Capital Process Reform Task Force, Convened by Mayor Adams in April, Recommends Nine-Point State Legislative Package to Overhaul City’s Capital Process
30 Internal Reforms Will Also Transform Planning, Initiation, and Delivery of Capital Projects
New York City Mayor Eric Adams today announced a comprehensive set of reforms that, together, will cut years off the city’s capital project delivery process and save New York City taxpayers tens of millions of dollars every year. The Capital Process Reform Task Force, formed by Mayor Adams in April and led by First Deputy Mayor Lorraine Grillo, is comprised of a group of leaders representing the construction industry, labor, and Minority- and Women-Owned Business Enterprises (M/WBEs) and tasked with undertaking a top-down review of the city’s capital process and recommending reforms, from project initiation to closeout. The task force was managed by the Mayor’s Office of Policy and Planning and supported by multiple city agencies that initiate and manage capital projects, as well as the Comptroller’s Office and agencies that oversee the procurement and contractual elements of capital construction. The task force released a set of 17 initial recommendations in October and released, today, a year-end report with an additional 22 recommendations. Taken together, these 39 recommendations will cut years off the process for delivering public works, helping to save valuable taxpayer dollars in the process.
“There is a covenant between government and the people of our city: New Yorkers pay taxes, and they expect that we deliver for them. For far too long, we have betrayed taxpayers when it comes to building public infrastructure,” said Mayor Adams. “Now is the time to overhaul the slow and expensive process we go through to build public facilities so we can ‘Get Stuff Done’ for all New Yorkers — reconstructing streets, repairing bridges, bringing water to people’s homes, creating parks and libraries, and more. I am proud that our administration is advancing these recommendations today and look forward to advocating for needed changes at the state level in the upcoming session in Albany.”
The task force will champion a nine-part state legislative package to modernize the procurement process, mitigate insurance barriers faced by M/WBEs, increase the city’s opportunities to grow M/WBE capacity, and give the city access to procurement and project delivery tools that were successful during the COVID-19 emergency and that other public entities can already use. The package also includes a once-in-a-generation change to the structure of the New York City Department of Design and Construction (DDC), the city’s construction agency. Specifically, the legislation would establish DDC as a public authority, similar to other large public construction entities in New York state. As a public authority, DDC will have reduced administrative burdens, streamlined procurement processes, and access to faster, cheaper, and more varied modes of project delivery critical to addressing the resiliency and sustainability challenges of our aging infrastructure.
The task force also scrutinized the city’s internal processes, and the reforms outlined in the report will improve scoping and planning, cut down project initiation time, remove redundant reviews from procurement, increase M/WBE participation, manage projects more effectively, cut down on change orders, standardize and streamline invoicing and payment, improve the delivery of projects for libraries and cultural institutions, and support implementation of a citywide capital project tracker mandated by Local Law 37 of 2020.
The task force will continue its work in 2023, focusing on recommending additional reforms and executing a strategic plan to ensure passage of the nine-part state legislative package.
“I have devoted my career to bringing New Yorkers the best public assets possible, but the existing capital process has not made it easy,” said First Deputy Mayor Grillo. “The task force’s 39 recommendations represent a real reform agenda, backed by the experts in the industry, and I am confident that the support of these leaders with different vantage points will translate into achieving real change.”
“These recommendations represent a full year of digging into the best policies and practices from leaders across the design and construction industry,” said Deputy Mayor for Operations Meera Joshi. “I am excited to work with our partners in Albany to get New York City the necessary tools to build quality, on-budget, and innovative projects to benefit all New Yorkers.”
“New York City has led in the past with bold, public infrastructure investments during uncertain times, and we must do so again,” said Comptroller Brad Lander. “Our ability to deliver on-time and on-budget capital projects will be critical for an inclusive economic recovery, for public health, safety, and mobility, and especially for a resilient future in the face of climate change. I am thankful to Mayor Adams and Deputy Mayor Grillo for making capital projects reform a real priority and for doing so in the spirit of collaboration. I look forward to continuing to work with you and with the state Legislature to deliver on these reforms. New York City’s infrastructure is the foundation for our shared thriving, and it will take all hands to build the future of our city efficiently and effectively.”
“As DDC takes on more and more responsibility, including billions of dollars in urgent coastal resiliency and green infrastructure programs, the task force’s recommendation to create a streamlined design and construction authority couldn’t come at a better time. A new design and construction authority will save precious time and money and restore New Yorkers’ faith in ‘Getting Stuff Done,’” said DDC Commissioner Thomas Foley. “Emergency events, like our incredible COVID response, have allowed our talented team to throw out the old rulebook and do things innovatively, while still protecting public funds and reaching record levels of M/WBE participation. We can continue to find ways to improve the current system, but ultimately it would be a lost opportunity not to pass legislation that will fast-track so many urgent infrastructure priorities and close the book on an outdated contracting system that hasn’t served the city well for decades.”
“Taxpayers are not served well by the labyrinth that is the city’s capital process,” said Mayor's Office of Policy and Planning Director Sherif Soliman. “Cracking the code for a well-functioning process to deliver public assets was the charge of this talented group of experts, and they delivered. The recommendations they advanced will chart a course for high-quality capital project delivery, and I am grateful for the expertise and time they have lent to the reform effort.”
“With a streamlined capital process, we will be able to provide New Yorkers access to safe green spaces faster and more efficiently,” said New York City Department of Parks and Recreation (NYC Parks) Commissioner Sue Donoghue. “We’re excited to implement these recommendations and are grateful to this administration, our colleagues, and the experts on the task force for their work on this important issue.”
“The capital projects undertaken by local government represent our resilience, our creativity, the future physical environment of our city, and, most importantly, the future well-being of our people. But for far too long, we have allowed the build-up of well-intentioned regulations, policies, and processes without taking a holistic account of their collective impact on the city’s ability to deliver capital projects effectively,” said Chief Procurement Officer and Mayor’s Office of Contract Services (MOCS) Director Lisa M. Flores. “Under the tremendous leadership of First Deputy Mayor Grillo, this task force has lent its significant expertise and effort to developing a thoughtful list of recommendations to reform this process, and I am excited to work with the group we’ve brought together to make them a reality.”
The Capital Process Reform Task Force members are:
- Richard Browne, managing partner, Sterling Project Development Group
- Michael A. Capasso, CEO and president, C.A.C. Industries, Inc.
- Ali Chaudhry, senior vice president and chief of development and government relations, AECOM
- Louis Coletti, president and CEO, Building Trades Employers’ Association
- Raquel Diaz, public sector area manager, Gilbane Building Company
- Reverend Jacques Andre DeGraff, chair, MBE Leadership Summit
- John T. Evers, president and CEO, American Council of Engineering Companies of New York
- Alaina Gilligo, head of strategic partnerships, Gilbane Building Company
- Shari C. Hyman, vice president for public affairs, Turner Construction Company
- Gary LaBarbera, president, Building and Construction Trades Council of Greater New York
- Sam Padilla, president, Padilla Construction Services, Inc.
- Taylor Palmer, government relations manager, American Council of Engineering Companies of New York
- Nayan Parikh, president, New York Tri-State Chapter of National Association of Minority Contractors
- Benjamin Prosky, executive director, American Institute of Architects New York Chapter and The Center for Architecture
- Arthur Rubinstein, president, Skyline Steel Corp., and chair, Subcontractors Trade Association Legislative Committee
- Gus Sanoulis, vice president of construction, Con Edison
- Dan Sawh, owner and president, Haydan Consultants Inc.
- Dan Symon, associate partner, Gartner, and former director, MOCS
- Robert G. Wessels, executive director, The General Contractors Association of New York
EDITOR'S NOTE:
This proposal worries us as it appears that Mayor Adams is placing the future of New York City Construction in the hands of those who do the building, and leaves little if any safeguards for communities where this construction will take place.
Most recently C.A.C. Industries who are working on an over one hundred million dollar DDC/DEP/Parks Department new 48inch Water Tunnel across Pelham Parkway in the Bronx had to mill and repave blocks of streets where C.A.C. Industries had laid the wrong asphalt on the roadway.
A Pelham Parkway Task force made up of residents, Bronx Community Board 11 members, the CB 11 District Manager, the consultant for the contractor was disbanded after residents of the Task Force discovered problems in the way the DDC, the Parks Department, and the contractor C.A.C. Industries were not following prescribed NYC protocol.
C.A.C. Industries also rebuilt the south side of the Pelham Parkway roadbed several years ago which now has to be redone.
C.A.C. Industries rebuilt the North side of the Pelham Parkway roadbed in 2022, and also were the company that placed a 36 inch gas line right through the newly rebuilt Pelham Parkway roadbed months after it was completed at Bronxwood Avenue. Construction equipment was left out in the open unprotected for the Gas line construction. There is also a six foot area where both sides of the main roadbed of Pelham Parkway were cut open to place the new gas line running from the city line at Mount Vernon to Hunt' Point, and no notice to the affected community board at it's District Service Cabinet meetings to give information to the community that was affected. Both sides of the Pelham Parkway main roadbed where the construction for the new gas line occured have sunk several inches down below the roadway causing an uneven roadbed.
This is only one project where there are other problems in the construction done unchecked by C.A.C. Industries.
