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A comment on Consultants, The real reason it costs so much to build new subways in America. Parent comment

Re:Consultants, The real reason it costs so much to build ne... by bradleyjg on Monday February 27, 2023 @06:38AM (#34955274)
How do you hire someone for a city's transport agency who has the ability to manage a multi-billion dollar construction project? Anyone with those skills will surely be able to earn 10x more in the private sector.

NY/C governments overpay low skilled workers (especially once benefits and work rules are factored in) and dramatically underpays skilled workers. Since there are a lot more unskilled roles, fixing the one problem would free up plenty of money to fix the other.

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Re:Consultants, The real reason it costs so much to build ne... by nunez on Monday February 27, 2023 @08:26AM (#34956111)
A lot of that money feels like hazard pay, if you ask me.
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Re:Consultants, The real reason it costs so much to build ne... by bradleyjg on Monday February 27, 2023 @09:28AM (#34956781)
A cop or a bus driver, sure.

But why is the janitor at a city hospital making twice what one at a private hospital makes (inc benefits) while a doctor at a city hospital is making half what his private sector counterpart does?

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Re:Consultants, The real reason it costs so much to build ne... by tbran on Monday February 27, 2023 @08:32AM (#34956170)
Some crane operators in NYC apparently make up to $500,000!!

Kind of crazy that some skilled work pays so much. That may be fine, but makes me wonder if any planners/civil engineers/whatever are making anywhere close to that.

From 2011: https://www.wsj.com/articles/SB10001424052702303936704576399...

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Re:Consultants, The real reason it costs so much to build ne... by kube-system on Monday February 27, 2023 @08:42AM (#34956262)
Those are private sector jobs, no?
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Re:Consultants, The real reason it costs so much to build ne... by bradleyjg on Monday February 27, 2023 @08:51AM (#34956367)
Sort-of. There’s a tangled weave between the union and the licensing authorities. On top of that various tax and zoning considerations often force the use of union trades on building projects in NYC.
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Re:Consultants, The real reason it costs so much to build ne... by kube-system on Monday February 27, 2023 @09:32AM (#34956832)
Being union or having regulated labor doesn’t make someone a public sector worker.
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Re:Consultants, The real reason it costs so much to build ne... by xxpor on Monday February 27, 2023 @12:22PM (#34959175)
This is part of the reason the majority of high rise projects in NYC don't use cranes. It's insane.
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Re:Consultants, The real reason it costs so much to build ne... by hackrnusr on Monday February 27, 2023 @08:51PM (#34964687)
Then what are they using instead ... drones?
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Re:Consultants, The real reason it costs so much to build ne... by xxpor on Monday February 27, 2023 @11:53PM (#34965781)
They carry it up. I'm not joking.

https://www.city-journal.org/deconstructing-new-yorks-buildi... (ctrl+f crane)

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Re:Consultants, The real reason it costs so much to build ne... by hackrnusr on Monday February 27, 2023 @08:54PM (#34964702)
"ability to manage a multi-billion dollar construction project"

Some of them apparently graduate with degrees in "project management" from schools like this:

https://foundrycollege.org/about-us/team/

... so don't overestimate the talent here.

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