Contractor to Pay $3M to Fix Leaky Hudson Yards Subway Station

[Q113 LTD]

officials say that a contractor will foot a $3 million bill for repairs to leaks in New York City’s newest subway station. Spokesman Kevin Ortiz said that Yonkers Contracting, which did work on the 34th Street-Hudson Yards station will also be doing repairs to the newly-opened station, which has widespread leaks and standing water due to a flaw in construction. “It’s completely unacceptable,” Ortiz said. The contractor told NBC 4 New York that work would begin this week and will take eight to 12 weeks. The shoddy has forced the to shut down two of the long escalators used to ferry straphangers from ground levels to the platform eleven stories below. Several bathrooms in the station had to be shut down, and commuters have had to dodge puddles and dripping water more commonly seen in the system's oldest stations. “This place is leaking,” said commuter Jack Jones. “This is crazy. This is new.” The station, the first new stop in the system in 26 years, opened in September and cost $2.4 billion to construct. Then-Mayor Michael Bloomberg took a ceremonial ride on the train to the stop, which connects with the line at the Times Square station, before leaving office in 2013. The station didn't open until nearly 2 years later.

 

Source: http://www.nbcnewyork.com/news/local/New-York-City-NY-Hudson-Yards-Subway-Station-NY-Police-372158042.html

[MysteriousBtrain]

Of course...... another issue here. What will happen when 2 Av opens?

[NewFlyer 230]

A perfect example of things not being built like they used to. The new South Ferry station had the same problem I believe before being messed up by Hurricane Sandy.

[DetSMART45]

Real question: Is this contractor seeing some repercussions because of this?

--Any current work being scrutinized before continuing?

--Any future work awarded put in limbo pending the outcome of this snafu, with possibility of being yanked?

--A temporary removal of their ability of bidding or submitting cost proposals for active/future MTA bids?

 

My guess: NO.

[bobtehpanda]

Real question: Is this contractor seeing some repercussions because of this?

--Any current work being scrutinized before continuing?

--Any future work awarded put in limbo pending the outcome of this snafu, with possibility of being yanked?

--A temporary removal of their ability of bidding or submitting cost proposals for active/future MTA bids?

 

My guess: NO.

 

Literally the first line of this article:

 

 

 

 officials say that a contractor will foot a $3 million bill for repairs to leaks in New York City’s newest subway station. 

 

Keep in mind that suddenly terminating a contract in progress also has costs; now it has to go out to rebid, and on top of that the MTA would probably get sued for ripping up a contract, as they have in the past before.

[LTA1992]

Literally the first line of this article:

 

 

Keep in mind that suddenly terminating a contract in progress also has costs; now it has to go out to rebid, and on top of that the MTA would probably get sued for ripping up a contract, as they have in the past before.

I'll be honest, I think you said this nicer and less sarcastic than I would've.

[CenSin]

the MTA would probably get sued for ripping up a contract, as they have in the past before.

Let’s change the law then. It seems fairly common sense that a piss-poor contractor should have contracts nullified for public safety. A water leak is probably minor, but who know what other problems could slip in if they couldn’t handle something so simple?

[QM1to6Ave]

Honestly, the norm today with contractors and builders is that they will not do the job right initially, and they expect to have to come back and fix mistakes a few weeks/months after the job is finished. It ends up being cheaper that way. Not too many companies take pride in their work anymore, from what I've seen 

[DetSMART45]

Honestly, the norm today with contractors and builders is that they will not do the job right initially, and they expect to have to come back and fix mistakes a few weeks/months after the job is finished. It ends up being cheaper that way. Not too many companies take pride in their work anymore, from what I've seen 

This company has a history of this type of substandard practices.

 

BUT! The MTA Cheerleading Squad of NYCTF can't use the internet for anything but pushing their pompoms in the face of anyone talking sense -- especially a super simple Google search.

 

C'mon, try it:  Google.com --> Type "yonkers contracting" ......... and lookie-loo:

 

Fraud, false claims over I-287 work -- Nov 4, 2015 (detailed article) Contract given in 2006

YC to pay $2.6M fine for I-287 fraud case, admit wrongdoing -- Nov 6, 2015

Feds fine YC $68,000 for crane collapse killing 1, injuring 4 -- 2012 (Ironically, for the same MTA project)

 

Yonkers Contracting has had a checkered history of work on projects in New York City, including an accident in 2000 in which a painter died after falling from the Manhattan Bridge. Several previous investigations of the company led to acquittals or dropped charges.

Insurance company for YC pays $1M, denies wrongdoing -- 2013 settlement for crane operator death (only age 30)

 

OH, and this doozie ---- this is just too delicious:

FEDS: YC ex-VP convicted for soliciting kickbacks from subcontractor

 

The investigation revealed that between March and October 2008, Mr. Iorio solicited kick-backs from a trucking company subcontractor in connection with at least three New York State Metropolitan Transportation Authority construction projects on which Yonkers was bidding.  One of the projects included the federally funded Atlantic Yards Arena Development in Brooklyn, on which Yonkers was bidding around $346 million.

 

WAIT!  It gets better!  Let's go WEST, shall we, and time-travel back to the '90s:

YC named by Feds in 1987 price-fixing case, so family member moves to San Francisco, and "improper" practices come to light out there:

Brown's new appointee may be barred

Just a taste:

 

Petrillo, 50, is an ex-New Yorker who relocated in 1989 and opened a series of restaurants. The move came after he and his family-owned paving and bridge-building company, Yonkers Contracting of Yonkers, N.Y., were named in a federal court criminal price-fixing case in 1987.

Petrillo, who was company treasurer and president of a subsidiary, was acquitted along with the $192 million-a-year family business. But under a civil agreement with New York authorities preceding the federal case, Petrillo was temporarily barred from company operations, and the firm paid $622,000 to New York state, according to published reports and a former New York state official.

 OH yeah ... can't break ties with such an upstanding company.  The MTA would do damage to itself.

[B46 via Utica]

Let’s change the law then. It seems fairly common sense that a piss-poor contractor should have contracts nullified for public safety. A water leak is probably minor, but who know what other problems could slip in if they couldn’t handle something so simple?

 

Exactly, I'm just going to sit back wait for the rats to take over the station.

[DetSMART45]

Not trying to veer the thread, but further investigation of Carl E. Petrillo -- the head of Yonkers Contracting -- leads to some interesting things.

 

For example, in 1992, the NYC City Comptroller told Mayor Dinkins YC shouldn't get the contract for the rehab of the Manhattan Bridge because of unsavory business practices.  That went unheeded.

 

Westchester County Executive Rob Astorino was accused of letting contracts to YC based on political contributions.

 

And, interestingly enough, the Westchester Bank's bio of Carl makes no mention of his San Francisco restaurant ventures in its laundry list of his wonderful accomplishments.

 

But then you find out, if you search carefully, Carl is one of the "seed-money" sources that brought Westchester Bank into being in the first place. (PDF file)

 

Nothing accusatory, passing judgments or making assumptions, but certain legendary New York entities part of NYC's and the nation's history had RICO laws applied to their "business operations."  Infer what you will.

[bobtehpanda]

Let’s change the law then. It seems fairly common sense that a piss-poor contractor should have contracts nullified for public safety. A water leak is probably minor, but who know what other problems could slip in if they couldn’t handle something so simple?

 

That requires actual reform at the state level, which, judging by the Legislature's response to its two leaders getting indicted, is not going to happen. So for now we just live in an overly litigious society.

 

It's a shame that Eliot Spitzer had to go sleep around and get caught. He probably would've rectified the situation.

[MysteriousBtrain]

Sources say they knew about the leak all along.

[CenSin]

It's a shame that Eliot Spitzer had to go sleep around and get caught. He probably would've rectified the situation.

It’s a shame that sleeping around has such broad consequences in the new millenium (since everyone is doing it).

[QM1to6Ave]

Not trying to veer the thread, but further investigation of Carl E. Petrillo -- the head of Yonkers Contracting -- leads to some interesting things.

 

For example, in 1992, the NYC City Comptroller told Mayor Dinkins YC shouldn't get the contract for the rehab of the Manhattan Bridge because of unsavory business practices.  That went unheeded.

 

Westchester County Executive Rob Astorino was accused of letting contracts to YC based on political contributions.

 

And, interestingly enough, the Westchester Bank's bio of Carl makes no mention of his San Francisco restaurant ventures in its laundry list of his wonderful accomplishments.

 

But then you find out, if you search carefully, Carl is one of the "seed-money" sources that brought Westchester Bank into being in the first place. (PDF file)

 

Nothing accusatory, passing judgments or making assumptions, but certain legendary New York entities part of NYC's and the nation's history had RICO laws applied to their "business operations."  Infer what you will.

What a surprise...the MTA doing business with a super shady, sub-par contractor, presumably because they had the lowest bids. LOL.

[CenSin]

What a surprise...the MTA doing business with a super shady, sub-par contractor, presumably because they had the lowest bids. LOL.

One wonders if the law was written to protect these industry scums. If not, who’s going to close these exploits?

[QM1to6Ave]

One wonders if the law was written to protect these industry scums. If not, who’s going to close these exploits?

Not to sound conspiratorial, but these big companies seem to always have a politician in their pockets looking out for them...

[bklynkenny]

That's what you get when you go for the lowest bidding contractor.

[bobtehpanda]

One wonders if the law was written to protect these industry scums. If not, who’s going to close these exploits?

 

Lowest bid was actually initiated by reformers because when Tammany Hall and Boss Tweed were kicking around, they would just pick the most politically connected bidders and do crap like this. At the time it probably seemed like the best reform route they could do given the limited amount of data 100+ years ago.

[SubwayGuy]

Lowest bid was actually initiated by reformers because when Tammany Hall and Boss Tweed were kicking around, they would just pick the most politically connected bidders and do crap like this. At the time it probably seemed like the best reform route they could do given the limited amount of data 100+ years ago.

 

This.

 

There needed to be an objective way to award contracts at that time, rather than a subjective one that could easily be manipulated by those with the power to award contracts to give them to favored vendors.

 

That said, the end result is still unacceptable, and there do need to be certain provisions built in. A contractor should be able to guarantee quality work at the bid price, barring a change order that TA agrees to (not one borne out of necessity for things that fall under the original scope of work). AKA the "guaranteed estimate", and the contractor eats any overruns that they failed to properly budget for when submitting the winning bid.

[LTA1992]

I'm watching the Board meeting now and I must say, they are not happy. My favorite quote regarding the waterproofing is:

 

"There should not be an option one and an option two. There should just be an option that works. Especially for a station that costs 2 Billion Dollars."

 

I've also noticed that the Board has been getting more and more dissatisfied as the months go on. I somehow don't see Horondniceanu lasting more than a few more years. The Board, nor the committee in that room had no clue about this and found out from the tabloids. Why they don't get these reports beforehand has yet to be answered by Horondniceanu. There is only just now being a report written up, which is unacceptable. Apparently, Yonkers is working on the 44th Street access shafts for ESA and the northern concourse of the new Grand Central platforms as well. But the Board wants to know who signed off on it, who knew, and what projects they are working on now.

 

It seems to me that someones ass is about to get axed. I've never seen such disappointment for as long as I have been keeping up with these meetings. But then again, unlike the Governor, the MTA board members actually use the subway.

[Jcb]

On the bright side,mother board's disappointment may lead to something productive.

On the other hand, anyone becoming more sympathetic towards city matters will probably be replaced ASAP unless we get a new governor.

[Mysterious2train]

MTA Board members ripped into Michael Horodniceanu (head of MTA Capital Construction) today about the condition at the station.

 (Discussion on 34 St station starts around 1 hour, 13 minutes in). The board members just grill Horodniceanu for the better part of half an hour. Probably the biggest complaints from the board members were dissatisfaction with Horodniceanu's answers and not being told about the leaks (Polly Trottenberg says she found out by reading the news!) Watch with some popcorn. 

[LTA1992]

MTA Board members ripped into Michael Horodniceanu (head of MTA Capital Construction) today about the condition at the station.

 (Discussion on 34 St station starts around 1 hour, 13 minutes in). The board members just grill Horodniceanu for the better part of half an hour. Probably the biggest complaints from the board members were dissatisfaction with Horodniceanu's answers and not being told about the leaks (Polly Trottenberg says she found out by reading the news!) Watch with some popcorn. 

I've been waiting for that moment ever since he gave that throwaway answer, "Things are expensive because this is New York". I watched that meeting via stream and it was just gorgeous. You usually only see Mr. Moerdler do the chewing, but everybody got in that ass today. I'm actually slightly disappointed that Mr. Moerdler's term expires in a few months. He is by far my favorite of the board. Always asking the right questions, bringing up the right issues, and he seems to have a genuine care about improving this system both for the city and its people.

[Q113 LTD]

"Exclusive: Leaking Hudson Yards station caused woman serious injuries after slippery fall on wet escalator: suit."

 

Source: http://www.nydailynews.com/new-york/manhattan/leaking-hudson-yards-station-led-woman-injury-article-1.2578830