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: