A contractor on the Justice Sonia Sotomayor Community School in Yonkers claims that city and school officials and the architect have disrupted completion of the new school with costly delays and inadequate plans.
Piazza Inc., a Hawthorne contractor that was awarded a $36.2 million general construction contract, is demanding another $7.5 million for extra work it claims it had to do to finish its job, in a complaint filed Sept. 28 in Westchester Supreme Court.
The Yonkers Joint Schools Construction Board — a joint entity of the city and school district — provided “a set of plans and specifications incapable of being built as originally drawn,” the complaint states, and the construction board and Kaeyer, Garment & Davidson Architects P.C., Mount Kisco “actively interfered” with Piazza’s work.
“The allegations in this action are completely without merit,” KG&D president Russell A. Davidson stated in an email, “and we will vigorously defend them.”
Christina Gilmartin, a spokeswoman for the city and the school district also stated that Piazza’s claims are unfounded and said the Yonkers Joint Schools Construction Board intends to defend against them vigorously. “Due to the pendency of the litigation,” she added, “no further comment can be provided at this time.”
Justice Sonia Sotomayor Community School will be the first new school in Yonkers in 20 years, when it opens next year. It will serve about 675 students from pre-kindergarten to 8th grade.
The $80 million school and community building are being built at the site of the former St. Denis Catholic School, at McLean Avenue and Lawrence Street.
Piazza says it was told to begin work in February 2022 and to complete the job by August 2023. But it claims it did not have full access to the site because of problems incurred during demolition.
An adjacent apartment building was damaged during excavation, for example, and support piles had to be installed where Piazza was supposed to build a structure.
KG&D instructed Piazza to change its sequencing, beginning with a community building instead of the school, according to the compliant. But the construction manager instructed Piazza not to begin work or leave construction materials at the site.
In April 2022, three months after demolition was supposed to be done, KG&D had to redesign a foundation, further delaying Piazza’s work, the complaint states. Then KG&D purportedly told Piazza to go back to the original sequence and start with the school building, beginning on May 23, 2022.
For the first time, Piazza claims, it was given full access to the site.
The project was four months behind schedule, according to the complaint, and the construction board demanded that contractors work double shifts and accelerate their work so the school could open by September 2023.
A topping off ceremony, setting the last steel beam in place, was held on April 4, and now the school, named in honor of a U.S. Supreme Court Justice who grew up in the Bronx, is expected to be completed for the 2024-2025 school year.
Piazza says that delays, disruptions and inadequate plans drove up its costs, and necessitated extra work to get the job done.
The contractor accused the construction board of breach of contract and unjust enrichment for receiving the benefits of its work without full payment. It accused KG&D of tortious interference with a contract for allegedly failing to provide a good set of plans and specifications.
Piazza is represented by White Plains attorney Anthony P. Carlucci Jr.
