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Anti-government rhetoric? In New York State, construction projects have been notoriously delayed and gone over budget ever since the days of Boss Tweed, which h

Anti-government rhetoric? In New York State, construction projects have been notoriously delayed and gone over budget ever since the days of Boss Tweed, which historians have generally linked to corruption and graft.

nonethewiser 4y ago
Careful, you’re getting dangerously close to domestic terrorism rhetoric.
- lr4444lr 4y ago
  Don't be extreme: that only happens if you talk sharply at a school district board meeting out of concern for your child.
kneebonian 4y ago
At least with major projects this is 100% the case. Had a buddy involved in a state legislature said one of the reasons there is so much road work and construction going on all the time is because it is one of the easiest ways to disguise corruption and embezzlement. As an example in a 5 year project for a new overpass you can have literally 1000s of different contractors involved in the work and it becomes very difficult to notice and prove that Joe's Cement company never showed up to pour the liminal substrate pylons like they were paid $10k to do.
- buildsjets 4y ago
  My favorite New York "Joe's Cement" story is that when they were expanding Islip airport, a mob-owned cement company that was giving kickbacks to the local county government poured the ramp pad WAY under the specified thickness using unreinforced concrete, so of course the first Southwest plane to arrive damaged it. Don't hire a mob-owned cement company, you say? Tough noogies, In NY, at least at that time, they were all mob-owned. https://www.aviationpros.com/home/news/10393303/southwests-concrete-apron-at-islip-must-be-removed https://www.aviationpros.com/home/news/10393303/southwests-c... https://www.airliners.net/forum/viewtopic.php?t=401393 https://www.airliners.net/forum/viewtopic.php?t=401393 https://www.nytimes.com/1994/09/23/nyregion/mob-allegation-clouds-new-york-concrete-deal.html https://www.nytimes.com/1994/09/23/nyregion/mob-allegation-c... https://www.gothamcenter.org/blog/material-politics-of-new-york-from-the-mafias-concrete-club-to-isis https://www.gothamcenter.org/blog/material-politics-of-new-y...

nonethewiser 4y ago

Careful, you’re getting dangerously close to domestic terrorism rhetoric.

lr4444lr 4y ago
Don't be extreme: that only happens if you talk sharply at a school district board meeting out of concern for your child.

kneebonian 4y ago

At least with major projects this is 100% the case. Had a buddy involved in a state legislature said one of the reasons there is so much road work and construction going on all the time is because it is one of the easiest ways to disguise corruption and embezzlement. As an example in a 5 year project for a new overpass you can have literally 1000s of different contractors involved in the work and it becomes very difficult to notice and prove that Joe's Cement company never showed up to pour the liminal substrate pylons like they were paid $10k to do.

buildsjets 4y ago
My favorite New York "Joe's Cement" story is that when they were expanding Islip airport, a mob-owned cement company that was giving kickbacks to the local county government poured the ramp pad WAY under the specified thickness using unreinforced concrete, so of course the first Southwest plane to arrive damaged it. Don't hire a mob-owned cement company, you say? Tough noogies, In NY, at least at that time, they were all mob-owned. https://www.aviationpros.com/home/news/10393303/southwests-concrete-apron-at-islip-must-be-removed https://www.aviationpros.com/home/news/10393303/southwests-c... https://www.airliners.net/forum/viewtopic.php?t=401393 https://www.airliners.net/forum/viewtopic.php?t=401393 https://www.nytimes.com/1994/09/23/nyregion/mob-allegation-clouds-new-york-concrete-deal.html https://www.nytimes.com/1994/09/23/nyregion/mob-allegation-c... https://www.gothamcenter.org/blog/material-politics-of-new-york-from-the-mafias-concrete-club-to-isis https://www.gothamcenter.org/blog/material-politics-of-new-y...