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WTC Construction Workers Are Still Boozing At Lunch
By
Ben Yakas
Published Aug 14, 2011
Modified Aug 14, 2011
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By
Ben Yakas
Published Aug 14, 2011
Modified Aug 14, 2011
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Two years ago, the eagle eyes at the NY Post spied some World Trade Center workers enjoying some alcoholic beverages during their lunch breaks, and broke the shocking news that construction workers sometimes drink on the job. And today, to their utter disbelief, the Post reports that WTC hardhats are still boozing at lunchtime at the same spots they did two years ago.
The dallie says they spotted two dozen workers go north from the site each day at about 11:45 a.m. and pack into two Murray Street watering holes— Eamonn's Irish Bar & Restaurant and Uncle Mike's—for their hourlong lunch breaks. They say most of the union workers skipped lunch in favor of beer, whiskey and vodka, while trading stories about their hazardous job: "I got hit by a two-by-four the other day, bro. It went boom...I got a concussion, bro. They wanted me to go to a hospital," they overheard one Heineken drinker, with a large bandage on the back of his bald head, say.
More than 3,000 construction workers have been hard at work at WTC in the past three years. With less than a month before the 10th anniversary of 9/11, the plaza and 9/11 museum pavilion seem just about complete, and workers have reached the 78th floor of 1 World Trade Center. A Port Authority insider told the Post that they don't need any bad press right now: "This is the last thing we need. We can't have monitors for all those workers." After the initial allegations of drinking two years ago, the PA investigated and fired several workers. And PA spokesman Ron Marsico says that checks on workers have continued: "We do have a zero-tolerance policy. If we determine a worker is intoxicated on the job, we will move to terminate him, and we've done so in the past."
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Ben Yakas
Ben Yakas is a former Gothamist reporter.
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