Two buildings on Bond St. in Brooklyn, literally across the avenue from one another. Construction on 33 Bond St. and 61 Bond St. started on virtually the same week in 2016. The union-built building at 33 was completed and open for business in 28 months, well ahead of schedule. The non-union-built hotel at 61 was 4X smaller than 33 Bond, took nearly 6 years to complete, a worker was killed, there was wage theft, criminal charges and a conviction.

​

In our first of a 3-part series, Billy the Builder interviews people from that Brooklyn neighborhood to talk about what it was like as each building was being built, and what they each bring to the area today, now that they're both finished.

​

33 Bond: "A Viable Source of Employment for People Going Forward"

One thing urbanites might not think about much is the role that the buildings in the neighborhood play in the local economy. But this thought is central to what motivates local unions to do their best work on New York's important, job-creating buildings.

Between 2017 and 2020 two new buildings were completed literally across the street from each other in downtown Brooklyn at Bond St. Both were intended to bring economic stimulation to an important business center. One was built by unions at 33 Bond, the other was built by non-union, at 61 Bond.  

In the interview above a Brooklynite union member from plumbers local 1 talks about the great value the area is enjoying thanks to the large, solid, multi-purpose, union-built building at 33 Bond St. Completed ahead of schedule and under budget, the 25-story, 714-apartment structure became a center for commerce in 2017. The street level offers tens of thousands of feet of business space, as well as office spaces in the floors above.

"All that business space was quickly filled and businesses started offering products and services to local people. Even better, they immediately started paying taxes to the city and the state," said the plumber. "Furthermore, the spot has become a hub of very positive activity here. It used to be a huge parking garage. It was the site of blight and crime. Now it's apartments, and restaurants, and stores, and businesses. And all of that benefits the local community enormously," he added.

61 Bond: "Four Years Late and Not So Great"

The Brooklyn plumber also knows about the non-union building put up at 61 Bond St - the new luxury Ace Hotel. "They started putting up that building at exactly the same time the unions started putting up 33. And even though it's something like a quarter of the size, it took non-union 4 extra years to finish that hotel."

That's because of all the Department of Building work stoppages earned by the non-union builder, the ubiquitous RNC Construction. While the Ace Hotel was under construction, RNC was in court losing a case of wage theft filed against it by its own employees. They were also dealing with the investigation of a death that occurred on the job site, as well as repeated safety violation shut downs. 

The plumber told Union-Built Matters, "Because of all those violations and work stops, the job site was quiet and was not producing for Brooklyn at all. So they finally finished it, what, four years late and not so great, in my opinion."

​

​The plumber summed up his thinking on the differences between the two buildings when he said, "Unions put up that big building quicker and better. Skilled labor isn't cheap. And cheap labor isn't skilled." Despite that idea, it's hard to believe that the developers of the Ace Hotel saved money by hiring non-union RNC to build it. As a result of that decision, the project ran years late, encountered steep legal fees, and resulted in the conviction of RNC leaders. In the end, however, it was the neighborhood that suffered the most. The best way to build is to hire unions.

​