The head of a trade group for affordable housing builders blasted a councilwoman Wednesday for questioning workers about a construction death on their employers’ work site, demanding an apology after the company’s president of construction denied responsibility for the death.
Two employees from Larchmont-based L+M Development, the largest affordable housing builder in the city, were among the first to testify at a City Council hearing on 21 construction-safety bills Tuesday. The legislation has sparked a battle between construction unions seeking to mandate apprenticeship programs and prevailing-wage in the industry and developers and contractors who oppose those measures.
Councilwoman Elizabeth Crowley, D-Queens, asked foreman Abul Kuoko-Akpo and assistant superintendent Juan Paredes, along with the two union workers on a panel giving testimony, whether construction deaths often involve serious violations.
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“My question first is, and you could each answer this, or one or two of you, because we don’t have a lot of time: Is it really an accident when a contractor cuts corners and provides an unsafe environment and then somebody gets hurt or killed?”
One worker started to answer, but Councilwoman Jumaane Williams, the patient committee chairman who presided over the nearly six-hour hearing, interrupted to ask the identity of a man who had come and crouched next to the L+M employees. “Excuse me one second,” said Williams. “Who are you, sir?”
“My name’s Gerry Miceli, these two gentlemen work for me,” Miceli said.
“Okay,” Williams replied.
“I don’t think some of these questions are appropriate for them,” Miceli continued. Asked to speak into the microphone, he identified himself as the president of L+M Builders Group and repeated, “I just don’t think some of these questions are appropriate for these two gentlemen.”
It was an unheard-of intervention during sworn council testimony. Williams asked Miceli to sign up to testify himself and quieted the rowdy audience.
Building and Construction Trades Council of Greater New York President Gary LaBarbera then began to shout the name of Alton Louis, a nonunion construction worker at an L+M affordable housing site in Brooklyn whose death on a sweltering day triggered a serious violation from the federal Occupational Health and Safety Administration.
“Alton Louis, Alton Louis. Died on an L+M site!” the union leader bellowed.
Miceli responded: “Pre-existing condition,” Miceli said. “That’s false. False statement. False. Liar. Liar!”
“Don’t answer any questions if they’re not appropriate,” Miceli murmured to Kuoko-Akpo and Paredes before returning to his seat.
L+M declined to comment on the exchange.
Crowley, an ally of the construction unions who is sponsoring a bill that would require workers on city-funded projects to be paid prevailing wage, went on to survey the panel on whether there had been deaths on their job sites or under their employers.
Paredes answered no. She then pressed Kuoko-Akpo, reminding him he was sworn to tell the truth.
“No, wasn’t killed but a guy died by medical issue,” Kuoko-Akpo responded.
“Medical issue? What kind of medical issue was it?” she asked.
“I don’t know, we don’t know,” he responded.
“Did the Occupational Health and Safety Administration say it was work-related?” she continued.
“What do you mean about that, please?” Kuoko-Akpo said.
“Is he one of the people that is accounted for the by federal government and not by the city of New York?”
“I don’t understand,” he responded.
Crowley then referenced a Crain’s report on construction deaths that slipped through the cracks of city tracking, including that of Louis. It was not clear why she expected the foreman to be familiar with the different ways the city and federal governments count construction deaths.
The next morning Jolie Milstein, president and CEO of the New York Association for Affordable Housing, sent out a statement blasting Crowley, saying she “verbally attacked a construction worker” and calling her line of questioning unfair and politically motivated.
“It seems clear that the only reason the worker was interrogated in this manner is because he is affiliated with a nonunion contractor,” Milstein said. The statement went on to attack Crowley’s prevailing-wage bill.
“The only real impact of Council Member Crowley’s bill will be to stifle affordable housing production and leave thousands of low-income New Yorkers without the homes they need,” Milstein said, referring to her organization’s argument that union-level wages would make it uneconomical to build many low-rent apartments.
L+M chief operating officer Lisa Gomez chairs NYSAFAH’s board, and L+M principal Ron Moelis is a founding member or the group, which represents developers of affordable housing.
Crowley, for her part, said NYSAFAH’s demand for an apology was a swipe because the trade group hates her bill. “I think the truth of the matter is my bill is worse than the other bills for them,” she said. “Because you could get a union apprenticeship program, a nonunion program, but if you have to pay prevailing wages, you have to pay prevailing wages. “
She defended the proposal, saying for-profit developers want “handouts” with no strings attached. “If they want to be a developer they can work for the private industry and not have to pay prevailing wages, but they’re asking to do work with tax resources,” she said.
“They’re asking us to give them something and we’re asking them to give good wages and safe jobs sites in return.”
But the de Blasio administration’s view is that the city is asking the developers to give it something: as many affordable apartments as possible. The mayor’s target is 80,000 new affordable units over 10 years. He also wants 165,000 new market-rate units to help subsidize the low-rent apartments and to ease the city’s shortage of housing.
The head of a trade group for affordable housing builders blasted a councilwoman Wednesday for questioning workers about a construction death on their employers’ work site, demanding an apology after the company’s president of construction denied responsibility for the death.
Two employees from Larchmont-based L+M Development, the largest affordable housing builder in the city, were among the first to testify at a City Council hearing on 21 construction-safety bills Tuesday. The legislation has sparked a battle between construction unions seeking to mandate apprenticeship programs and prevailing-wage in the industry and developers and contractors who oppose those measures.
Councilwoman Elizabeth Crowley, D-Queens, asked foreman Abul Kuoko-Akpo and assistant superintendent Juan Paredes, along with the two union workers on a panel giving testimony, whether construction deaths often involve serious violations.
“My question first is, and you could each answer this, or one or two of you, because we don’t have a lot of time: Is it really an accident when a contractor cuts corners and provides an unsafe environment and then somebody gets hurt or killed?”
One worker started to answer, but Councilwoman Jumaane Williams, the patient committee chairman who presided over the nearly six-hour hearing, interrupted to ask the identity of a man who had come and crouched next to the L+M employees. “Excuse me one second,” said Williams. “Who are you, sir?”
“My name’s Gerry Miceli, these two gentlemen work for me,” Miceli said.
“Okay,” Williams replied.
“I don’t think some of these questions are appropriate for them,” Miceli continued. Asked to speak into the microphone, he identified himself as the president of L+M Builders Group and repeated, “I just don’t think some of these questions are appropriate for these two gentlemen.”
It was an unheard-of intervention during sworn council testimony. Williams asked Miceli to sign up to testify himself and quieted the rowdy audience.
Building and Construction Trades Council of Greater New York President Gary LaBarbera then began to shout the name of Alton Louis, a nonunion construction worker at an L+M affordable housing site in Brooklyn whose death on a sweltering day triggered a serious violation from the federal Occupational Health and Safety Administration.
“Alton Louis, Alton Louis. Died on an L+M site!” the union leader bellowed.
Miceli responded: “Pre-existing condition,” Miceli said. “That’s false. False statement. False. Liar. Liar!”
“Don’t answer any questions if they’re not appropriate,” Miceli murmured to Kuoko-Akpo and Paredes before returning to his seat.
L+M declined to comment on the exchange.
Crowley, an ally of the construction unions who is sponsoring a bill that would require workers on city-funded projects to be paid prevailing wage, went on to survey the panel on whether there had been deaths on their job sites or under their employers.
Paredes answered no. She then pressed Kuoko-Akpo, reminding him he was sworn to tell the truth.
“No, wasn’t killed but a guy died by medical issue,” Kuoko-Akpo responded.
“Medical issue? What kind of medical issue was it?” she asked.
“I don’t know, we don’t know,” he responded.
“Did the Occupational Health and Safety Administration say it was work-related?” she continued.
“What do you mean about that, please?” Kuoko-Akpo said.
“Is he one of the people that is accounted for the by federal government and not by the city of New York?”
“I don’t understand,” he responded.
Crowley then referenced a Crain’s report on construction deaths that slipped through the cracks of city tracking, including that of Louis. It was not clear why she expected the foreman to be familiar with the different ways the city and federal governments count construction deaths.
The next morning Jolie Milstein, president and CEO of the New York Association for Affordable Housing, sent out a statement blasting Crowley, saying she “verbally attacked a construction worker” and calling her line of questioning unfair and politically motivated.
“It seems clear that the only reason the worker was interrogated in this manner is because he is affiliated with a nonunion contractor,” Milstein said. The statement went on to attack Crowley’s prevailing-wage bill.
“The only real impact of Council Member Crowley’s bill will be to stifle affordable housing production and leave thousands of low-income New Yorkers without the homes they need,” Milstein said, referring to her organization’s argument that union-level wages would make it uneconomical to build many low-rent apartments.
L+M chief operating officer Lisa Gomez chairs NYSAFAH’s board, and L+M principal Ron Moelis is a founding member or the group, which represents developers of affordable housing.
Crowley, for her part, said NYSAFAH’s demand for an apology was a swipe because the trade group hates her bill. “I think the truth of the matter is my bill is worse than the other bills for them,” she said. “Because you could get a union apprenticeship program, a nonunion program, but if you have to pay prevailing wages, you have to pay prevailing wages. “
She defended the proposal, saying for-profit developers want “handouts” with no strings attached. “If they want to be a developer they can work for the private industry and not have to pay prevailing wages, but they’re asking to do work with tax resources,” she said.
“They’re asking us to give them something and we’re asking them to give good wages and safe jobs sites in return.”
But the de Blasio administration’s view is that the city is asking the developers to give it something: as many affordable apartments as possible. The mayor’s target is 80,000 new affordable units over 10 years. He also wants 165,000 new market-rate units to help subsidize the low-rent apartments and to ease the city’s shortage of housing.
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