Building Congress: 'let Riverside South be built'.

Noting that the proposed Riverside South development will bring substantial quality-of-life benefits to the city and the West Side, and employment to thousands in the design and construction industry, the New York Building Congress has called on city officials to approve the plan.

Congress President Louis J. Coletti, citing Community Board 7's recent vote against Riverside South, emphasized the city's need for the thousands of apartments proposed by the plan, as well as the importance to the West Side of the modern park facilities that are part of the new proposal. He observed that with a 50 percent unemployment rate in the design and construction community, the development of Riverside South will fill a significant employment need in the city.

Other Congress Board Members have also urged support of the project, including Thomas P. Maguire, vice president of the New York Building and Construction Trades Council and president/business manager of Local 15 ABCD of the International Union of Engineers, and George Fox, president of the Congress' Council of Presidents and President of the Grow Tunneling Corporation.

"Riverside South will be a shot in the arm for our city's economy," Maguire said. "Approving the plan will send the message to the business and real estate community, to the politicians in Albany and Washington, and to the nation -- that New York is taking the bold steps needed to pull us out of the economic doldrums."

Maguire, who is member of the Governor's West Side Task Force, pointed out that "New York needs a mix of public and private development to move forward, and this plan may be the last chance for a long time to bring a balanced development to the West Side."