Spotlight on Region 2
From college campuses to commercial distribution centers,
the construction market in New York’s lower Hudson Valley—Westchester, Rockland, Orange, Putnam, Sullivan, Ulster, and Dutchess Counties, and home to Local 5 New York, continues to generate substantial hours for BAC members. Local 5 members are enjoying good employment, and the forecast for work over the next two years is excellent, according to Local 5 President Andy Gallante, “Local 5 has a long history of masonry excellence,” says Gallante.
College dignitaries dedicated the Martha Rivers and E. Bronson Ingram Library addition, and the renovated Frederick Ferris Thompson Memorial and Helen D. Lockwood Libraries on May 4. Members working for BAC signatory contractor Sucato Builders Inc. of Dutchess County performed the masonry work at Vassar, including the brick and limestone library addition pictured above. The $20 million renovation and new construction projects were designed by Hardy Holzman Pfeiffer Associates (HHPA). HHPA’s award-winning designs can be seen on more than 60 campuses, encompassing three million square feet of library space.
 |
| Vassar College has embarked on major upgrades to its Poughkeepsie campus. Recently completed projects include major renovations of two libraries, a new addition to a third, and a brand new athletic center. |
Supplying Gap, Inc. and the company’s Old Navy clothing stores with goods across the entire Northeastern United States is a tall order. That’s why Gap Inc. turned to Local 5 members employed by VeeJay Cement of
St. Louis, Missouri and Mason Builders
of Orange County (NY) to build its new 1.5 million square foot facility in Fishkill, New York. Located 60 miles north of New York City, the new $165 million center sits on 200 acres. Local 5 members are performing both tilt-up work and block masonry
at the sprawling facility.
Schools are another good source of work for Local 5 members. High school students in Beacon, New York will be attending a state-of-the-art school next year, thanks to a crew of Local 5 members working for Sucato Builders. The one and a half-year project features split-face block with accenting quoins to
complement the structure’s modern design.
 |
| Local 5 Apprentice Chris Sklenar cleans up some of the
beautiful brickwork at Beacon High School. |
 |
 |
| Local 5 bricklayers Louis Mickle (right) and John Bonelli position a template at Beacon High School. |
Local 5 bricklayer and cement mason Larry Fallatik lays split-face block at Beacon High School. |
BAC Local 5 Business Manager Joe DiRenzo says school, transportation, and other non-residential projects are creating work opportunities for members, and also helping to make life better for residents of South Jersey.
School construction projects continue to generate hours in the growing suburban school districts of southern New Jersey. The Springville Elementary School in Mt. Laurel is just one example of the quality school buildings rising thanks to BAC members. “Our children need good solid buildings to learn in, and we’re pleased that masonry is the preferred material, and our members the preferred craftworkers for these projects,” says Business Manager Joe DiRenzo.
 |
 |
| Donald Souders III, above, joints block work at Springville Elementary. |
Local 5 NJ bricklayer Ellis Wakefield safely operates a wet saw for the Art Anderson, Inc. crew at Springville Elementary. Local 5 New Jersey is currently working with the IU and the Center to Protect Workers Rights to identify ways to best protect its members from exposure to dangerous levels of silica dust. |
Jersey Transit is converting an existing 34-mile freight rail line into the first shared-track diesel light rail system in the United States. BAC members of Local 5 New Jersey and Local 1 Pennsylvania/ Delaware, working for D.M. Sabia Inc. on the project, are doing their part to give commuters a cleaner and faster way to get to work. Currently BAC crews are building one of the projects stations in Camden. “Work on the new transit system should provide significant work opportunities for our members, and provide a catalyst for economic development in the region,” says DiRenzo.
The new light rail system will run through a mix of historic and new, urban and suburban, residential, and commercial/industrial corridors. The alignment has 55 grade crossings, 20 station stops and 23 rail bridges, and traverses the middle of a dozen small towns and sensitive wetlands areas. When completed, the transit system will run the length of the historic Delaware River waterfront between the cities of Camden and New Jersey State capital Trenton.
Bechtel Infrastructure Corporation in partnership with Daimler-Chrysler Transportation Systems, Inc. formed the Southern New Jersey Rail Group, LLC which was selected to design, build, operate, and maintain the project.
 |
Local 5 NJ member John Martynick touches up some block work at an LRT station in Camden. |
Southern New Jersey’s construction economy is also benefiting from private-sector projects including work on resort casinos in Atlantic City and on industrial and office parks across the region. The Executive Quarters project in Bridgewater is just one example.
 |
 |
| Local 5 NJ members Jane Connelly and Peter Grech joint new brickwork at the Executive Quarters project in Bridgewater. |
Local 5 New Jersey Business Manager Joseph DiRenzo was honored at the New Jersey Alliance for Action’s annual awards banquet in Cherry Hill on April 18. DiRenzo, who recently retired as President of South Jersey’s United Building Trades Council, was honored for his 31 years of
service. He continues to serve as the principal officer of Local 5.
Founded in 1974 to lead the state out of recession, the Alliance for Action draws from the Garden State’s labor, business, government, and professional communities to bolster economic competitiveness and improve the quality of life for State residents. The Alliance selected DiRenzo for his tireless commitment to the working people of New Jersey through his leadership of Local 5, and the United Building Trades Council.
 |
New Jersey Alliance for Action Chair George Laufenberg, right, presents a plaque to Local 5 NJ Business Manager Joseph DiRenzo. |
|