From the Times Ledger:Taxpayers shelled out $100,000 to clean the exiled Triumph of Civic Virtue statue and help move it from its perch outside Borough Hall to a private cemetery in Brooklyn late last year, city contracts show.
The Department of Citywide Administrative Services banished the neglected statue to Green-Wood Cemetery in Kings County in December, justifying the move by saying private dollars would be used for upkeep.
But before the relocation, the city inked a $50,000 contract with Pennslyvania-based Kreilick Conservation to provide conservation and preservation treatment to the controversial sculpture, which included cleaning the entire piece and patching cracks with faux stone material.
The department paid another roughly $50,000 to Washington, D.C.-based Surroundart to build a custom steel cage that lifted the 17-ton artwork off its base in December, according to documents provided to TimesLedger Newspapers.
The contracts were given to TimesLedger by Queens activist and filmmaker Robert LoScalzo, who is currently suing to try and obtain communications between the city and the cemetery.
“This asset — that is no longer an asset to Queens — has been essentially privatized in Brooklyn with little to no explanation to the public and against the wishes and protests of everyone,” he said.
An indefinite loan agreement between the city and Green-Wood estimated the cemetery would pay $165,000 for transportation and $27,500 to put a protective coat on the statue. The cemetery will also build a new base for Civic Virtue, since its Borough Hall perch, including the fountain and underground plumbing, was also in need of repair, the city said. Green-Wood could not provide TimesLedger with the actual cost nor how much it would spend on long-term preservation.
LoScalzo has a hunch the taxpayers’ money could have been better spent refurbishing the statue at its former Borough Hall home, and hopes a judge will force the city’s hand to release communications between the department and Green-Wood Cemetery to find out more.
“It’s not lost on me the symbolic significance that a statue representing the triumph of civic virtue over vice and corruption is not welcome in our borough,” he said.
11 comments:
This is criminal municipal vandalism as well.
Let's look at the communications with the non-local contractors, also! No-bid, no doubt. I am SO sick of this crap!
As I explain in an update including copies of the RFP contracts, the very fast turn around (7 -8 days) between announcement and selection could potentially violate the rules of the Procurement Policy Board about general timelines. Rules elsewhere suggest there is a $ threshold for certain types of solicitations. The PPB guidelines are complex, and I'm still looking into it.
Oh, and in case you haven't been by recently, the graffiti on the tarp over the site has gotten worse. The graffiti reporting system (phone and online) is too obtuse to comprehend that the problem site is a non-building structure at an intersection.
John -
I notice that this is under $100,000 per contract. I think you said $50,000 per. The two RFP processes are different. Under $100,000 does not require public posting but only a bidder list get generated.
I hope this stops you from going down the wrong avenue and get back on the right path. PPB Section 3-08 you should be checking regarding contracts $100,000 or under.
Small purchases do not have a mandatory turn around minimum. It has to give the vendors reasonable amount of time to bid. If there was a site visit in the RFP then it is a lost cause because every vendor had a chance to evaluate the site and was given the same amount of time.
Another good report from another good queens paper. Well done.
I notice that this is under $100,000 per contract. I think you said $50,000 per. The two RFP processes are different. Under $100,000 does not require public posting but only a bidder list get generated.
I hope this stops you from going down the wrong avenue and get back on the right path. PPB Section 3-08 you should be checking regarding contracts $100,000 or under.
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Yes, it is $50,000 per contract, and I'm not expecting anything to come out of looking at PPB regulations, nor am I investing a lot of time in it. Just covering my bases. Both I and other concerned citizens are focusing on other avenues to get the truth, rest assured.
"Another good report from another good queens paper. Well done."
The work here was done by a private citizen.
YAWN!
Old news gets even older.
So what if Queens loses another piece of its history?
Get used to it, so long as the borough wide IQ of its average voter remains at 60.
Yes, citizen did work, but paper reported it, contrary to all the claims of news suppression out of fear of the machine that you hear. Good work by all.
Tempest in a teapot.... $50, 000 to try to fix that "thing" or move it? YOU do it!..... Greenwood will take nice care of it.... civic virtue is gone anyway!
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