Cutrona Architecture PLLC: Celebrating 25 Years with the Chamber

As a young student, Glen V. Cutrona, A.I.A., enjoyed working on book reports.  But his favorite part wasn’t summarizing the plot or explaining character traits. Instead, Cutrona spent more time drawing his book report covers. His third-grade teacher sent him home with a note asking for his mother to come into school as the drawings were so good his teacher wanted to make sure he was producing his own work.   

Cutrona’s passion for drawing grew during his freshman year at Susan Wagner High School after being programmed for a class in Mechanical Drawing and meeting his new teacher and, soon-to-be mentor, Dr. Lance Martin.  

“My interest was totally sparked at that point, and that’s where I started doing work along the lines of creative thinking and learning how to draw properly. Dr. Lance Martin gave me opportunities and was with me through my four years of high school. He started entering us into city and state-wide competitions, and soon I was competing against other schools and students,” said Cutrona. “It was just an amazing experience and a great time for learning.” 

Cutrona expressed to his girlfriend, now his wife, Ann Marie, that he wanted to get a part-time job. She suggested he consider applying for work within the architectural field. Since he was only in his sophomore year at New York Institute of Architecture, Old Westbury at that time, he initially thought he did not have the experience needed to work in an architectural firm.   

Still, Cutrona decided to apply to architectural firms throughout Manhattan outlining downtown, midtown and uptown firms. His first stop was Michael Lynn & Associates (aka MLA) located on Wall Street, where they reviewed and complimented his portfolio. However, they were reluctant to make an immediate offer, so Lynn asked if he would be willing to prepare a drawing.  

“So, I sat down at a desk at 3 in the afternoon, and by midnight, Michael Lynn -- who must have been doing paperwork/billing -- came down from his mezzanine and looked at the drawing that they gave, which laid out offices they were working on,” he recalled. “He said to me, ‘Wow. You do good work, you have excellent line work and lettering’ as drawings in the late 70’s were done by hand. He said, ‘you’re hired.’” 

As a college student, Cutrona made his own hours and worked part-time for a few years. After graduation, he moved into a full-time role and became project manager for MLA from 1980 through 1986. When Cutrona started at MLA he was the 7th person to join the firm and at the time he left the firm to start his own practice, MLA was over 400 staff members strong.   

“The experience was priceless as MLA’s culture was to have its staff take projects from beginning to end,” he said.   

 Cutrona was responsible for all phases of the architectural design process, including programming, design development, contract documents, construction cost estimating, bid negotiations, and construction administration.  

In 1986, Cutrona founded an interior design firm, G.V. Cutrona Design, Inc., before joining forces with his MLA colleague, John DiPietro, to form Cutrona • DiPietro Architects in 1989. Three years later, Cutrona established Glen V. Cutrona Associates. 

Cutrona started working from his home before renting space inside the SCARAN offices located in Pleasant Plains. While searching for his own location, he toured his property on Lincoln Avenue. The property – which initially contained a tiny blue house – was not what he was looking for. However, he gave it a second and even a third look.  

“Finally, it dawned on me,” said Cutrona. “We provide a service to our clients where we strive to give them the greatest return on a property or come up with the most creative solutions based on our clients’ needs. And I thought, ‘Why am I not doing this for myself?’” 

Cutrona went to work on his design to create a mixed-use building that would have both artistic significance and addressed features of sustainability. Both were achieved at 80 Lincoln Avenue. While many architects can highlight their creations through pictures, clients can experience his work simply by walking into his office. 

“The philosophy and culture of this firm centers around providing creative design solutions for our clientele. We deliver dreams. Your life is greatly affected by the environment you’re in,” he said. “I can’t tell you how many times – I need more fingers to count – that people who were seeking our services came through these doors and said, ‘Let’s find a way to work together because if this is what you do, we want to work with you.’”   

For 25 years, Cutrona has been working together with the Staten Island Chamber of Commerce. As Cutrona Architecture PLLC celebrates its silver anniversary in 2021 with the organization, the architect reflects on the benefits of being a member of the Chamber. 

“The people that I’ve met along the way who gracefully gave of themselves, sharing their experiences and support has been wonderful,” said the Chamber Chairman from 2017-18. 

“The amount of knowledge and experience that I’ve received from so many people and so many great people at the Chamber of Commerce including staff, members, and past chairpersons are genuine. These are real people who have made very significant strides in their respective businesses and within our community,” said Cutrona. “It’s opened up many doors for me as I believe the Chamber of Commerce validates you, and your business. It’s the oldest and most significant business organization on Staten Island.  There’s a lot of pride if you’re an associate of the Chamber and the resources the chamber possesses are boundless.”