From left: Seth Pinksy, EDC president, Richard Anderson, president New York Building Congress

One of the city’s most influential coalitions of construction-related firms, the New York Building Congress, is questioning its own estimates of residential construction and spending that formed part of figures cited last week by the president of the city’s Economic Development Corporation, Seth Pinsky, after The Real Deal inquired about the statistics. Building Congress statistics released Oct. 21 estimated total residential construction would fall to 6,300 units in 2009 from 31,911 units in 2008, and total spending value would decline to $3.5 billion in 2009 from $6.3 billion in 2008. The group’s figures are considered among the most dependable in the industry for the difficult work of estimating construction activity in the city, and its report was covered by the New York Times, Crain’s and other publications. Pinsky spoke at the meeting, referencing the Building Congress report showing an overall decline in construction spending of 20 percent in 2009 compared with the prior year. But the residential figures may be off. The Real Deal” class=”read-more-link”>[more]