The video states numerous facts supporting the repeal of the “Scaffold Law”. 

 

Infrastructure

It costs more to build infrastructure projects in New York than anywhere else in the world.¹ A mile of subway in NYC costs $3.1B versus $928M in American cities like San Francisco, or $400M in similarly dense cities like Tokyo.

Insurance costs on the Second Avenue Subway ballooned from $93M to $554M, a rise blamed on the Scaffold Law.²

The Scaffold Law is estimated to have added $200M - $400M to the cost of the Mario Cuomo bridge.³

Liability costs on one joint New York/New Jersey bridge project are more than double on the New York side, strongly suggesting that state laws, not construction costs, are to blame for the cost increase.⁴

Across the state, the Scaffold Law is estimated to add over $785M in annual costs to public projects.5

On a per project basis, the Scaffold Law is estimated to add an additional 7% to large-scale construction projects.6

The Scaffold Law hinders disaster relief, as evidenced by Habitat for Humanity and several other non-profits struggling to get insurance for rebuilding projects in the wake of Superstorm Sandy.

 

Insurance

Most national insurers will not write construction policies in New York and some of the few remaining insurers have stopped writing policies in the last few years.7

Insurance availability threatened the Owner-Controlled Insurance Program of the New York School Construction Authority (SCA) which provides insurance to over 800 M/WBE firms.8

 

Education

The New York School Boards Association estimates that the Scaffold Law costs upstate schools $200M annually.

In 2013, the New York School Construction Authority was nearly unable to get insurance for its $2 billion capital program, despite an excellent safety record. The new insurance costs are $240M for 2014, nearly triple that of the previous year.9

The SCA’s increased insurance costs are equivalent to 8-10 new schools over a 3-year period.10

 

Law

The problematic absolute liability of the Scaffold Law is not written into the original law. Rather, it is the result of judicial interpretation, suggesting that this was not the original legislative intent.

The number of Scaffold Law cases has increased 500% since 1990, despite a drop in overall construction injuries.11 A contributing factor to these claims is the compensation arrangement of plaintiff’s attorneys. Suspect and often frivolous claims would not be pursued but for the absolute liability provision of the law.

 

 Public Support

Progressive Speaker of the New York City Assembly, Corey Johnson, called for repealing New York’s Scaffold Law in his plan to fix the MTA.12

Over half of the state’s county governments have passed resolutions supporting the reform or repeal of the state’s Scaffold Law.13

New York is the only remaining state that has a law like the Scaffold Law. Illinois repealed its Scaffold Law in 1995, and construction-related fatalities decreased by 26% over 5 years.14