One of the two bidders for the reconstruction of East River Park has initiated a lawsuit against the Department of Design and Construction (DDC), DDC Commissioner Jamie Torres Springer, Comptroller Scott Stringer and IPC Resiliency Partners (IPC), according to the latest report from advocacy group East River Park Action.
Tully Construction Co. Inc. filed the suit on April 26. (The lawsuit was amended last Monday.)
Per the group's email from yesterday:
Tully, the higher bidder, alleges the DDC did not follow its own protocols when they accepted the lower bid from IPC. The City has agreed to not award the contract until after the hearing date, which is currently May 27. The City also agreed not to register the contract for the ESCR until 30 days after the hearing date.
The lawsuit claims that IPC, a newly formed joint venture, did not meet the Special Experience Requirements listed in the Project's Bid Booklet. Tully is seeking a judgment that the project should be awarded to them.
As East River Park Action previously noted, the bids from both Tully and IPC exceeded the city's estimate.
And...
If Tully wins the judgment and DDC awards the Project to Tully at the higher bid of $1,335,473,290, then the costs of the ESCR project will exceed the City Engineer’s estimates by $136,907,910.$1.45 billion is allocated for this project. There is currently no additional funding from the city, state or federal government to complete the project.
Meanwhile, the construction start date, once set to begin in the spring of 2020, is looking like the fall now. The continued delays are casting more doubts on the project's viability, per East River Park Action.
Find more background on the project here.
Previously on EV Grieve:
29 comments:
Tear down the FDR drive instead of the East River Park.
"Tear down the FDR drive instead of the East River Park."
That's ridiculous. This type of statement, like the similar "defund the police", feeds right into the REBNY/construction union/CC/BdB support for this current CF of a plan. Watch as they swarm on this thread to respond to that post. Again, there was a community based plan that was thrown away for this plan. The details of that plan can be easily found by accessing the various links that the EV Grieve has posted in his many threads on this issue. Sigh.
No way this project should be moving forward.
"Tear down the FDR drive instead of the East River Park." Such a nasty & negative comment, and it's always the SAME comment & it's always from the SAME commenter (who sounds like a broken record).
I presume this commenter is a close friend of Grieve's, given that his insolent & obnoxious negativity always gets "cleared" for posting here, and he can't be criticized! Or else Grieve must also believe the FDR Drive should be torn down. No other choices make sense.
Have never met Choresh, though he always signs his name. In 14 years of doing this site, my views don’t always line up with those of commenters.
"IPC, a newly formed joint venture,"
So the winning bidder has never done a project before?
Nasty and negative??? a tiny amount of area residents use the FDR Drive (20% of area residents own vehicles and look around you: these are not moved much) but everybody suffers from the air pollution a and noise pollution. Asthma rates of people living next to the FDR Drive are amongst the highest in the city.
This is not an essential road: it is a Passenger Car only road. You can't move goods on it, Public Transportation cannot use it. It serves people who bypass this neighborhood on their way somewhere else leaving damage behind them.
And Anon 9:41AM, it's OK, you can use your actual name to express your opinions.
I do look forward to meeting Grieve one day and express my appreciation and gratitude for all that his doing voluntarily for this community.
@10:04am: Hey, it's your site, so just restrict it to people who use their name if you want. Will cut down on all the comments you have to read, that's for sure.
You say your views don't always line up with those of commenters, but many of us are aware how often you ignore or fail to show any comment that's in any way critical of Wald.
Wald seems to have a special status: he always makes the same comment, and it always gets published!
Anony 9.41 AM-your post.
That being said do you support the current plan? I have made it perfectly clear that I support the prior community based plan. What say you?
If I was Grieve, I wouldn't bother responding to the demands of pugnacious posters.
New York mag has a nice article this week on the ERP fracas. And the, um, interesting personalities involved.
"So the winning bidder has never done a project before?"
Correct. A non-existing company. BTW, follow
@kirstentheodos on Twitter as I do. Here is a recent Tweet of hers re the Park:
"@CarlinaRivera Is this acceptable to you that the City is accepting bids from companies that do not exist? #SaveEastRiverPark"
I totally agree with Choresh. Why should we let our neighborhood be the drive-through zone for commuters? We already have the Con Ed plant spewing god knows what. Some people (car drivers, I suppose) act as if a highway is hallowed ground. It's not. Cities limit traffic all the time (most much better than NYC). The world is fast changing climate-wise, and prioritizing the most polluting transportation to tear down a thousand trees and all nature in a park-poor area, strikes me as a terrible idea. Here's an idea- get your car out our lives.
Facts, not fiction Mr. Wald - https://www.silive.com/news/2019/06/new-rule-on-fdr-drive-looks-to-speed-up-express-bus-commutes.html
The issue is inconveniencing the FDR drive or destroying the air quality of the neighborhood. We can argue the pros and cons of degriding the FDR but that's not what is being discussed. Temporary and night time closures versus a much higher risk of childhood asthma, especially in the NYCHA buildings next to the park and highway, and the elimination of the largest local green space for, let's face it, as much as a generation.
Yeah, it’s kind of strange that a perfectly good plan of a wall along/under the FDR, because it might close a lane for a year, turned instead to “let’s rip up the entire East River park.” One can only hope they revert back with all of the pressure the community is putting on them.
An article from 2019 about buses downtown further South than the East River Park? That is a sad attempt at deflection. Projects like this should be done with much bolder and broader thinking.
You do not have to agree with Choresh but the only way ideas become reality is by talking about them. Is it realistic that the elected officials of New York State or City would come up with bold plans to make the City more environmentally friendly and less auto reliant? Clearly it is not - they are "saving" a park by literally destroying it.
If this was about flood protection and it was urgent they would have made some interim protection. Sandy was nearly a decade ago. The City and commentators will blame everyone else but the people that actually run things for the failure to do almost anything over this time. Oh they filed a lawsuit so any problems are their fault for filing a lawsuit. Ten years to even get to the starting line with a terribly flawed plan and then we supposed to believe they will knock this out in 4.
"Yeah, it’s kind of strange that a perfectly good plan of a wall along/under the FDR, because it might close a lane for a year, turned instead to “let’s rip up the entire East River park.” One can only hope they revert back with all of the pressure the community is putting on them."
Yes, that is exactly what the community approved plan called for. Not the total wiping out of the FDR drive which is fool's errand/defection of the real issue and will never be approved. The only way to stop this current horror show of a plan is by legal action which makes contributing to the legal fund of the East River Park Action group so important. See link.
https://charity.gofundme.com/o/en/campaign/lets-save-east-river-park1?
Car owner here... one that moves the car a few days a week because using it is 100% tied to my income.
The FDR is incredibly essential. it connects all east side bridges and tunnels into manhattan and is the only way to get uptown many times when avenues are backed up.
I also hate it, especially recently with how dangerous it gets at night with drunk drives racing down it 100 miles an hour. There are cars being used all over the city though... are you against Taxis, Medical Ambulettes, Uber, Delivery trucks that provide all essential items we have come to depend on? All of those things use the FDR and all put out pollution. If its a problem start wearing your mask full time or consider moving. As much as people think they live in some kind of Utopia where cars dont exist, they do, and we may not like it, but its a part of every major city and critical to many
Gonna weigh in here as someone who does federal contracts for a living, although none close to this. I have lost before to those who have never done a project before or a project remotely similar. it sucks, and there was nothing i could do about except swoop in and charge more to fix the mess they left.
Some of us have cars and rely on them to make an income for work where no public transit exists and we need to haul gear... not to joy ride or cruise between burbs and boros.
I get and respect the need for a better environment and I certainly take public transit whenever possible as I certainly would never have a car unless I had too. But all those deliveries, all the workers who get off late or start work early with questionable service... heck all the people who are elderly and disabled and cant jump on a bike or walk 10 steps let alone 10 blocks to get what they need. All of these things mean cars do and will continue to exist just like the FDR.
I’m all for taxis, ubers, utility and delivery vehicles (but again: no Box Trucks allowed on the FDR drive). Access-A-Ride absolutely. It is true that the car is essential for YOU. And it is true that YOU are moving your car around the neighborhood. But that’s not the vast majority of the people who park their cars for free in the neighborhood And if cars were only used for essential purposes we wouldn’t have this conversation. The problem is that it is free for all and very affordable to own a car in this city because parking is free and it will take years if and when Congestion Pricing will be implemented. And despite anything that’s being typed here: the FDR drive is killing us all a little bit more every day.
@car owners
If you use your car for your business and you can't handle intermittent disruption and lane closures on the FDR then your business is imaginary. The FDR is one of many, many traffic arteries and traffic expands and contracts with available routes (see: Seoul for one example). That you can't stand the thought of the slightest disruption to your vehicle oriented life without considering the air quality and green space for everyone who lives here says a lot about an entitled mindset.
A poster here advocates removing the FDR. That's a different discussion. It's inconveniencing the FDR that you are all so adamantly against. None of the examples listed above, whether true or just blog talk, would be curtailed by even occasional overnight closings of multiple lanes. You'd adapt.
Go back to the original plan- a wall along the FDR. This will save the park, and only minimally inconvenience FDR drivers (one lane shut down) on weekends and evenings. This plan will also save the city hundreds of millions of dollars.
Be on the look-out for the next egregious development plan. The City Council is voting tomorrow on whether to develop Governor's Island. No space is safe from the greedy developers of this city and their enablers.
For anyone interested in the original topic of the post, this is a link to the only hit for IPC Resiliency Partners in a Google search; it includes the names of the "consortium" members: https://www.cisleads.com/company/details/424126
I can't believe we're arguing over FDR vs. East River Park, especially under an article about how an imaginary company is bidding on this *enormous* project that will heavily impact ALL of us for who knows how long (probably our lifetimes, knowing this city). It says something about our priorities and civic engagement that this project has gotten this far frankly, with all its stinky connections, bogus community relations, and complete disregard for the health and well being of the entire lower East Side, especially after a pandemic! I mean, the city doesn't even bother to try to explain to us why the plan was switched at the last minute. And it's already delayed, which doesn't bode well for how long actual construction is going to take. The construction just south at pier 42 is apparently delayed too, so forget having an interim park as mitigation during construction! And where is the Avenue C bikelane to mitigate the loss of the bike path along the river? Delayed! Interim flood protection? None! Air monitoring? Who knows?
City Council voted this morning in favor of development. Score another one for developers. Get out there this summer and enjoy the sky while you can. So disappointing.
Yes. Sorry to say this but Carlina Rivera needs to go. I haven’t decided who I will go for but it won’t be her this time. I am disappointed in so many of her decisions where votes have an impact. There’s no need for upzoning on governor’s island. We need to preserve what precious little open skies and parkland are left for us.
IPC Resiliency Partners is a JV made up of three contracting firms. Together they have been in business for over 50 years and have done billions of dollars worth of construction.
Post a Comment