Two adjacent housing complexes totaling 182 units and located on a vacant, New York Stat-designated Brownfield Cleanup site, broke ground in Richmond Hill, Queens, on September 7. The two projects include the 65-unit Richmond Hill Senior Living Residences and the 117-unit Richmond Place. The Arker Companies, Floral Park, N.Y. is the developer on the combined $53.9 million project. Rendering Courtesy of The Arker Companies Richmond Hill Senior Living Residences, a six-story, 62,500-sq-ft building will provide housing for elderly residents with an income below 60% of the area’s median income. The project is being financed by a combination of Low-Income Housing
Two contractor groups have asked a New York district court to look into a recent ruling in favor of project labor agreements between NYC and the Building and Construction Trades Council of Greater New York (BCTC). The groups, the Building Industry Electrical Contractors Association and the United Electrical Contractors Association, filed a notice of appeal to the Second Circuit Court of Appeals for the Southern District of New York on August 31. The filing follows U.S. District Judge Robert Patterson Jr.’s ruling in early August that PLAs between the city and the BCTC, an umbrella group that represents about 50
Contract talks between the District Council of Carpenters and the New York Building Contractors Association are likely to continue through tonight’s deadline, officials say. NYBCA is the last of several management groups still in talks with the union, which reached tentative agreements with the Association of Wall-Ceiling & Carpentry and the Greater Floor Coverers Association on September 8, and with the Cement League on September 1. The five-year deal with the Wall-Ceiling and Floor Coverers includes a $10.65 an hour raise over five years, says Frank Spencer, head of the union. The carpenters hope for similar terms with the BCA,
The District Council of Carpenters reached an agreement yesterday, September 8, with the Association of Wall-Ceiling & Carpentry and the Greater Floor Coverers Association, following a series of contract deadline extensions after the initial June 30 deadline expired. The deal comes on the heels of a separate agreement that the union reached with the Cement League on September 1. "The district council continues to make positive movement to reach our overall goal of reaching agreements with all of our association partners," the union says in a statement.A union spokesperson says contract discussions are ongoing with the remaining associations that have
Boston-based Vanasse Hangen Brustlin, Inc. has acquired Eng-Wong, Taub & Associates, a New York City and Newark, N.J.-based transportation planning, traffic engineering, and research firm, for an undisclosed sum. The merger, effective September 1, is the eighth since 2005 for VHB, a planning, design, transportation, land development and environmental firm. The deal aims to promote VHB’s growth in New York and Jersey, says Bob Brustlin, VHB president and CEO. “We have enjoyed a working relationship with Eng-Wong, Taub for many years,” Brustlin says. “By merging our operations and New York/New Jersey area staff, our clients will benefit from deeper
U.S. District Judge Robert Patterson, Jr. ruled last week that project labor agreements (PLAs) between New York City and the Building and Construction Trades Council, an umbrella group that represents about 50 local trades unions, do not violate the federal National Labor Relations Act. The agreements, first reached in 2009 to “improve efficiency by preventing strikes and standardizing work rules,” include the construction of a new police academy and a 911 call center, both part of $6 billion worth of city infrastructure projects. To back up its decision, the court referred to a U.S. Supreme Court decision, which determined
Concrete workers from locals 6A, 18A and 20, including workers on the World Trade Center site and Weill Cornell Medical College research center, returned to work Aug. 4 following a three day strike that began Monday. The unions have agreed to extend their contract, which expired on July 29, to August 16, says Louis Coletti, president, Building Trades Employers’ Association. However, an agreement has not yet been reached on new terms including a proposed 20% wage cut. Separately, independent arbitrator Richard Adelman said on Tuesday that Concrete Workers District Council Local 16, an umbrella union group that also had
Talks continued Aug. 3 between the Cement League and Concrete Workers locals 6A, 18A and 20, following a worker strike that began Monday, says Louis Coletti, president of Building Trades Employers’ Association. The strike includes concrete workers at the World Trade Center site although some of those workers have returned to their jobs, says industry sources. “They should not use the WTC as a bargaining tip,” Coletti says. Management’s proposed 20% wage reduction “would not affect a single person on the WTC site but rather, that reduction would affect new residential/hotel projects,” Coletti says. “They should go back to
The Cement League and Concrete Workers locals 6A, 18A and 20 met August 2 for discussions following a worker strike that began Monday, three days after their contract expired, says Louis Coletti, president of Building Trades Employers’ Association. The union’s contract expired June 30 but was extended until July 29. Coletti says that workers on certain unspecified jobs have returned to work but that others remain on strike. He did not provide further details. The union refused to comment on the strike, and the Cement League was unavailable for comment at press time. In other union news, the
The first-in, first-out rule does not always apply in the publicity business, or so Glaziers Local 1281 and the Window and Plate Glass Dealers have learned. Back in April, the two organizations were the first—of all New York City unions and contractors with contracts set to expire in the April-June cycle—to reach agreement. However, that news was only announced July 20, overshadowed in part by the highly publicized collective bargaining talks between the Operating Engineers Locals 14 and 15 and the Building Contractors Association, Contractors Association of Greater New York and Cement League, says Jerry Haber, a Window and Plate