In a deal brokered by City Councilman Jimmy Van Bramer (D-Sunnyside), Wolkoff agreed to several major givebacks in order to secure the special permit. He agreed to increase affordable units from 75 to 210 and he committed to building and staffing the building with 100 percent union workers.
“He scored variances that allowed him to build five times bigger than the zoning law allows with the promise he’d use the unions to build here,” Michael Donnelly, a council representative with the Council of Carpenters, said. “There are none, zero, union workers on this site except for the Teamsters delivering the cement. Jerry Wolkoff is not a man of his word. This is an absolute s**t show down here.”
Gary LaBarbera, the president of the Building and Construction Trades Council of Greater New York, agreed.
“We offered him a Project Labor Agreement and he didn’t want to sign it, he thought he could do better without an agreement,” LaBarbera said. “But we shook hands and he gave me his word. He committed that it would be a union job. Obviously his word means nothing.”
Wolkoff said he would never sign a PLA because it would increase the cost of the project by $30 million to $40 million.
“Look, I’ve got nothing against the unions, believe me, but it has to make sense. I have to be able to build at an affordable cost,” Wolkoff said. “I wouldn’t sign a PLA that would let them tell me who to hire and who to fire. In this game you’ve got a few chiefs and a lot of Indians when it comes to the unions. Say you’ve got a job for 40 workers and they’ll bring eight supervisors just to watch them. It gets silly and remember, I’ve got to build all those extra affordable units.”
Van Bramer is attempting to bring Wolkoff and LaBarbera together.
Well that's nice. Why not go to court and shut the project down since he's blatantly violating the agreement passed by the city council? Or does the council only go to court to support malls on parkland? I'd like to point out that this very move was predicted 2 1/2 years ago.
Hey labor unions, perhaps you may want to invest your dough in someone other than Jimmy.
34 comments:
"Hey labor unions, perhaps you may want to invest your dough in someone other than Jimmy."
They won't.
I once asked a union leader why unions always endorse the candidate that will inevitably screw them over, his reply, "Unions like to be on the side of the winner"
What bullshit...
Councilman Jimmy....his claim to fame in being a staunch supporter of labor and unions....is just another phony, overly ambitious politician, who will suck up to any campaign contributions he can score. Jimmy took $10,500 from the Wolkoff family, then voted to approve this variance in the city council. The shady councilman would not even recuse himself from voting. I suggest a thorough investigation. Beware! Jimmy intends to run for the speaker's seat, a step before his lust to become mayor. Nip this crook in the bud. Do we need to elect another train wreck to pollute our city with more corruption?
Remember that this is a slum lord who admitted in the press that he had an dangerous exterior staircase on the demolished "5 Pointz" building. One of the artists in his illegal, unsafe "studio spaces" was on the staircase when it collapsed and suffered critical injuries, from which she eventually died. And note that her case was never settled because his lawyers kept postponing the court hearing, aided by a judge who kept agreeing to them, and who should be ashamed and maybe investigated. When the staircase collapsed, the Buildings Dept. came, found the illegally created artist spaces and issued a Vacate Order. The illegal divisions were made without following building safety codes. In other words, this is a slumlord who appears to be unconcerned about who is injured or dies by his actions or inaction. Why shouldn't unions be concerned about this building project? Without union workers who know what is allowed or forbidden, there will probably be no safety for the workers, and Heaven knows what safety code violations may be built into the structures... in a mega-project abutting the #7 line. So why did Councilman Jimmy go to bat for this low-life slumlord? Was it for a lousy $10.5 grand? Is his price THAT cheap to sell out his disrrict?
P.S.
I attended the city council hearing , which Mark Weprin chaired concerning the approval of Wolkoff's variance request. I asked Van Bramer to recuse himself from voting. His face turned a bright purple red!
He voted yes afterwards.
Remember that this is the creep who whitewashed "5 Pointz" and now has the brass balls to call the project "5 Pointz." I hope he goes belly-up broke on it.
So...it looks like there are no samples of the concrete poured that were tested to see if the footings are viable and safe for the future? That site is a swampy location. Check the topographical maps, Jimmy! All we need is a building collapse, twenty years later, that crushes #7 riders. Van Bramer and Wolkoff are asshole buddies when it comes to shady dealings together.
Only $10,500 in a payoff to vote yes ?
Jimmy is a two dollar whore who would bend over backwards for ANYONE who pays for his political advancement. What is Wolkoff promising Jimmy in his run for speaker of the council?
Jimmy boy should be calling for a stop work order not kissing Wolkoff's ass by brokering a compromise.
There you have it, one crook stroking the other!
Dump Van Bramer! Call for a DOI investigation of him. He is far more guilty than the arrogant shady developer who bought him.
He is the one who is supposed to be protecting his district. JVB is only interested in protecting his interests and will sell out any shred of integrity that he might posess for $$$$$$$$$$$$$$$ to fill his future mayoral campaign war chest.
Wake up Sunnyside! Wake up LIC!
Parr for the course! Wolkoff's former Pilgrim State Hospital project , on Long Island, was mired in corruption and union betrayals.
Why should he be exhibiting a different MO here? This is the kind of worm that NYC, through Van Bramer and affiliates , desires to partner up with and trust? NYC city council needs a good enema! The FBI would provide a few fo flush it clean!
And Mark Weprin
smiled and just sat there at that council hearing, and let Jimmy vote without a conscience.
That goes to show you the "integrity" of the council. Most are bought and paid for by REBNY!
Who is your local Real Estate Board of New York stooge?
Hello Paul Vallone!
This is ALL Van Bramer's fault!
Wolkoff is just your run of the mill shady, screwing developer following his natural instincts, like a snake does.
Van Bramer's job is to protect us from such snakes. Fughettaboutit! This boy is in it for himself. You voters are just his stepping stone!
Mayor Van Bramer! Now there is a chilling thought! Beware! This could happen. Then you will really know how it feels to get shafted.
No Vaseline will be provided!
Yeah, Van Bramer, bring 'em together.
A manage a trois would be nice. LOL!
How scary is the new lineup who belive that they have an entitled shot at the mayorality, which up until a scary, depraved sociopath like de Blasio infected City Hall SO COMPLETELY with corruption, that I didn't think it could ever be worse than what exists right now?!?
But, surprise! Enter Jimmy van Bramer (more like 'van Brainless'), followed by another political embarrassment and pipsqueak of zero accomplishment, Eric Ulrich (a displaced, outnumbered Republican 'wanna be' who hails from the slums of Ozone Park---ironically the same ghetto that he was supposed to finally clean up the endless slop that was left over by two former, worthless, machine-party hacks, and city council 'emperors-without-clothes' sellouts, namely Addabbo, Jr., and Stabile), when Ulrich proved how he can't even tackle the rampant graffiti program that he was in charge of banishing, way back in 2009!
But, wait! It actually gets worse! Don't be surprised if former mayoral candidate (and 'sexting predator') Anthony Weiner shows up for another shot at City Hall (although, truth be told, Weiner actually has qualifications that the other two greedy, arrogant misfits could only dream about!), as 'Mr. Entertainment' has just released a documentary film about his perils and 'cyber adventures' from 2011, and the film is simply and appropriately entitled, 'Weiner.' (I parted with $15, and saw the movie on May 31st, and it's really a case of 'Deja Vu all over again.')
In the end, I would rather have a hopefully reformed, 'Big Swinging Dick' like Weiner swaying about the corridors of City Hall (who at least carries some heft!), than what passess for leadership there right now (or hedging future bets on the other two abysmal aberrations considering a run, both of whom brazenly think that their openly practiced graft, greed and corruption have gone unnoticed by their ignored constituencies, and worse, that their incompetence and inexperience are a prelude to more of the same deceit without consequence---only to be practiced more brazenly at the highest levels of failed political service.
We've already been there, done that with the public fool, liar and thief who presently occupies a cold seat at City Hall---Bill de Blasio (where impeachment is already long overdue, for too many transgressions to name in this post)!
If union workers will accept the same wages as undocumented workers brought to America by the democratic party then they should be hired first,JMO.
I'm putting in a call to Preet Baharra's office regarding Van Bramer taking , what amounts to, a bribe to approve a shady developer's project.
There's a story circulating that this job is tied to "the mob" through its owner. Why, his money comes from his wife's connection to a Las Vegas casino owner who was purported to be "connected"! This is the tip of a huge iceberg of very deep "connections"!
Joe Conley, of CB 2 got out just in time. Let Van Bramer take the heat.
THERE IS NOBODY MORE RESPONSIBLE FOR THIS SHIT THAN SHIT EATING VAN BRAMER!
As long as the idiot Queens' voters keep on electing pro real estate candidates, their neighborhoods will be under fire for over development, Which nabe is next? The answer lies in who has the most ignorant voters who believe in phony campaign promises.
Uh...Broadway-Flushing is already being reamed good by Don Paulo Vallone! Go on and re-elect this chitrool and see his mob real estate buddies, like Joey "d'or" cluster fuck you good and hard!
Jimmy isn't Jimmy Van "brainless". He's as smart as a fox. It's you voters that are the brainless ones.
The part about union "featherbedding" supervisors might have a shred of truth in it.
Is Wolkoff using documented citizens for workers' Maybe a call to ICE should be made.
I wonder what Stephanie Winston Wolkoff (of the Harry Winston jewelers family) thinks about what her hubby David Wolkoff, son of Jerry, thinks about her father in law.
Hey , Jimmy, are your big elephant ears burning reading this stuff? Happy July 4th, you traitorous piglet!
Affordable housing. Union workers.
You can only pick one.
The Democratic party has nothing to do with a landlord scumbag who has no regard for safety or the value of human life. Wolkoff's history is one of a habitual slumlord who was rewarded by the REBNY owned city council with a variance brokered by that crooked ambitious Van Bramer! Stick to the issue, you ignorant ranter.
Jimmy Van BJ...gives a go-a-head to anyone who pays for his elections and re-elections.
The queen of Queens' corruption if he gets the speaker's seat in the council.
PULL WOLKOFF'S ZONING VARIANCE!
ISSUE AN IMMEDIATE STOP WIRK ORDER!
WOLKOFF HAS THE BALLS TO EVEN TRY FOR AN AROUND THE CLOCK PERMIT TO WORK DURING THE JULY 4th NATIONAL HOLIDAY. THIS SON OF A BITCH, ALONG WITH THE SOAWN OF A SLUG, VAN BRAMER , DESERVE TO BE HANGED BY THEIR ANKLES FROM FREEDOM TOWER AS A TOURIST ATTRACTION!
Puhleeeeese! "Affordable housing" is just a sham.
Jerry Wolkoff...Bernie Madoff...two iconic dirt bags!
Put "big" Jerry Wolkoff in a jail cell where he really belongs for flaunting public safety laws and causing the death of that artist, Nicole, who fell from his building when a poorly maintained exterior staircase suddenly collapsed beneath her...hurling her about fouty feet to the concrete sidewalk below.
Rest in peace , dear Nicole.
Squirm in Hell, Jerry Wolkoff!
While the former 5 Pointz site was being demolished by Wolkoff, there were several complaints from #7 riders of their eyes and throats being affected by some irritants. Nothing was done. The 7 train carries thousands of passengers per hour past a toxic site. Jimmy Van Bramer cares ONLY about becoming the first openly gay mayor of NYC some day. So he became a bend over bitch for Wolkoff.
Where is OSHA?
Are the human being workers, union or otherwise, properly protected?
Wolkoff stiffed Metro Demolition Company for money owed them. They stopped working until they were finally paid.
Wolkoff is a two bit egocentric "developer" who has a history of building on the cheap.
He is a pipsqueak among giants.
I see that a few Van Bramer-Wolkoff trolls are spending a few holiday weekend minutes posting their master's propaganda while Wolkoff is baking his buns on some Bahamian beach sipping a nice cool Planter's Punch. And where is Van Bramer...cooling of his buns somewhere exotic?
Of course, calling DOB is useless. They have already been paid off by Wolkoff!
Poor little befuddled doofus of a son David, is left at home playing flack hack for his daddy developer.
Imagine David winding up in jail for big daddy's law breaking?
Happy Independence Day, America!
Let's celebrate by grabbing Van Bramer , slathering him with tar and a coating of feathers and carrying him out of Sunnyside on a rail!
LOL! Of course I'm not serious. No threat intended, you law enforcement visitors to this website.
"Yankee Doodle went to town riding on a pony, stuck a feather up Van Bramer's butt and calked it Macaroni"!
CB 2 should be calling for an immediate stop work order.
Year...LOL....right! They've been bought and paid for too!
What kind of a retirement account has Joe Conely?
Call DOI!
Neither Van Bramer nor CB 2 are doing their jobs. Why?
One can only speculate as to the reason. It is up to the courts to unravel the rampant corruption here!
CB 2 who hold their meetings in the quieter Sunnyside, have pushed mega development far from their precious nabe into overcrowded LIC.
Not in their backyards. Van Bramer can crawl back home, after fucking his constituents, into his bucholi historic district rat hole in Sunnyside Gardens. "Screw the rest of you!", screams Jimmy. "I've got mine, and will get more!"
Van Homo has a hardon to become mayor. Notging will stop him.
He is REBNY's butt boy!
LOL! Let's move the Stonewall Inn to the Wolkoff site and plant lavender around it.
Then Jimmy will be ecstatic. "Isn't this the best?", as Jimmy usually says.
"Somewhere over the rainbow, way up high". Did somebody say "hi?" Somebody's smokin' some good stuff.
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