AirTrain Executives Defend Minority Subcontractor Efforts

Yvonne Reddick, district manager of Community Board 12 in Jamaica, while acknowledging AirTrain executives are obligated to award subcontracts to firms qualified to do the work, insisted it should mount a much stronger drive to engage minority firms. "This is the largest job ever done in our community," she said, "and minorities should get more of the work. From what Ive seen, they can do better. They should try harder."
Reddick was especially concerned about the lack of subcontracts to very small minority businesses. "Im thinking about Joe Blow, the little guy," she said. "They should give out more little jobs to the little guys."
Gregory Murphy, AirTrain community relations and marketing manager, said AirTrain executives combed the Jamaica area for qualified women and minority companies to subcontract for the $2 billion rail project that expects to put John F. Kennedy International Airport 36 minutes from midtown Manhattan.
"Its not true that we havent tried to get subcontracts to minority businesses," he said. For various reasonsinadequate or insufficient experience for the contracts under considerationhe said many of them did not meet the requirements for the work. "We do concrete and steel construction, piles and evacuation," Murphy said. "People in the neighborhood dont do piles and concrete. Not many companies out here do that."
However, Murphy said more subcontracts will be awarded, citing the upcoming construction of the Jamaica station. "Theres still work out there," he said. "Were right in the middle of the project, and we have the Jamaica station to build. They can still get jobs."
Murphy said AirTrain representatives spent $50,000 in outreach efforts to minority subcontractors. These included job fairs and working closely with the Regional Alliance for Small Contractors, the Association of Minority Contractors and the National Association for Minority Contractors. He said the $88.2 million in contracts thus far amounted to the largest total the Port Authority has awarded to minority and womens businesses.
In AirTrains first phase, $83.7 million, or 8.6 percent, of the $968 million went to women and minority businesses. For the Jamaica station, $4.5 million, or 5 percent, of the $90 million awarded went to these companies.
The Port Authority, the agency in charge of AirTrain, seeks 17 percent participation of minority and women-owned businesses in its projects.
Steven Schultz, business director for the AirRail Transit Consortium (ARTC), charged with overall construction, said the highly specialized nature of the design and construction of the 8.4-mile AirTrain guideway system, as well as the union agreement, were significant factors in the awarding of subcontracts to local businesses.
"The AirTrain system is unique and very proprietary," he said. "Only five or six firms in the world design them." He said "one third of the contract value is still in the air."
The AirTrain as an automated vehicle and control system that runs mostly above ground on a precast guideway. The concept and specifications involved considerable specialized architectural and electrical work for the elevated rail system that includes 10 steel-and-glass stations, with elevators and escalators and a great deal of electrical components. He said comparable rail systems, because of their design specifications, had requirements more compatible with the capabilities of local businesses in terms of subcontract work.
Shultz said that as a member of the General Contractors Assoc. of New York, ARTC agreed to run a "strictly union shop." However, he said, ARTC has attended meetings between local officials and union representatives to find ways to engage non-union businesses. ARTC, knowing it was going to need help in reaching minority and womens businesses, engaged the Assoc. of Minority Enterprises of New York and a consultant. There are twice-a-month meetings with the Port Authority to reach out to minority firms.
Schultz noted that a large share of the $2 billion total project tab is for design and for the 32 vehicles that Bombardier Construction of Montreal will build for AirTrain.
Minority firms that were awarded subcontracts included Total Electric, Maspeth, principal electrician, with $10 million in contracts; Suren Corp., Ozone Park, with $6 million for air conditioning systems; Sirina Fire Protection Corp., Garden City Park, with $1 million; the New England Construction Co., Garden City, for interior furnishings; Ovan Construction, Elmhurst, up to $2 million for trucking; and Cherry Office Supply, Richmond Hill, $1 million in office furnishings. Aurora Electric Inc., a Jamaica business run by a woman, reportedly earned $1.5 million in total contract work.
Schultz and Murphy uniformly praised the quality of the minority and womens subcontractors work, with Schultz noting that ARTC makes an effort to continue the services of these firms. "Weve rolled successful companies into our work," Schultz said. "Most of our electrical subs are minorities."
The Skanska contractors and consultants were awarded the bulk of the $1.5 billion for the train and elevated track. The Perini Corp., a Westchester construction company, was awarded most of the $316 million contract for the AirTrain terminal at Jamaica Station, the principal Long Island Rail Road station in Queens.