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I never met him, but most of the north jersey wreckers know him well.The story I have heard the most is how he would take a large pile of dirt ,cover it with plate and structural steel and use it for collateral to borrow money.
To quote the article, "Companies need not be licensed, though accidents can have colossal consequences". Is this actually correct in New York? Perhaps the state of New York can take a lesson from Alabama. To perform ANY contracting work over the sum of $50,000 in the State of Alabama, you must have either a Subcontractors or General Contractors license and prove insurance and bonding capability to the state.
Schwab is the kind of contractor that puts a black eye on the industry as a whole. It only takes one story about a screw up to tarnish all of the good and safe work the rest of us do.
11:05 PM
KathrynV;12426 said:
What an interesting article. Thanks for sharing the link - gave me lots of new insight into the industry!
Kathryn:
Phil doesn't necessarily reflect the "industry" as a whole. He is an extraordinary man, by any standards.
I think the NY Times article may be colored by a few unusual occurrences that "mysteriously" happened in New York over the past couple of decades, including, for example, the demise of the facade of the Helen Hayes Theater that the City was trying to preserve and other old buildings on 44th Street (owned by a powerful developer with other plans for that site) that were reportedly attacked without demoliton permits in the middle of the night and very early on a Sunday morning.
Interestingly, many these occurrences happened right around the corner from the NY Times headquarters, in the "Times Square" area, appropriately enough. So, that might be the reason that this particular newspaper has been so focused on these events.
KathrynV.........Would you care to elaborate on what insights you received from the member posts regarding this topic by any chance
What an interesting article. Thanks for sharing the link - gave me lots of new insight into the industry!
all i can say is I bid work all over the eastern United States and no one has asked me for a demolition License and a lot of times they don't even ask for references. Anybody can bid on a demolition project to this day. Have we really made advances in this industry since the 70's and 80's yes we have but we have so much farther to go. The article showed how business was done and is still done a lot of the time. I know a lot of companies that have been folded and reopen under a different name. There are lawsuits filed everyday against demolition contractors it's a fact of life in this industry. There are a lot of top notch demo companies out there but I feel they are still the exception to the rule. Now with the economy the way it is any one with a excavator sitting is bidding demo work. As long as there is vacant lots to illegally dump on and cash is exchanged for scrap there will always be shadows and dark areas cast on the demolition industry.
I think I should rephrase my answer. I think its funny that the guy keeps going and people keep working with him. Can you blame him if people are dumb enough to work with him?
I said he reminds me of myself, but i guess the worst things I have ever done were get a ticket for overloaded or a tax lein on a subdivision project.
I actually dont know how someone could ever get into some much trouble in a lifetime. doug
It is good that more members are responding to this post. It is so true RB4 that a majority of the clients cringe when they hear the word demolition or demolition contractor. It appears to us that clients are always restructuring contracts to delineate and/or eliminate the risk associated with a project that involves our industry which is extremely unfortunate. Yes, it is true that sometimes the scope or methodologies requires innovative tasks on contracts, but to jeopardize safety, professionalism, and/or non performance of the contract work is as you stated is "unacceptable"
unfortunately he's the reason people cringe when you say you work for a demo contractor......... Im sure every contractor has cut a conner or 2 but when it comes to putting the guys safety in jepordy and not paying them there fair share thats unacceptable........theres a lot of reputable demo contractors in the northeast as im sure most of you guys know... This guy is just stuck in the ways of the 60's and 70's......
That would be a good thing Wolf. The industry gets more negative press than positive. They probably would not run it though.
10:27 AM
Seems like we should get the paper to run a story to "set the record straight" regarding all the good that the industry does for the community.
5:18 PM
We could put together a letter to the editor showing all of the safety measures taken by the demolition industry to protect its workers and the public and the great strides that have been taken in recycling C&D waste. What do you think?
TKC your right, we have a few down here that amazes me when I see them at walks. It's not just N.Y. I just used that as an example. I grew up in New York City and know how it used to be. I am sure it's not as bad today, I don't know I am not up there. I think Mr. Taylor had a good opportunity to take a stance against this type of businessman who still hovers around the Industry, but blew it. As a spokesman for the Demolition Industry's Association he could have seized the opportunity but didn't. We run a legitimate business and we pride our selves on safety and the quality of our work, as I am sure most of you on this site do. This story that ran, unfortunately is what gets the news. I think the NDA should be more proactive on these issues and not contribute to someone like Mr. Swab's story, unless it is to denigrate what he has done for the image of our Industry.
JA Jr and Wrecker we also agree that this has put another serious cloud over our profession and some do need to set their sights higher. Even though the article is about NY it also appears that some contractors in this industry - NY, TX, CA, MA....etc...appear to have the same mentality....
I got to agree with you James. I have never met the man but have heard the stories. Dug, you need to set your sights a little higher, this guy is a disgrace to what we try to accomplish here everyday. I am amazed that anyone would even consider doing business with this type of guy. I know New York is a different place to try and do business but I am amazed that these guys are still around in the shadows.
This article shows exactly what is wrong with the demolition industry today.
I'm really disappointed in Mike Taylor's decision on not defending the industry as a whole, that not all demolition contractors are like Phil instead of "praising" him.
But I guess this just goes to show you how the rest of the people out there view the demolition industry and if that's how they really view us, we're in deep shit.
I would love for Mike (like that will happen) to come here and let us know if we're missing something from his conversations with the writer. To me having a representative of our industry praising a crook is just wrong.
Also I would really like to hear comments here from some of you that have been in this industry awhile about this article.
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