. Founded in 1990 by Thomas Chen in a small commercial garage in Queens, Crystal has expanded many times over the years and now has nearly one million square feet of production space across the country with more than 700 employees. Its headquarters remain in New York City where the company began. Crystal manufactures almost500,000 windows and doors annually, and its products are sold in over 40 states. The company is a perennial Window & Door Magazine Top 100 Manufacturer in North America, now ranking in the top third of the list. Winners of the Crain’s Family Business Award represent many sectors of the New York economy including manufacturers, wholesalers, retailers, and service providers. Of the winning companies, Crystal is the largest manufacturer, and among the largest company in terms of revenues, number of employees, and national presence. Nominations for the award came from the business community, Crain’s editorial board, and from several local Chambers of Commerce and economic development organizations. Thomas Chen’s son Steve joined the firm in 2003, taking on greater responsibility with each company expansion, and he was named President in March 2018. “Learning the business from the ground up from my father made me ready to take the helm,” said Steve Chen. “My father has always worked hard at making the business better every day, and this entrepreneurial spirit is instilled in all our employees.” Thomas is now Chairman of Crystal and its subsidiaries, and he focuses on business expansion opportunities as well as cultural foundations he established and other philanthropy. Thomas and Steve Chen consider Crystal employees part of their extended family, offering skills training, managerial development, promotional and education opportunities, and competitive benefits. “We definitely believe in investing in our people, and many of our employees have been with Crystal for over 15 years,” said Steve Chen. “A lot of our customers have also been with us from the beginning, which is a testament to the skill and dedication of our team. We’re proud of the business we built and honored by the recognition Crystal has received from Crain’s and the New York business community.” Crain’s New York Business, the leading New York business magazine, focuses on the New York business community, with important insights, analysis and opinion. Crain’s reports on emerging trends, interviews with thought leaders and industry experts, and covers commercial opportunities, economic changes, politics and more. The Crystal Windows’ story was featureda few years ago on Crain’sNew York Stories television show which aired on the New York City Life regional cable network. In 2016, Steve Chen was named to Crain’s 40 Under 40List as a young executive making a positive impact in the region.
