Comments on: The 437 million dollar police station in Los Angeles is quite the bargain.

By: SteveLA

SteveLA — Mon, 26 Oct 2009 15:54:19 +0000

Don’t be a hate’n on Ed, his show is very amusing and some of his “tricks” to save energy appeals to this cheap skate. Ed’s just so goofy that he’s entertaining and besides, Dr. Victor Ehrlich would not like your snark.

By: Common_Cents

Common_Cents — Mon, 26 Oct 2009 15:50:38 +0000

By: NightTwister

NightTwister — Mon, 26 Oct 2009 04:30:09 +0000

Earthquake supports don’t add all that much. More steel in the concrete (especially horizontal ties). More diagonal bracing. It probably doesn’t add more than 10% to the structural elements of the building which aren’t nearly the greatest cost of a structure. The added structure necessary to resist wind forces of a high-rise like the Trump Tower are about the same.

By: mbecker908

mbecker908 — Mon, 26 Oct 2009 04:12:05 +0000

The real question, in order to get a comparison, would be what is the land cost and square footage of each project.

By: Big Apple Infidel

Big Apple Infidel — Mon, 26 Oct 2009 04:00:29 +0000

are the project budget right now. Let’s see what they look like upon delivery of the final product in the next decade.

By: NeoKong

NeoKong — Mon, 26 Oct 2009 03:42:32 +0000

Are those numbers for real ?

By: Big Apple Infidel

Big Apple Infidel — Mon, 26 Oct 2009 03:37:06 +0000

The new NYPD Police Academy in Queens is budgeted for around $1 billion. Likewise, the new NYPD BACKUP 911 call center in the Bronx is budgeted for $1 billion. They just renovated a single floor of the existing 911 call center in Brooklyn for the bargain price of $166 million.

Meanwhile cops are driving around in crappy Nissan Altima hybrids that aren’t suited for the task or large enough for the average human wearing a loaded equipment belt. This is an agency still using 40 year old teletype machines, manual typewriters and a converted Pan Am ticketing program as their CAD dispatch system.

Someone’s making money somewhere on all this.

By: NeoKong

NeoKong — Sun, 25 Oct 2009 22:20:27 +0000

http://articles.latimes.com/2003/jun/02/local/me-tutor2

” Tutor has made big marks on California’s landscape while amassing hundreds of millions of dollars, a yacht he rents out for hundreds of thousands of dollars a week, and a Boeing 737 jetliner.

In Los Angeles alone, he has built or rebuilt the Central Library, the international terminal at Los Angeles International Airport, the Coliseum, the new federal courthouse, the Alameda Corridor and most of Metro Rail.

Sharp and determined, he can speak for hours in perfect sentences and clearly remember details of business transactions from years ago. He is quick to turn others’ mistakes to his advantage.

He also is politically astute and well-connected. Records show that Tutor spent more than $75,000 to help elect James K. Hahn mayor of Los Angeles, and donated $50,000 to a cause favored by San Francisco Mayor Willie Brown. When Gov. Gray Davis needs to get somewhere quickly, Tutor’s private jet is at his disposal. But records show that Tutor has not voted in a county, state or federal election since 1994.

He knows how to take care of his friends.

By: kyle8

kyle8 — Sun, 25 Oct 2009 22:09:43 +0000

You are a state politician. Uncle Jim Bob has a construction company, Junior, fresh out of law school needs a job, and State Senator Bubba owes you a favor, So you get a nice road or bridge project started. Simple as that. Sure there are bids, but they go out to whomever is next in line.

By: SteveLA

SteveLA — Sun, 25 Oct 2009 22:07:16 +0000

Federal is another kettle of fish all together from my work experience. Maybe in mega buck contracts some funny stuff happens, smaller ones are pretty clean and watched by the contracting folks like a hawk. I’m probably in the camp of too much watching and too tight of controls, but that’s me.