School Rules

The construction industry is experiencing an overall deteriorationin quality of work, with master builders dying out and more people working without proper educational and safety training. That's whatVincent Battista says, whom we caught up with recently at theInstitute of Design and Construction's Brooklyn campus, which he leads as president. New York has been developing so fast over the past two years that equipment has gone from site to site withoutsequential inspections, and workers find themselves in dangerous situations without the skills to get through them. Although the City has responded with new training and safety initiatives, many were implemented after unfortunate events.
“When there's a boom, a worker's mentality has been, ‘Why should I go to school?'” Vincent says. In turn, he's been trying to impress upon the industry that education is an investment for all workers, and they only need to attend relevant training and classes. Foremployers, it's a small amount of money, but the payback in the end is greater because workers are smarter and safer. If you listen closely, the Moses statue in the school lobby is saying, “Let your people go!”

Continue reading this story with a free account

Log in or register
Sign up for more articles like this
Subscribe to Bisnow's New York Newsletters
Related Stories

Federal Government To Sell Nearly 31K SF In Five Points: The Denver Deal Sheet

Avison Young Had Assets Frozen By Bank Over Unpaid Taxes

Artificial Intelligence Companies Reshaping Dublin Office Demand As OpenAI Confirms HQ

Mars Factory Overhaul Stalls As Candymaker's Chicago Expansion Accelerates

Camden Property Trust Sells West Coast Portfolio, Clears $1.5B Target

How Long Island Projects Can Cut Through Red Tape And Community Opposition To Cross The Finish Line

Empire State Building Observation Deck Hemorrhaging Visitors, Value

Cortland, Pulte, INVH, Walker & Dunlop Execs Talk Changing Demographics, AI

America's War Machine Is Growing, Sparking A Defense Real Estate Boom

Boca Raton's New Leaders Throwing 'All Kinds Of Curveballs' At Developers

Slate, Hudson Cos. Picked To Develop Massive Queens Housing Project

BXP's 343 Madison Lands $1.2B Loan, Nears Deal With Equity Partner