The Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) issued new safety rules as it resumed work at the Second Avenue Subway's 95th Street station site today, March 21, a day after an SAS contractor trapped below ground in mud up to his chest was rescued. "Everyone in the area will work with harnesses, and all areas without any support under them will be marked off with cones," the agency said in a statement.The mandate follows a grueling four-hour ordeal that began March 19 to free 51-year-old Joseph Barrone, an E.E. Cruz worker who got stuck 75 ft below ground in the quicksand-like mud

More than 100 New York City firefighters, police officers and other officials worked for four hours last night to free a construction worker trapped 75 ft below ground in a muddy trench at the Second Avenue Subway site's 96th Street station. The worker, whose name has not been released, was removed from the scene in stable condition and taken to Weill Cornell Medical Center, says Maria Lamberti, a Fire Dept. of New York (FDNY) spokeswoman. FDNY was called to the scene at 8:32 p.m. on March 19, and the man was rescued at 12:28 a.m. March 20, she says. The

Related Links: MTA a Decade Late, $4.4B Over Budget on ESA Project American Companies Adopt Swiss Hardware for Railroad Surveying Meet the $17-Billion Man of the New York City-area MTA The New York state comptroller's office has targeted state and local public authorities, including the Metropolitan Transportation Authority, over financial issues and lack of transparency. State and local governments have come to rely on these authorities to plug budget gaps, but the public inevitably will be forced to pay higher taxes and tolls, according to Thomas DiNapoli, comptroller, who issued two critical reports released in early March.The state's 1,169 public

New York State construction employment grew 2.4% to 322,500 during the past year, according to an Associated General Contractors of America (AGC) report issued March 18. However, Connecticut lost 2.5%, or 1,300 construction jobs, and New Jersey lost 0.9%, or 1,200 jobs, from January 2012 to January 2013, says the report, which is based on Dept. of Labor data. Nationwide, 24 states and the District of Columbia added jobs, 25 states shed workers and one, Wisconsin, had no change. Month over month, two-thirds of all states—including N.Y., N.J. and Conn.—added workers from December 2012 to January 2013. The industry shows

Courtesy of New York City Health and Hospitals Corp. Superstorm Sandy's floodwaters submerged the basement and subsequently inundated nine to 12 inches of the first floor of the Health and Hospital Corp.'s Coney Island hospital. Health-care owners, contractors and other stakeholders are grappling with a host of issues in Superstorm Sandy's wake. As the storm's waters filled hospital basements and, in many cases, reached first floors, one question that has arisen is where to relocate the information-technology and other critical systems and equipment that typically reside there. While the 2001 terrorist attacks caused many hospitals to install wide-area networks and

New York State has entered the next stage to secure a $1.5-billion federal loan for the Tappan Zee Bridge replacement project, Gov. Andrew Cuomo announced March 8. The state, which is seeking a low-interest loan to help finance and lower bridge tolls for the $3.9-billion project, had applied for a $2-billion loan under the U.S. Dept. of Transportation's (DOT) Transportation Infrastructure Finance and Innovation Act (TIFIA) program.   The NYS Thruway Authority awarded the design-build contract last December to Fluor-led consortium Tappan Zee Constructors, which bid $3.142 billion for the project.   In his March 8 announcement, Cuomo said the

The Metropolitan Transportation Authority's (MTA) East Side Access (ESA) project, the largest public transportation project nationwide, fell under heavy criticism yesterday for missing its budget by $4.4 billion and its completion date by 10 years. The result is that taxpayers must bear the brunt of the unanticipated costs of the project that is only half finished, according to a New York State Comptroller report released yesterday, March 6. The MTA had no comment on the report. ESA's current cost estimate is $8.76 billion, including additional railcar costs, when completed in August 2019; it was initially expected to cost $4.3 billion

The New York State Assembly adopted a resolution yesterday, March 6, to suspend state permits for natural gas hydraulic fracturing for two years to give lawmakers time to review health and safety data. The bill, Assembly 5424-A, would suspend such permits until May 15, 2015 and does not apply to drilling of conventional vertical natural gas wells outside the Marcellus and Utica formations. The state Senate is considering a similar measure. Under the Assembly bill, a State University of New York public health school is required to conduct a health impact assessment to identify risks associated with the process, also

From Hudson Yards' long-awaited $843-million first building to several $150-million-plus towers, the tristate region's ranking of the top 25 projects to break ground last year show that building tall and building big is back. The residential sector, in particular, dominates tower construction on the list, with most buildings advertised as luxury apartments and condos in prime New York City locations. Related Links: This Year's Top Starts Rankings Top Starts of 2011 Top Starts of 2010 Despite such gains, the aggregated total contract value of the largest 25 starts is about $7.9 billion, even with the prior year's level, which was

Health care activity in the tristate region is expected to rise as the market comes to grips with some of the uncertainties that slowed it down last year, including health care and insurance reforms, executives say. But hospitals, contractors and other stakeholders are now grappling with a new problem in the wake of Superstorm Sandy"s devastating blow to many of their facilities—how to prevent that from happening again. While 2011's Hurricane Irene made these stakeholders rethink safety, security and emergency preparedness, Sandy has brought them back to the table to come up with something much more robust, speakers told attendees