The Daily Dirt: Laborers ramp up campaign against demolition contractor

For the past two years, the laborers’ union has campaigned against a demolition contractor.

Local 79 began targeting Alba in February 2022 with a protest at Terminal Warehouse. The union accused the company of failing to provide health care to workers and targeting those who spoke out against management. The union hoped to pressure the developer’s parent company — which manages the pension funds for the laborers and other construction unions — to fire Alba from the job.

It did not work.

However, Alba was one of 26 companies indicted last year in a wide-ranging construction kickback scheme. Alba received $2.8 million in inflated contracts and change orders at 250 Fifth Avenue and 189 Bowery, the indictment alleges. The subcontractor is now on the Department of Housing Preservation and Development’s disqualified list, meaning that it failed to provide wage information to the agency as required by Local Law 44. Companies on that list are ineligible to be on HPD’s prequalified subcontractor lists.

Now the union is planning a rally Thursday outside of Rockrose’s headquarters to call on the developer to fire Alba at its redevelopment of the St. Francis College building. Rockrose plans 745 rental units for the site. Manhattan Borough President Mark Levine is supporting the union’s effort.

“We’re demanding Rockrose sever ties with Alba immediately and only hire responsible demolition contractors,” Oona Adams, director of organizing at Local 79, said in a statement. “Workers and communities deserve much better than the harm Alba causes.”

The developer declined to comment. A message to the owner of Alba was not returned.

It is important to note that Alba is a nonunion contractor and the laborers are trying to get more work for union members. These types of rallies are not unusual, and frankly, neither is it unusual for construction companies accused of wrongdoing to continue to get work.

But I think it is important to track which companies are called out, what they are called out for and the trajectory of these fights. Previous campaigns by the laborers union have resulted in legislation.

What we’re thinking about: Is New Jersey a threat to New York’s dominance in East Coast TV and film production? Send a note to kathryn@therealdeal.com.

A thing we’ve learned: Real estate attorney Sherwin Belkin says he first met Scott Stringer when the former comptroller was 10 years old. Belkin was a camp counselor at a summer camp in Narrowsburg, New York, and they were holding a mock election of Richard Nixon versus George McGovern. Stringer wrote in a relative, activist Bella Abzug (who was elected to Congress later that year). “He was a mover and shaker since he was 10 years old,” Belkin said. The attorney thinks Stringer is “very bright” but acknowledged that he is probably not the real estate industry’s favorite candidate.

Elsewhere in New York…

— The city has shut down more than 750 illegal cannabis stores, Gothamist reports. In May, officials estimated that 2,900 unlicensed cannabis stores were operating throughout the city. TRD detailed how property owners are navigating this landscape and the new authority granted by the state to evict illegal shops.

— Gov. Kathy Hochul on Tuesday announced that the state would distribute $350 million in direct financial assistance as part of the child tax credit program, Spectrum News reports. Eligible families will receive up to $330 per child.

— Mayor Eric Adams again defended Timothy Pearson, a friend and advisor to the mayor, after a fourth lawsuit accused the former NYPD sergeant of sexual misconduct and retaliation, Politico New York reports. Adams said he would not boot Pearson from working with the administration. “People have a tendency when accusations are made to say: You know what, the pressure is hot, you need to just get rid of a person,” Adams said at a press conference. “I just don’t operate that way. I believe in a system of due process.”

Closing Time

Residential: The priciest residential sale Wednesday was $64 million for a 6,300-square-foot condominium unit at Aman New York in the Crown Building, 730 Fifth Avenue in Midtown. 

Commercial: The largest commercial sale of the day was $1 million for a four-family property with a storefront at 127-02 135th Avenue in South Ozone Park.

New to the Market: The highest price for a residential property hitting the market was $8.6 million for a 2,865-square-foot condominium at 150 West 56th Street in the Theater District. Danny Yoon of Prominent Properties | Sotheby’s International Realty has the listing. — Matthew Elo

Correction: An earlier version of this article misstated the location of the rally.