Challenge: A large construction company sought our aid after a debarment was filed against them through the New York State Department of Labor. They came to Gotham in an effort to have this debarment lifted so that they may resume business.

Solution: Gotham took on an advocacy role in hopes of effectively proposing the State Agency to change their ruling.

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Result: By working with New York State elected officials who represented the client’s district as well as appropriate committee members, our team was able to determine the reasoning for debarment. Ultimately, the barring was lifted and the State Agency is continuing to negotiate a settlement.

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Challenge: A large general contractor, building a 100 million dollar plus project on West 46th Street between 8th and 9th Avenues in NYC was seeking a partial sidewalk closure.  The NYC Department of Building (DOB) and NYC Department of Transportation (DOT) were involved.  The DOB made a determination about a specific piece of construction equipment that would impact the use of the sidewalk for pedestrians.  The DOT made a determination about what precautions and modifications would take place regarding the sidewalk itself.  The local Community Board has an opinion and both issues and were affecting approval with both NYC agencies.  This was affecting our client’s ability to meet deadlines with the owner and sub-contractors.

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Solution: Gotham embarked on a grassroots campaign with the Community Board, local business owners and local NYC Council members.  Further, we worked with key personnel at the NYC DOB and DOT to come to a compromise with each agency which would satisfy the Community Board and local business owners, while gaining approval from the DOB and DOT as requested.

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Result: Gotham secured permits from the DOB for use of the requested crane and secured approval from the DOT for a partial sidewalk closure, a proposed mid-block crosswalk, and use of a flagman during work hours.   This had not been done before other than at 6 ½ Avenue, and that was a City project.  The results were secured expeditiously, therefore not impacting our client, the large general contractor and the owner.

Challenge: A developer came to us and was changing General Contractors on a large scale downtown construction site where two SWO’s had been imposed, 1 by the Department of Buildings and 1 by the Department of Transportation.  The situation had gone so far as the DOB was ordering backfill of the site and imposing thousands of dollars in fines per day.

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Solution: Gotham engaged with the DOT and DOB, as well as the local Community Board in order to work out an agreement that would be in the best interests of all parties and alleviating community impact.

Result: Gotham worked out an agreement with the DOB wherein the Developer and new GC were permitted to submit plans for rectifying SWO issues at the site, proceed to dewater the site instead of backfilling, secured permission to proceed and had the SWO rescinded.  Additionally, Gotham worked out an agreement with the DOT to allow for the proper sidewalk closure, permissions to cross the sidewalk with required equipment, and remove the current SWO.  Lastly, Gotham engaged with the local Community Board and gained their support of the Developer and new GC’s plans to rectify issues at the site and move forward with the project.  The results of Gotham’s efforts saved our client approximately $750k dollars in costs and fines.