Commentary: Scaffold Law is Hurting New York's Recovery

An 1885 state law, the only one of its kind in the nation, is choking off the economic growth New York needs to create new jobs and tax revenue. 

The Scaffold Law is an albatross around New York’s neck, inflating the cost of the billions of dollars of federally funded infrastructure projects New York has planned, and discouraging private development.

What prevents the state from changing this law in a way that will continue to protect the safety and welfare of workers on construction sites? It’s the trial lawyers who benefit richly from the status quo, and their political power in Albany.

Insurance costs in New York are $41 per square foot versus $3 in Connecticut and $5  in New Jersey. New York’s insurance rates are over 300 percent higher than those of any other state in the United States. These costs threaten New York’s future growth opportunities.

Right now the construction market is booming, with businesses relocating their offices to states like Texas, Florida, and Tennessee while reducing their presence in New York City.

Why do we let this happen? How can we build affordable housing with these astronomical insurance costs? How can minority- and women-owned contractors afford liability insurance policies in order to grow their companies?

There is no higher priority than the protection and well-being of all workers before or after they are injured on a construction site.  The ironic part of all this is that New York has one of the safest construction rates in the nation — despite other areas having lower insurance costs. Is it any wonder why construction activity is down in New York and up in virtually every other region?

Illinois, the only other state with a similar law, eliminated it over two decades ago. Attempts by trial attorneys to reinstate it were met with broad opposition, including from organized labor. New York state remains a shining example of how not to do things.

So how do we fix this? The Legislature has to tell the trial attorneys to stop being so greedy and help us establish a system that  protects worker health and safety while at the same time allowing New York to grow.

Louis Coletti of New York City is president of the New York Building Traders Employers Association. Nayan Parikh of New York City is president of the National Association of Minority Contractors, New York chapter.