Illegal labor is the foundation of the city's affordable housing industry, construction workers and union leaders claim.
Mayor Bloomberg has vowed to build and preserve 165,000 units of affordable housing by 2015. But Hizzoner's push is coming under scrutiny, with a top contractor headed to trial for wage infractions at an East Harlem project and a housing agency bigwig arrested Oct. 6 for corruption.
Now the U.S. Labor Department and the city Department of Housing Preservation and Development are probing underpayment and kickbacks at affordable housing projects in the Bronx and Brooklyn, the Daily News has learned. At the Bronx site - 780 Prospect Ave. - workers are due $575,000.
"The problems at HPD are systemic," said Robert Bonanza, business manager of the Mason Tenders District Council. "For years, workers have been coming forward with stories about being forced to pay kickbacks, being paid in cash and working under unsafe conditions."
HPD is also investigating labor violations at 97 Crooke Ave. in Prospect Park South, Brooklyn. But spokesman Eric Bederman insists the agency can clean its own house.
"Our proactive monitoring and oversight were responsible for identifying the problems," he said. "We have recently added provisions to our development documents specifically tightening developer and general contractor monitoring obligations."
The Bronx apartment building opened with fanfare on Oct. 7 to low-income seniors and the homeless. The project was subject to prevailing wage requirements because it received federal funds.
But Victor Zuniga, 37, who mixed cement at 780 Prospect Ave., claims he was paid $12 per hour, not $57 as required by law.
The Mexican immigrant also claims he paid kickbacks to a subcontractor at the site, Brooklyn-based Bayport Construction. He and other non-union workers say the affordable housing industry is rife with payment scams.
"I felt bad because I was working hard," the Bronx resident said through an interpreter. "But I'm the only one that supports my household and I needed the job."
HPD is withholding $575,000 from Queens-based general contractor Great American Construction until it pays the workers.
Zuniga says he spent weeks working off the books and was ordered to hide from HPD inspectors.
Carlos Torres, another worker at the site, claims he received $100 per day under the table, adding that many laborers worked without hardhats and gloves.
Lettire Construction, a top HPD general contractor, will go to court in January for charged with underpayment at an East Harlem project that was the first in the nation to receive federal stimulus money. In 2009, the feds cited 16 Lettire subcontractors, awarding 290 workers $1.4 million in back pay.
Meanwhile, Wendell Walters, an HPD assistant commissioner, has been indicted for allegedly taking bribes from affordable housing developers and contractors. Bayport and Great American did not respond to requests for comment.
Bonanza, of the Mason Tenders, called the scandal "just the tip of the iceberg." Torres, 36, said many exploited workers are illegal immigrants who are scared to speak out.
"The situation is really bad," said the Puerto Rico native. "They don't care about the workers - just about money."
DROP DEAD UNITY TEAM !
ReplyDelete"Our proactive monitoring and oversight were responsible for identifying the problems," he said. "We have recently added provisions to our development documents specifically tightening developer and general contractor monitoring obligations."
ReplyDeleteThe Bronx apartment building opened with fanfare on Oct. 7 to low-income seniors and the homeless. The project was subject to prevailing wage requirements because it received federal funds.
But Victor Zuniga, 37, who mixed cement at 780 Prospect Ave., claims he was paid $12 per hour, not $57 as required by law.
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"proactive monitoring", "oversight", "identification", added provisions tightening developer & monitoring obligtions, yada, yada - Heard it all before.
It begins with the IRCA (1986) Enforcement when the Employee fills out the I-9 forms and comes down to one very simple control - No Birth Certificate - No Job!
Copies of Birth Certificate not allowed - you must have an Original Notorized long form Birth Certificate w/ raised Seal.
This mandate needs to be incorporated into all AIA Doc's & the General Conditions of all Contracts & then it must be enforced.
Project Owners and Developers should be held accountable for implementing these programs with all GC's, Sub's and Material Vendors they hire directly for their projects or face Jail time for Violations & it would end swiftly.
The end all cure all was McCarron & Conboys 1997 Restructuring Plan, trust us your honor...blah, blah. How'd that work out?....Right...that culminated in the August 5, 2009 FBI sting, arrests, trials & convictions and was followed by many, many vetoes (firing) of many more corrupt assholes; so - the trust us your Honor line this go around is supsect, as it rightly should be.
Of course, in the NYCDCC, you won't need those onerous controls, because as Judge Conboy, Doug McCarron & the crooked Contractor Associations (BTEA, Wall & Ceiling etc) have made clear - the MAGIC STEWIE WAND will solve all of these problems....and no one will cheat, lie or steal no more, Scouts Honor, your Honor!!
Cost to members, Year 1 - $5-Million (hey software, kickbacks and wages for more hacks costs some dough, so don't bitch about it - it's foolproof)