The city has secured two major labor agreements with the Building & Construction Trades Council that will cover more than $1 billion in capital projects, including infrastructure improvements in Willets Point, Mayor Eric Adams announced at City Hall on Thursday morning.
The Project Labor Agreements (PLAs) enable the city to establish fair wages, benefits, and safety [protections for workers and provide opportunities for workforce development while controlling construction costs and ensuring the timely completion of projects.
“We are taking a giant step forward on ensuring that we are going to continue to build in this city,” Adams said. “Drive by Willets Point. If you drive past Willets Point, you will see how far we’ve come from the days of seeing a blighted community where there were just no roads and just repair shops and salvage shops.”
The development of the old Iron Triangle across from Citi Field is rising rapidly. It will include 2,500 units of affordable housing, a 650-seat elementary school, a 250-room hotel, retail space, roughly 40,000 square feet of public open space, and the newly named Etihad Park, an all-electric soccer stadium that will be home to the New York City Football Club.
“These agreements support fair wages and put working-class New Yorkers first, and they use our city’s purchasing power to connect underserved New Yorkers to quality union careers and apprenticeship opportunities through community hiring,” Adams said. “The jobs created and wages paid for these projects will stay right here in New York City.”
Specifically, the Willets Point PLA will facilitate the use of union labor to deliver district-wide infrastructure, including resilient sewers, new streets, and 150,000 square feet of public open space. Queens Borough President Donovan Richards called the Willets Point redevelopment project “historic in every sense of the word” and said that it would change thousands of lives for Queens residents.
“The historic project labor agreements announced today will guarantee fair wages and benefits for those who will be working on some of the most critically important construction projects our city has ever seen,” Richards said. “By securing an agreement covering the transformational Willets Point redevelopment project – which includes thousands of units of affordable housing and New York City Football Club’s new, all-electric stadium – we are improving the lives of tens of thousands of people by creating immense economic opportunities and by putting money in the pockets of so many hard-working Queens residents.”
Council Member Francisco Moya noted that the project is the largest 100% affordable housing development New York City has seen in 40 years.
“From the moment we announced the plans to bring 2,500 units of affordable housing, a school, retail, and a soccer stadium to Willets Point, I knew we needed our brothers and sisters in labor to build this new neighborhood,” Moya said. “We are in the midst of a once-in-a-lifetime project creating a new neighborhood at Willets Point, and this historic labor agreement ensures that families can not only live here but also thrive. By creating thousands of quality jobs that support hardworking New Yorkers and their loved ones. We’re not just building homes; we’re building hope, opportunity, and a stronger New York City because our city is a union town.”
The transformation of Willets Point is expected to generate over $6 billion in economic impact over the next 30 years. The total transformation will create over 14,000 construction jobs and over 1,500 permanent jobs.
The PLAs announced on Thursday will allow $800 million in planned infrastructure projects across the city to be completed using design-build delivery. In this innovative method, the design and construction are under a single contract. These projects range from improvements to critical below-grade infrastructure to roadway and waterfront reconstruction and new greenway projects—all projects with complex site conditions that will benefit from site investigations and constructability input from contractors during the design development.
“Transformational development and green infrastructure upgrades will reinvigorate our communities and bring much-needed stability and economic stimulus to all New Yorkers, but the full scope of benefits from these capital projects can only be unlocked through project labor agreements that will guarantee thousands of good-paying union careers for workers from surrounding neighborhoods,” Building & Construction Trades Council of Greater New York President Gary LaBarbera said. “We look forward to working with the NYCEDC further so that our members may take advantage of these opportunities and play a role in completing these upcoming projects that will modernize and improve our city for generations to come.”
