Photo Courtesy of Atlantic City Electric Wired Up: Atlantic City Electric plans to spend $934 million on its distribution system and operations during the next five years. Related Links: Tristate Industry News ENR New York Atlantic City Electric has received approval for a base rate increase aimed at helping it with ongoing investments for Superstorm Sandy repairs as well as for new infrastructure and upgrades. The New Jersey Board of Public Utilities (BPU) authorized the utility late last month to increase its electric distribution rates by 28%, or $25.5 million, beginning July 1.The rate adjustment is 36% of the

The New York City District Council of Carpenters entered its third day of a strike on July 3 after negotiations broke down with the Manufacturing Woodworkers Association of Greater New York (MWA). The association is seeking an across-the-board wage freeze and a second-tier employee system with lower wages and benefits, "while locking members into a 10-year agreement," the council says. "Nobody wants a strike, especially during the celebration of our country's independence, but if we concede any further it would be detrimental to all our members and their families," Stephen McInnis, the council's executive secretary treasurer, said in a July

A 29-year-old man has been arrested and charged in the July 1 shooting of a union foreman at Manhattan's Hells Kitchen jobsite. Anthony Manco of Flushing, Queens, was charged on July 2 with attempted murder, assault with a deadly weapon and criminal possession of a weapon, says an NYPD spokesman. A second suspect, identified as Robert Sasso, was also taken into custody on July 2 in connection with the shooting, but had not been charged as of late Wednesday afternoon, the spokesman says. He would not say whether Sasso was still in custody.Media reports quoting anonymous sources say that police

New York City Police Dept. officials picked up two men for questioning on July 2 in connection with the prior day's shooting of a 56-year­-old union foreman at Manhattan's Hells Kitchen jobsite. Neither suspect—Anthony Manco nor Robert Sasso—had been charged by late afternoon Tuesday, says an NYPD spokewoman. Police began searching yesterday morning for the shooter, who fled the crime scene at West. 49th St. and Ninth Ave., where a joint venture of Judlau Contracting and its parent firm OHL USA are doing trunk and water main work for the Manhattan leg of the Water Tunnel No. 3 project.The victim,

New York City Police Dept. officials are investigating the July 1 shooting of a 56-year-old union foreman at a Hells Kitchen jobsite.  Police are seeking the suspect who fled the site at West. 49th St. and Ninth Ave. in Manhattan in a white vehicle, says a spokeswoman with the NYPD. The call came in 9:33 a.m. from the crime scene, a job site managed by the NYC Dept. of Design and Construction (DDC). The victim, Louis Lamburini, was shot in the left shoulder and taken to Bellevue Hospital Center, where he was in "fair" condition as of 4 p.m., says

BronxWorks, a nonprofit that provides social services in the South Bronx, has honored L+M Development and Debra Kenyon, L+M's COO, for their contributions to the community. Under Kenyon's leadership, L+M donated two rooms at 500 E. 165th Street to BronxWorks for an after-school center for the children of tenants of the building. Kenyon Related Links: ENR New York ENR New York Featured People Pennoni Associates, Haddon Heights, N.J., has hired Thomas Dancsecs as a senior engineer in its transportation division. He previously worked as Buchart Horn Inc.'s roadway department manager. Skanska USA Civil has promoted John Crecco and John Sullivan

The New York City Dept. of Environmental Protection has issued a request for proposals (RFPs) for an engineering team to help on a $2.4-billion, long-term research and development (R&D) program focused on greening waterways. The Green Infrastructure and R&D Program will use both public and private funding to increase the city's installation of green infrastructure by 2030, DEP says. This includes bioswales, stormwater green sheets, rain gardens, blue roofs, sub-surface detention systems, green roofs, porous pavement, permeable pavers, and constructed wetlands.The program aims to “significantly reduce the discharges from the city’s combined sewer system, which can occur during heavy rain

New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg unveiled his long-awaited proposal today, June 11, on how to improve the city's resiliency in extreme weather events, like Superstorm Sandy, and better guard against the effects of climate change. The plan would require a hefty long-term investment of $19.5 billion, although, about $10 billion of this is already covered via Sandy-related federal relief funds and the city's ongoing capital program, Bloomberg says. "Because of the scale of the challenge posed by climate change, even a tailored plan scaled to available resources brings with it a significant price tag that will need to be

The U.S. Dept. of Labor plans to hold two conferences this month on prevailing wage rules for New York and New Jersey areas hard hit by Superstorm Sandy. The N.Y. conference is set for June 20-21 at Long Island's Stony Brook University, and the N.J. meeting is scheduled for June 26-27 at the Atlantic City Convention Center. Related Links: Lessons Learned From a Superstorm The conferences spotlight a major area of concern for some industry professionals who contend that contractors will likely encounter more DOL officers showing up at their sites to enforce prevailing wage rules. They say this will

New York City Transit plans to issue formal bid documents the week of June 10 for major reconstruction work on two subway tunnels that Superstorm Sandy heavily damaged. Prime contractors are expected to be selected in July with work set to start later this summer, the agency says. Both tunnels—the 5,000-ft-long Montague and the 1,200-ft-long Greenpoint tubes—sustained ceiling-high floodwaters that "corroded, degraded or ruined almost everything from tracks and switches, to signals and controls, to power and communications cables," the agency said in a June 5 statement.The storm flooded nine of the agency's 14 under water tubes to various levels