Essex Crossing Site 2; view from the intersection of Delancey and Essex streets. Credit: Handel Architects.
Crain’s posted a story overnight that touts the use of union labor in Essex Crossing, once the large residential and commercial complex on the former Seward Park urban renewal site is finished. Here’s how the piece leads off:
The developers of Essex Crossing, the massive mixed-use project planned for the Lower East Side, have agreed to staff the complex entirely with union workers, the firms announced Wednesday. BFC Partners, L+M Development Partners and Taconic Investment Partners have inked an agreement with powerful building workers’ union 32BJ SEIU for up to 80 jobs that will eventually be part of the 1,000-unit development. The first phase of the project, where half the units will be affordable, is set to begin this summer. The partnership will also help fund a training program designed to equip area residents with the know-how to apply for many of the posts being
Earlier today, the developers of the big Essex Crossing project announced an agreement with the building workers’ union, 32BJ SEIU, to hire its members for up to 80 positions in the new mixed use complex alongside the Williamsburg Bridge. Part of the deal includes a job training program through the Lower East Side Employment Network.
But the network, a partnership among seven neighborhood non-profit organizations and Community Board 3, has a larger role in local hiring at Essex Crossing. Michael Zisser, a founding member of the LES Employment Network, tells us all parties will have signed a Memorandum of Understanding today or tomorrow to make the arrangement official.