Construction firm with alleged mob ties worked on Bronx affordable housing project

CWC Contracting, the firm federal prosecutors allege is a front for the mob, didn’t just work on the luxury High Line condo project the XI. The company also worked on a project at the other end of the real estate spectrum: an affordable housing development in the Bronx.

CWC helped complete Creston Apartments, an 11-story, 114-unit affordable housing project in Mount Hope, according to The City. Schur Management was the developer on the project, and MacQuesten Companies was the general contractor. CWC was hired as a carpentry subcontractor.

The project was originally supposed to open in the summer of 2017 but because of construction delays didn’t actually open until last March. It was hit with 41 code violations during the construction process and has since had issues with elevator maintenance.

“I love the building, but I just feel it’s false pretenses,” resident Jessica Liriano told The City. “They’re going to make you think you’re in a nice luxury place, but once you make the commitment to rent, you’re stuck here. They disregard our voices because they’re not going to do anything about it.”

John Simonlacaj

At the XI, federal prosecutors have alleged that HFZ Capital Group managing director John Simonlacaj let the Gambino crime family take hundreds of thousands of dollars from the development through CWC Contracting.

It wasn’t clear from a December indictment whether the Creston apartments were also subject to illegal activity on part of the subcontractor. But according to federal prosecutors, there were two developers in addition to HFZ that were victim to the scheme.

CWC has worked on a number of major developments in New York. [The City]  — Eddie Small

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