Hardly any new buildings are rising in Manhattan, a sure sign that New York’s construction industry is caught in the nation’s economic downdraft, trade experts say.
Just three applications for new buildings were filed in Manhattan in September, compared to 23 in September 2007 – a staggering 87 percent plunge, city Department of Buildings data shows.
Citywide, applications for new buildings were down 30 percent from a year earlier, from 319 in September 2007 to 222 in September 2008.
“The trend is clearly down,” said Richard Anderson of the New York Building Congress, which promotes the construction industry.
This year has been the industry’s best ever, Anderson said. It’s 2009 and 2010 that worry him and his members.
About 130,000 people work in the city’s construction industry, the Building Congress says. It expects employment to drop slightly next year before plunging more than 20 percent in 2010, to around 100,000 workers.
The biggest drop-off so far is in residential construction.