BTEA New York’s 2022 Transformative Projects Awards Ceremony Recap 

Held on November 22 at the Ziegfeld Ballroom, BTEA New York’s Transformative Projects Awards Ceremony gathered the building trades industry, celebrating five Transformative Projects and the Leaders building them:

• The New LaGuardia Airport Terminal B, with Skanska executives Sean Szatkowski, Senior Vice President, Account Manager; Mike Attardo, Senior Vice President – Operations; John Dolan, Vice President, Project Executive; and Nick Vitucci, Project Executive

• Jacob K. Javits Convention Center Expansion, with Steven Sommer, Executive General, Manager & President New York Construction, Lendlease; and Patrick Murray, Vice President, Construction Executive, Turner Construction Company

•  MTA 42nd Street Expansion Project, with MTA executives Janno Lieber, Chairman & CEO; Jamie Torres-Springer, President of Construction & Development; and Matthew Zettwoch, Vice President, Construction & Development

• One Vanderbilt, with Edward V. Piccinich, Chief Operating Officer, SL Green Realty Corp; and Robert Blackman, Executive Vice President, AECOM Tishman

• Moynihan Train Hall, with SKANSKA honorees Justin Post, Senior Vice President; and Ed Pucciarelli, Project Executive.

Also celebrated were three special Transformative Leader awardees, Christopher Erikson, Business Manager, Local Union No. 3; Christine Boccia, Co-Chair of BTEA New York’s MWBE Committee and President of JD Traditional Industries; and Mike Hellstrom, President and Eastern Regional Manager, LIUNA.

Special guest speakers included NYC Mayor Eric Adams, PANYNJ Executive Director Rick Cotton and Kathryn A. Garcia, Director of State Operations for the state of New York.

BTEA New York President & CEO Advocates for Membership and Unionized Construction in The Real Deal and Real Estate Business Online 

As reported in The Real Deal, New York has the country's most ambitious MWBE hiring goals and reached a record-high 30.6 percent utilization rate in fiscal year 2022.

However, fraud has caused many of these contracts to be awarded to bad actors that are not actually MWBEs. Coletti, advocating for BTEA’s MWBE membership, said, “I think the whole system needs to be looked at. We need to get real about what the problems are.”

Coletti also wrote a Real Estate Business Online op-ed, advocating that with the $100M in upcoming infrastructure funding for New York, the “construction industry has a key role to play in rebuilding our physical and social infrastructure. This time, however, it’s imperative that we prioritize equity, not only within individual projects but also within the industry at large.”

BTEA New York Executive Vice President Testifies to Advocate for Member 

BTEA New York’s Executive Vice President Donald Ranshte recently testified at an NYC Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) hearing, advocating for a rule variance requested by BTEA New York member Interior Decorator Contractors Association, Inc. (IDCA).

Ranshte testified that the contractors at IDCA are “thoughtful in ways that most people will never see” and supported their variance request to leave their trucks running, which would reduce noise and pollution. 

BTEA New York Officer Honored with Lifeline Achievement Award for Charitable Work and Impact

Maureen Henegan, Chairman & CEO of Henegan Construction and BTEA New York’s Secretary, was honored with a Lifeline Achievement Award during the Real Estate and Construction Industry’s 35th Annual Lifeline Awards Event on December 1.

The Covenant House provides comfort and safety to young people facing homelessness and trafficking. Hennegan was honored for “furthering the mission of Covenant House in so many ways: as a front-lines volunteer, a personal donor, a Covenant House NY Board member, a Sleep-Out veteran, and a Construction Industry leader in fundraising efforts.“