The city dumped an Astoria-based public school contractor that allegedly cheated three workers out of more than a million dollars in wages and benefits, City Comptroller Scott Stringer announced on Friday.
According to Stringer’s office, the three immigrant workers at the Astoria General Contracting Corp. repaired and installed metal rolling doors or gates, grills and fences at various public schools in New York City.
Surveillance video and security and visitors logs determined that the firm had falsified payroll records by completely omitting two of the employees and falsely reporting payment of prevailing wages and benefits to the third.
In addition to being debarred as a public school contractor, Astoria General was assessed for a violation of more than $1.1 million with interest and civil penalty, including $735,000 in unpaid prevailing wages and benefits, $191,349 in interest and $231,633 in civil penalties. The company is also banned from doing work with the city and state governments for five years.
Stringer said the three men are going to get the wages they deserve, and that this is an example of yet another contractor who learned the hard way that his office takes wage enforcement very seriously.
To date, the comptroller’s office has collected $226,000 on behalf of the workers by withholding money from Astoria General’s contracts with the city.
“My office has zero tolerance for unscrupulous contractors who attempt to cheat workers out of their rightfully owed prevailing wages and benefits,” Stringer said. “Paying workers a fair wage is not a choice; it’s the law.”
The Courier reached out to Astoria General for comment by phone, but its number was out of service.
