CEMENT SCANDAL WIDENS
  102 SKYSCRAPERS IN PERIL
FREEDOM TOWER DOOMED?
In a bewildering response to widespread corruption in the cement and building trades, the responsibility for future integrity has been vested in the Department of Buildings in NYC. An agency frequently in the headlines for bribery and inspector payoffs. As the scandal deepens and concerns about the safety of recently built, subways and skyscrapers continues the governmental response seems mostly aimed at PR efforts. With Mayor Bloomberg facing re-election this year the appearance of public trust has been offered instead of effective change.
  Analysis shows corrupt practices throughout USA.

Knowledgeable sources have long considered the cement trade and its supporting industries to be rife with corrupt practices and shady companies. Aided by a revolving door between the major public agencies and their suppliers and contractors the system of checks and balances has apparently failed. Inspectors are allowed to work for both the contractors and the agencies that police their work resulting in conflicts of interest that encourage corruption. The Manhattan District Attorney has convened a Grand Jury to begin issuing indictments. Widespread arrests are imminent.
Architects and developers have always been attentive to the way the system works and have been specifying cement strengths well in excess of their true needs so as to be assured of cement of adequate strength.  The vast sums of money that can be made by delivering a product that is 33% weaker fuels both criminal enterprises and political ambitions. Veterans of public agencies acknowledge the nexus of political appointees, campaign contributions, criminal enterprises, flawed RFP processes and other systemic corruption that enables criminal behavior.
Other major public works projects have suffered a similar fate in the breakdown of quality assurance. The multiple billion dollar plus projects also effected by the Manhattan DA's probe include; South Ferry Terminal and the Second Ave. subway line. With 100's of new skyscrapers and other city projects already completed, fears are being raised that many new buildings may have been built with weak cement..
The issues raised by the acknowledgment of 66% strength cement are huge and complicated. Should all work on the World Trade Center site be stopped until every cement delivery can be verified? Will the work already accomplished be torn down or will the political machine declare that 66% of high quality is the new gold standard for excellence? Will anyone lease space in a 1776 foot tall skyscraper that was built of inferior materials?

SEPTEMBER 9, 2009
The implications of under-strength cement endangers at least 102 new skyscrapers, subway projects and the Freedom Tower itself. In a confused and inadequate response, government leaders have tested only 60 of the structures in question, placed responsibility for future testing under a Buildings Department known for lax supervision and have downplayed the reality of weak cement. When information has been released it has taken the form of reassurances that even bad cement is good enough. No one should be suprised if the fervor of Mayor Bloomberg's campaign season yields the conclusion that the new gold standard for poured cement is 66% of the specified strength. The Port Authority without benefit of proof has declared that they are satisfied with the weakened cement and that it poses no safety risk to the public. The investigation continues as search warrants have been excecuted against major cement suppliers and their records seized. But in the curiousity cabinet that is New York's construction trade, companies that have been banned from doing business with the city have sued and have been reinstated to continue doing the work for which they were indicted. Adding to the atmosphere of anything-goes in the building trades, this week Building Inspectors were arrested for taking bribes and dealing drugs. No word has been heard from the architecture establishment, top developers,and contractors whose work may collapse from the weakened foundations and structural work.
INVESTIGATION WIDENS FOLLOW RASHBAUM AT THE NY TIMES
GO TO THE ORIGINAL SOURCE: WILLIAM K. RASHBAUM NEW YORK TIMES
ARRESTED FOR TAKING BRIBES. GO TO THE ORIGINAL SOURCE NY POST
NY POST LAURA ITALIANO'S REPORTS


AUGUST 17, 2009 PART 2 
The scandal at the World Trade Center site has escalated beyond the indictment of key cement industry companies and individuals. In another round of obfuscation the elected officials of the City and State of New York continue to use the prestigious site as a political football. Ignoring the vast implications of inferior quality cement being poured for the foundation of the FREEDOM TOWER, the Port Authority, its appointed leadership and the workforce itself seems to be proceeding as if nothing at all has happened. Steel has been scheduled to rise so that a semblance of progress can be claimed at the site. However, the battle between Larry Silverstein, the site's holder of a 99 year non-revocable lease, and the monolithic Port Authority enters its 8th year. Silverstein Properties is saddled with both the global economic slowdown and the death of Wall Street. Questions have been raised for years as to whether Lower Manhattan needed 10 million square feet of new office space. With the layoffs of thousands of people, the destruction of investment banks and equity firms, the questions have attained new urgency. Is the suite of buildings, including the massive Transportation Hub by Santiago Calatrava already outdated and unneccesary?
GO TO RASHBAUM'S ARTICLE IN THE NEW YORK TIMES
Link to: CBS NEWS REPORTS MASSIVE DELAYS AT WORLD TRADE CENTER SITE.     
                                           
AUGUST 9, 2009  PART1
The erupting scandal plaguing New York's construction industry gets worse and worse. Recent news includes the fact that over 100 prominent buildings were the victims of phony cement inspections. Another laboratory charged with the task of guaranteeing the quality of the cement poured into the foundations of Manhattan's buildings has been indicted. Stallone Testing Labs apparently made up reports attesting to facts that were untrue. The Manhattan District Attorney's office has filed indictments as part of its ongoing probe into the corruption of the cement industry and its supporting infrastructure of companies. Testwell Laboratories, responsible for the Freedom Tower was indicted last month. Stallone's CEO and its lab director will both be facing criminal charges in New York. In a macabre turn of events, two of Stallone's senior executives cheated the legal system by dying of fatal heart attacks shortly after police raided their corporate headquarters. Originally law enforcement sought criminal racketeering charges against the companies top leadership, but following their deaths were left with only one official to charge and no co-conspirators left alive. With only one racketeer left standing, those charges needed to be re-thought. The New York Post's Laura Italiano reports the Stallone Testing labs lawyer as saying that the District Attorney's office has little understanding of the concrete industry and the information they have based the criminal prosecutions upon "Makes no sense".

Read CBS News Report on delays, political infighting.   Link to CBS News Story
READ THE ORIGINAL SOURCE: NEW YORK POST STORY by LAURA ITALIANO
WORLD TRADE CENTER's  FREEDOM TOWER SCANDAL    JULY 16, 2009
District Attorney seeks indictments over weak cement
In a startling revelation, the Port Authority confirmed rumors that the cement poured at the Freedom Tower was only 66% of the specified strength. The news arrived via a widespread probe into massive fraud allegations perpetuated by the laboratories responsible for testing cement poured in New York City. The Freedom Tower's 1776 feet of national pride is now endangered. Read the ArchitectureWorld.tv commentary below or follow the original news sources and links to follow this story. STAY TUNED FOR FURTHER UPDATES.

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