Good Old Lower East Side

City Council Hearing Section 3 &Prevailing Wage by Edward Garcia

May 15, 2001

Good morning Chairman Spigner, chairperson Freed, and city council members. I?’d like to thank all of you for allowing me to speak here today. My name is Edward Garcia. I have lived in Vladeck Tenant Association. I have held this position for just about a month, due to the untimely passing of our great past President, Ruth Winds. Before being President, I was the Vice-President of the Vladeck Tenant Association for about 4 years. But, like I said, I?’ve been a resident of Vladeck Houses all my life. You just heard from my friends Low Colletti and Ed Molloy about some of the problems with NYCHA. While you?’ve now heard how NYCHA gives contracts to inefficient and irresponsible contractors, I?’d like to show you how these acts by NYCHA amounts to pain, heartache, and a continued lack of jobs, for my friends, my neighbors, the good people of Vladeck Houses.
My first real contact with NYCHA was in 1996. A town hall meeting was called with NYCHA, contractors and tenants of Vladeck Houses attending. At that meeting, the tenants of Vladeck Houses were told about the beginning of construction work on Vladeck Houses. The work to be done would be refurbishing kitchens and bathrooms inside our apartments, construction of new roofs, new tiling in the hallways, and painting of all doors inside the buildings. We were told approximately how long each phase would take and what work would be done in each phase. Phase I was supposed to take a year. It took 2 and a half years. Phase II was supposed to be done by May, 2001. That deadline will definitely not be met. What does this mean? It means that I?’ve had to hear my fellow tenants tell me they go out for dinner because their kitchens are still unusable. I?’ve had to listen to my fellow tenants complain about how bad the continued construction is on their asthma, and their children?’s asthma. I wish I could take these problems away, but they?’re still here because NYCHA hired ineffective contractors.
The first contractor we had went into default, as they were completely unable to get the job done on time. However, they got the contract back and took over the job under a new name. Then, their subcontractor went into default. As I said, this work has gone on longer that it was supposed to, and even when completed, the work has been substandard. As we speak, the maintenance workers of Vladeck Houses are constantly going into our apartments to fix the kitchens and bathrooms that were supposed to be done right the first time in Phase I. Not only that, but when this contractor fixed the roof of Vladeck Houses it caused water damage to numerous residents, destroying couches, clothing and personal items that can never be replaced. We were hoping that the work in Phase II would be better, but to no avail. Where once there were around 70 workers on the job, now there are only about 35, making the May 2001 completion date for Phase II just a dream. I?’m not here to tell you who NYCHA should have hired to get the job done right, but I will tell you that the contractors that were hired have been not meeting the timetables set and not done the job right. And, as I will now point out, these contractors and NYCHA showed no desire to employ the residents of Vladeck House on these jobs. As I will show, these are residents who wanted to work, tried to get jobs from the contractors, as mandated by Section 3, and were turned away.
At this meeting, tenants were encouraged to fill out applications to work for the approved contractors, as Section 3 employees. On that day, roughly 80 people filled out applications to work on Phase I. The winning contractor ended up hiring only 6 of those people. None of these Vladeck Houses residents were put into apprenticeship programs or received any training. They were hired only as security guards, laborers and general cleaning. Of those 6 hired, none were hired to work on Phase II. For Phase II, we once again tried to get our residents Section 3 jobs with the contractors. This time we had 132 residents apply and only 12-15 got jobs. Again, none of these people were put into apprenticeship or training programs where they could learn skills that would help them get other, good jobs in the future. No. Instead, they were again given jobs as security guards, laborers and general cleaners. Only 4 still have jobs on this contract today. So, to recap,
Roughly 200 of my fellow residents tries to get jobs, through Section 3, on the work that is now being done on Vladeck Houses. Roughly 20 were hired, and as the work still continues, only 4 are still working on Phase II. That?’s 4 residents...total. There are roughly 1,900 units in Vladeck Houses and only 4 residents are currently employed to help make it a quality place for all of us to live...four.
Actually, in 1996, money was put forward to give residents of Vladeck Houses training in bricklaying, carpentry, plumbing, electrical work, and other construction skills. Only six people were included in the program, four of them graduated, and three still have quality jobs doing construction work. Vladeck Houses residents need these types of program. Why there was only enough money for six people, I couldn?’t tell you. But, I can tell you that because of this type of program three of my fellow residents have a chance to constantly get good paying, reliable jobs. These are the types of jobs that we are constantly seeking and are constantly being turned away from.
Besides not getting jobs through Section 3 when we do apply, NYCHA and these contractors do nothing to advertise about Section 3 job opportunities. There are no posters telling us how to apply for section 3 jobs. Our management office has applications for Section 3 jobs, but you would never know that be walking into the office. So, how do residents find out about applying for Section 3 jobs? Well, in one of two ways. One, if they?’re lucky enough, they?’ll see me walking around where I can personally hand them an application. Two, they might be fortunate enough to hear though the grapevine about these applications. I can tell you that NYCHA and these contractors do nothing to advertise the fact that Section 3 jobs are out there for them, which, as I've stated, might not actually be the case considering how few of us they hire.
As part of the executive board of our tenants association, we tried to get NYCHA involved. We called NYCHA, to ask why our repairs were taking so much longer than anticipated. Our calls were not returned. We called NYCHA to ask why the work being done had to be redone by our maintenance workers. Our calls were not returned. We called NYCHA to ask why our residents, wanting and willing to work on their homes, were not given jobs. Our calls were not returned. NYCHA, at no time showed any interest in what was going on at Vladeck Houses. They handed off the contract and forgot about us.
I wish I had the distinct pleasure of being a city council member like you today. That way, I could finally force NYCHA to answer the questions they would never answer for us. I hope that today, or in the future, you?’ll ask NYCHA a couple of question for me. Ask NYCHA if they are really being accountable to the residents of Vladeck Houses. Ask NYCHA why no one in Vladeck Houses knows how to apply for Section 3 jobs. Most importantly, please ask NYCHA why, when the contractors will receive $35 million to do the three phases of work on Vladeck Houses, only 4 residents are currently working for those contractors. NYCHA, as history shows, will not answer these questions to my face. I pray you have better luck than I. I only ask for what is fair?—for NYCHA to hire contractors that are responsible and accountable for their work. I ask that NYCHA actually pays more than lip service to the mandate of Section 3, and make sure that these contractors hire our residents to work on our homes. I ask that the money be put forward to support training programs, that have been shown to be effective in the past, for more than just six people. I ask for what I shouldn?’t have to ask for: I ask for NYCHA to finally show a dedication to those people for which NYCHA was created...us. My experience with NYCHA could fill a book. I know that Councilwoman Lopez has some proposed legislation to strengthen Section 3. I can say that the only approach to Section 3 has failed and look forward for the opportunity to speak on Councilwoman Lopez?’s proposals at any time in the future. I thank all of you for your time.