Related Links: NJ Design Firm Executives Face Pay-to-Play Charges Revised Tax Law Will Help Industry Firms, But Some Provisions Fall Short The 300 recently furloughed and unpaid employees of Birdsall Services Group, Inc., Eatontown, N.J., breathed a bit easier on April 15 as the engineering firm agreed to pay $3.6 million to settle criminal prosecution charges with the state. The action unfreezes assets of Birdsall, which still remains under indictment on corruption charges and is seeking bankruptcy protection, and allows the firm to operate and call employees back to work with pay. Birdsall, meanwhile, is in talks with a potential
Birdsall Services Group, Inc., Eatontown, N.J., furloughed 300 employees on April 10 after a federal judge issued a temporary restraining order in favor of the State of New Jersey's efforts to block the embattled engineering firm's bankruptcy filing. Birdsall is also in talks with a potential buyer, according to court filings. Birdsall and seven of its former executives were indicted on corruption charges on March 26, and the firm filed for bankruptcy on March 29. The temporary restraining order, issued by U.S. District Court Judge Michael Shipp, blocks Birdsall from using cash collateral for salaries and other expenses, says a
Sandhogs have decided that no more major blasting is needed under Grand Central Terminal where they are working on the East Side Access (ESA) project, says a Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) spokeman. Since March 2007, joint venture contractors Dragado USA and Judlau Contracting have headed up a team of about 1,000 workers who toiled round the clock five days a week to complete more than 2,400 controlled blasts, MTA says. Photo Courtesy of MTA Tunnels lead into caverns underneath the Grand Central terminal where a concourse for arriving and departing Long Island Rail Road trains is planned. The $8.76-billion ESA
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