New York State Buys the Big Apple a New Bridge--From China

"In tough economic times, it is important to invest in infrastructure."

~ Denise Richardson, Managing Director, General Contractors Association of New York.

While nowhere near the size of the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge being built by China,  the Alexander Hamilton Bridge spanning the Harlem River just south of the George Washington Bridge is, nonetheless, the largest-ever project of the New York State Department of Transportation.

Sort of.

That is, if the reconstruction and expansion of the Alexander Hamilton Bridge by a Chinese construction company can be correctly termed a New York State project.

On the other hand, if U.S taxpayers pay for the thing, (it's funded by federal $$$), I guess it might not be too much of a stretch to call it an American project.

The Alexander Hamilton Bridge

At the groundbreaking ceremony on July 15, 2009, "officials emphasized two benefits of the project: better infrastructure and new jobs."

Denise Richardson of the General Contractors Association of New York estimated that the project would create 200 to 300 jobs for hirees from "union halls."

She didn't mention how many jobs for the Chinese construction company, appropriately called China Construction America, have been created by the project. I count two new jobs for Chinese construction execs in the photo below.

Chinese construction execs demonstrate that they are willing to do jobs American execs aren't willing to do.

Maj. Gen. Alexander Hamilton

The project is scheduled to take 57 months all told, with completion in the fall of 2013. No doubt, China Construction America managed to place a few more Chinese on the $407 million payroll. 

That means a large number of portraits of this nation's first secretary of the Treasury are being deposited in Chinese coffers.

Alexander Hamilton must be spinning in his grave. As he is said to have observed, "Those who stand for nothing fall for anything." 

Apparently, New York is in free fall. 
 

Linked by Zilla of the Resistance. Thank you!
__________