Mayor Adams Announces Historic Labor Agreements Covering Over $1 Billion in Capital Projects to Deliver Critical Infrastructure, Transform Willets Point, and Secure Local Jobs[...]

November 21, 2024

PLAs Cover Over $1 Billion of Transformational Capital Projects and Set Framework for Future PLA Negotiations Over Nearly $50 Billion of Upcoming Projects
PLAs Support Fair Wages, Community Hiring, Investments in M/WBEs; Promote Efficient Project Completion

NEW YORK - New York City Mayor Eric Adams today announced two Project Labor Agreements (PLAs) with the Building & Construction Trades Council of Greater New York (BCTC) that will cover more than $1 billion in construction projects throughout the term of the agreements, including generational infrastructure improvements in Willets Point. These historic PLAs will allow the city to complete capital projects more effectively and efficiently, connect more underserved New Yorkers to quality union career and apprenticeship opportunities through community hiring, and strengthen the city's commitment to minority- and women-owned businesses (M/WBEs). Covered construction projects will include green infrastructure improvements and repairing the city's sewers, roads, and bridges. Mayor Adams also announced that the New York City Economic Development Corporation (NYCEDC) has signed a letter of intent with BCTC, to negotiate in good faith additional PLAs for the Hunts Point Produce Market, the Kingsbridge Armory redevelopment, and the Science Park and Research Campus (SPARC) Kips Bay projects - a cumulative $1.88 billion in construction work. The PLAs announced today also establish the framework for future negotiations with the BCTC for upcoming PLAs that could cover as much as $50 billion of future capital construction projects. These PLAs will cover design-build projects, new construction projects, and renovation projects of city-owned buildings and structures. BCTC represents more than 100,000 tradesmen and tradeswomen across New York City and consists of local affiliates of 15 national and international unions.

PLAs enable the city to establish fair wages, benefits, and safety protections for workers, and provide opportunities for workforce development, while controlling construction costs and ensuring the timely completion of projects. Today's announcement will allow $800 million in planned infrastructure projects across the city to be completed using design-build delivery, an innovative method where the design and construction are under a single contract. These projects range from improvements to critical below-grade infrastructure, roadway and waterfront reconstruction, and new greenway projects - all projects with complex site conditions that will benefit from site investigations and constructability input from contractors during the design development. A separate PLA will support the administration's historic $270 million investment in the transformation of Willets Point. They also include the largest-ever commitment to investing in M/WBEs, and for the first time, they incorporate Community Hiring goals to ensure that job and apprenticeship opportunities are made available to workers living in New York City Housing Authority (NYCHA) housing or a ZIP code where at least 15 percent of the population lives below the federal poverty threshold.

"These agreements, covering more than a billion dollars in work, are a win-win-win: good union jobs for New Yorkers; faster, better, and more efficient capital projects; and billions of dollars of investment in communities that went ignored for decades," said Mayor Adams. "But we're not stopping with these projects - and we're not stopping at just $1 billion. These agreements give us a framework for future agreements covering another $50 billion in projects. That means tens of thousands of good-paying jobs for our union brothers and sisters and hundreds of projects delivered on time and on budget for New Yorkers. My thanks to Gary LaBarbera, BCTC, and the hard-working New Yorkers who put their blood, sweat, and tears into building a better city for all."

"Through our collaboration with the Building & Construction Trades Council on these Project Labor Agreements, we are not only investing in world-class infrastructure but also creating thousands of good-paying union jobs that will benefit New Yorkers for generations," said First Deputy Mayor Maria Torres-Springer. "Our administration is committed to driving economic growth, creating jobs, and building a more resilient city for the future. I want to thank our labor partners and everyone involved in securing these historic PLAs, which will help lay the foundation for a stronger, more equitable New York."

"Strong project labor agreements are a key ingredient in supporting the workforce that delivers infrastructure to our city, and so much more," said Deputy Mayor for Operations Meera Joshi. "They enable us to unlock the promise of design-build delivery tools that we advocated for over the past several years, meet our commitments to project timelines, and manage costs. With a range of these agreements, we will be able to expedite projects to improve our sewers, roads and bridges - meeting the demands of climate change and population growth across all five boroughs."

"Transformational development and green infrastructure upgrades will reinvigorate our communities and bring much-needed stability and economic stimulus to all New Yorkers; but the full scope of benefits from these capital projects can only be unlocked through project labor agreements that will guarantee thousands of good-paying union careers for workers from surrounding neighborhoods," said Gary LaBarbera, president, Building & Construction Trades Council of Greater New York. "We are grateful for these historic commitments and collaboration from Mayor Adams and NYCEDC, as we must ensure that our city's hardworking people, including our tradesmen and tradeswomen, are provided fair wages and accessible pathways to the middle class that will allow them to reinvest in their communities and support their families in the foreseeable future. We look forward to working with NYCEDC further so that our members may take advantage of these opportunities and play a role in completing these upcoming projects that will modernize and improve our city for generations to come."

Today's announcement will allow the city to utilize more efficient project delivery models across the city, shaving months and years off capital project timelines and saving taxpayers millions of dollars. Specifically, this PLA enables the city to use design-build, which allows a single entity to be responsible for both project design and construction, whereas historically, the city has completed capital construction projects by separately awarding design and construction contracts. This improved coordination allows the city to complete capital projects faster and more efficiently. Thanks to this agreement, the city intends to use design-build delivery for a $150 million greenway along the East Side Coastal Resiliency project in Lower Manhattan, a $40 million deep sewer manhole project in Brooklyn, a $240 million bridge and roadway improvement project on Belt Shore Parkway in South Brooklyn, and a $100 million waterfront dock and bulkhead reconstruction project at the Port Richmond and Rockaway Wastewater Resource Recovery Facilities in Staten Island and Queens, respectively.

The Willets Point transformation - which Mayor Adams announced in November 2022 with NYCEDC, New York City Councilmember Francisco Moya, Queens Borough President Donovan Richards, the New York City Football Club (NYCFC), and Queens Development Group - will deliver this new, resilient infrastructure, as well as the largest 100-percent affordable housing project in 40 years, over 20,000 square feet of retail space, a 250-key hotel, and the city's first soccer-specific stadium that will be privately financed by NYCFC.

Today's Willets Point PLA will facilitate the use of union labor to deliver districtwide infrastructure, including resilient sewers, new streets, and 150,000 square feet of public open space. This infrastructure is being delivered as part of the Adams administration's generational commitment to improve conditions in Willets Point and to support forthcoming development in the area.

The transformation of Willets Point is expected to generate over $6 billion in economic impact over the next 30 years. The total transformation will create over 14,000 construction jobs and over 1,500 permanent jobs, in addition to adding 2,500 affordable homes and 150,000 square feet of public space. New York City has made a significant investment in the Willets Point neighborhood under Mayor Adams' leadership, including remediating close to 200,000 tons of contaminated soil and infrastructure investments such as new streets, signage, sidewalks, curbs, trees, lights, drainage, stormwater management, water mains, hydrants, sewers, and utilities. Additionally, because Willets Point is in a flood-prone area, the city is taking a holistic approach that centers on resiliency by raising key infrastructures and buildings out of the 100-year floodplain to protect from future storms.

In December 2023, Mayor Adams and city officials broke ground on the first 880 units of affordable housing at Willets Point, expected to be completed by the end of 2026. The next batch of affordable homes to be built as part of Phase 1 are 220 units designated for low-income seniors.

Mayor Adams' vision for the transformation of Willets Point builds on core goals in his "Rebuild, Renew, Reinvent: A Blueprint for New York City's Economic Recovery" and "Housing Our Neighbors: A Blueprint for Housing and Homelessness," including leveraging neighborhood infrastructure investments to catalyze equitable community development and creating housing opportunities in neighborhoods with strong access to jobs, transit, schools, parks, and other amenities. It also builds on the administration's track record of advancing generational projects to build and reinvent neighborhoods in all five boroughs, including the Kingsbridge Armory in the Bronx, the Staten Island North Shore Action Plan, SPARC Kips Bay in Manhattan, the South Brooklyn Marine Terminal, and more.

These efforts are part of a broader Adams administration commitment to build a more inclusive economy for all New Yorkers. In September, Mayor Eric Adams and New York City Mayor's Office of Talent and Workforce Development (NYC Talent) announced nearly 8,500 job-seeking New Yorkers were connected to employment, free training, and workforce development resources over six months through the "Jobs NYC" initiative. Jobs NYC is a multi-pronged citywide effort to reduce barriers to economic opportunities and deliver workforce development services directly to communities across the five boroughs that are experiencing high unemployment. In June, the city announced significant progress on its moonshot goal to deliver 30,000 apprenticeships by 2030. First announced in the 2023 State of the City, apprenticeships create economic mobility through career pathways to good-paying jobs in a variety of sectors and industries.

"The work being done at Willets Point is a generational opportunity to transform what was once a dumping ground into a new vibrant community that is a model for public-private partnership," said NYCEDC President and CEO Andrew Kimball. "Alongside our partners at Queens Development Group II, Turner Construction, AECOM, and the Building & Construction Trades Council of Greater New York, we are showing our commitment to increasing union labor and providing New Yorkers with prevailing wages across the city. We are also working with our partners at BCTC to lay the groundwork for future PLAs for some of our biggest projects throughout the five boroughs, including at the Hunts Point Produce Market, the Kingsbridge Armory redevelopment, and SPARC Kips Bay."

"The Adams administration is using every tool at its disposal to prioritize New York City's greatest asset: its talent," said NYC Talent Executive Director Abby Jo Sigal. "The most recent PLAs increase the quality of opportunities for those currently employed in the construction industry, and through the incorporation of Community Hiring workforce and apprenticeship goals, the city is increasing equitable access for more New Yorkers looking to begin their careers in this critical sector, which will help make our city's economy more prosperous and inclusive."

"DDC's design-build pilot program is reducing the timelines for major public projects by years, and Project Labor Agreements are critical to maintaining that success and building on it in the future," said New York City Department of Design and Construction (DDC) Commissioner Thomas Foley. "Effective PLAs minimize project disruptions and they help us access a skilled and diverse workforce so we can complete culturally competent projects all over the city. We look forward to continuing the great design-build work on both our public buildings and infrastructure projects."

"DEP congratulates the Adams administration on these labor agreements which will ensure that important infrastructure improvements keep moving forward to keep New Yorkers safe, while expanding job opportunities for members of the city's underserved communities," said New York City Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) Commissioner and Chief Climate Officer Rohit T. Aggarwala. "DEP is proud of the work we've already done regarding green infrastructure installations, along with sewer and water upgrades. We look forward to continuing our partnerships as the city works to improve neighborhoods, including Willets Point in Queens, Kingsbridge in the Bronx, and Staten Island's North Shore."

"DOT is proud to support the development of Willets Point by investing in improved infrastructure for Queens residents. We thank Mayor Adams for his leadership and vision for this transformative project," said New York City Department of Transportation (DOT) Commissioner Ydanis Rodriguez. "DOT is committed to providing safe, sustainable, and efficient transportation options for Queens residents and visitors to this growing sports and entertainment destination. As part of these efforts, we are advancing the Queens Waterfront Greenway to bridge gaps in the bike and pedestrian network, and in 2023, we completed a bus priority project on Northern Boulevard, extending to 114th Street, to enhance access and connectivity for communities in and around Willets Point."

"These new Project Labor Agreements will ensure that the city continues to deliver on large construction projects more efficiently and cost-effectively, saving much-needed taxpayer dollars for constituents." said New York City Chief Business Diversity Officer Michael J. Garner. "Moreover, essential workforce development wins negotiated by the Building & Construction Trades Council of Greater New York, ongoing investments in our M/WBEs, and the incorporation of Community Hiring goals makes this a true win for everyone involved. Transformative capital projects like Willets Point will benefit from more efficient project delivery, which will ultimately add more local employment and homeownership opportunities along with other citywide economic benefits. Mayor Adams is following through on his commitment to building a more inclusive economy for all New Yorkers."

"Project Labor Agreements ensure public construction projects benefit working-class New Yorkers by establishing fair standards for workers and ensuring quality and efficiency in project execution," said New York City Office of Community Hiring Executive Director Doug Lipari. "Incorporating Community Hiring into the PLAs will increase these benefits by connecting more working New Yorkers in search of opportunity to quality career pathways in the construction industry. We are grateful to the BCTC for their partnership and look forward to our continued collaboration on future PLAs."

"New Yorkers deserve efficient and effective delivery of capital projects that improve their neighborhood infrastructure and provide neighborhood amenities, and Project Labor Agreements are a critical tool to unlock these projects at scale," said New York City Chief Delivery Officer Alison N. Landry. "Thank you to BCTC for partnering with the city to develop these modern agreements that support our capital process reform initiatives like design-build delivery. Beyond establishing consistent standards and streamlining administrative requirements, these PLAs reflect the city's commitment to reducing barriers for entry and creating good-paying jobs in the construction industry - essential for building our future, together."

"Billions of dollars in critical infrastructure projects were unlocked because of these agreements announced between the city and BCTC today," said New York City Director of Capital Projects Development Elizabeth Matamoros. "I'm proud of our efforts to develop a modern approach with these agreements and lay the groundwork for future agreements that support more flexible, efficient delivery of our city's infrastructure projects. In expanding entry points to construction workforce by incorporating Community Hiring, we're ensuring that our public projects serve all New Yorkers, from those who work on the projects to those who enjoy the end results."

"These Project Labor Agreements will enable the city to build world-class infrastructure, provide good-paying, union jobs for thousands of New Yorkers, and support M/WBEs" said Mayor's Office of Policy and Planning Policy Director Marc Heinrich. "I thank the Building & Construction Trades Council for their incredible partnership."

"Today we begin a once in a generation transformation of Queens," said New York State Assemblymember Jenifer Rajkumar. "After negotiations and community engagement that spanned three mayoral administrations, we are commencing the historic redevelopment of Willets Point, bringing housing, economic empowerment, and unprecedented vibrancy to the neighborhood. The transformation will deliver 2,500 units of affordable housing, almost 15,000 jobs with living wages and benefits, 650 public school seats, and a new soccer stadium and public space. This demonstrates the tremendous things we can achieve when all stakeholders work together to shape the future of our city."

"The historic project labor agreements announced today will guarantee fair wages and benefits for those who will be working on some of the most critically important construction projects our city has ever seen," said Queens Borough President Donovan Richards Jr. "By securing an agreement covering the transformational Willets Point redevelopment project - which includes thousands of units of affordable housing and New York City Football Club's new, all-electric stadium - we are improving the lives of tens of thousands of people by creating immense economic opportunities and by putting money in the pockets of so many hard-working Queens residents."

"As Chair of the Committee on Economic Development in the City Council, I am incredibly proud of this landmark agreement," said New York City Council Majority Leader Amanda Farias. "This victory for the Building & Construction Trades Council represents a major step forward in creating sustainable, unionized job opportunities for New Yorkers. By securing over $1 billion in Project Labor Agreements, the Council is not only advancing critical infrastructure projects but also opening pathways to the middle class through fair wages, job security, and apprenticeship programs. This agreement ensures that the benefits of New York City's growth are shared equitably, providing lasting opportunities for economic mobility and stability for working families across our city."

"These Project Labor Agreements are a significant step forward for equity, opportunity, and infrastructure in New York City," said New York City Council Majority Whip Selvena N. Brooks-Powers. "With investments that prioritize fair wages, community hiring, and pathways to union careers for underserved New Yorkers, including residents of NYCHA, this initiative embodies a commitment to creating transformative, sustainable change. I look forward to working with the administration to ensure we see the impact of these agreements in communities like Willets Point and beyond."

"From the moment we announced the plans to bring 2,500 units of affordable housing, a school, retail, and a soccer stadium to Willets Point, I knew we needed our brothers and sisters in labor to build this new neighborhood. They are the most highly trained and skilled workforce and I know they will get the job done right. We are in the midst of a once-in-a-lifetime project creating a new neighborhood at Willets Point and this historic labor agreement ensures that families can not only live here but thrive. By creating thousands of quality jobs that support hardworking New Yorkers and their loved ones," said New York City Councilmember Francisco Moya. "We're not just building homes; we're building hope, opportunity, and a stronger New York City because our city is a union town!"

"On behalf of the New York Building Congress, I want to congratulate the city and the Building & Construction Trades Council of New York on these exciting Project Labor Agreements for over $1 billion in capital projects," said Carlo A. Scissura, president and CEO, New York Building Congress. "Our city is stronger because of the hardworking people who dedicate themselves to building our skyline from the ground up, and the PLAs signed today will ensure the creation of more than 100,000 of good paying union jobs with strong benefits for workers and their families. I thank the mayor, Gary LaBarbera, and all officials who helped get us to the finish line, and I look forward to getting shovels in the ground and working together to continue revitalizing our city."

"Project Labor Agreements are a great mechanism to enable unionized building trades to capture work while offering best in class services to construction companies," said John Jovic, business manager, Heat & Front Insulators Local 12. "We all recognize that union labor is one of the leading pathways to the middle class. Additionally, we recognize that there are no other cities as great as New York when it comes to supporting union labor, and all of us in the Building Trades sincerely appreciate the collaboration and dedication it takes to make these agreements happen! Accordingly, I would personally like to thank Mayor Adams, Andrew Kimball, and all of our partners who support union labor in New York City."

"These historic Project Labor Agreements represent a significant step forward for both the workforce and the communities of New York City," said Felice Farber, executive director, Subcontractors Trade Association. "As subcontractors, we are proud to support these agreements, which will bring critical infrastructure improvements and a wealth of new opportunities to union trades. By including provisions for fair wages, benefits, and safety, as well as a commitment to minority- and women-owned businesses, these PLAs will ensure that all New Yorkers benefit from the city's growth. This is more than just building infrastructure; it's about building stronger, more equitable communities across the city."

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