pace
plumbing
41 BOX
carp.
STREET.
BROOKLYN,
NY
11222
.71
-3
9-600
Gentlemen:
I would
and ou~
li~t
a~
In
an
I
like
to taRe
thi~
oppo~tunity
company,
a~ we a~e inte~e~ted
an active
Plumbing
Cont~acto~.
you a~e al~eady
update
no~ you
nounded
the
to
in
int~oduce
joining
my~eln
you~ bidde~~
namilia~
with
Pace,
let
thi~
~ep~int
on ou~ mo~t ~ecent
accompli~hment~.
company
in
be
1968.
Today we a~e licen~ed
in New Yo~R City,
Long I~land,
The
State
on Flo~ida,
The State
on New Je~~ey,
and many othe~
a~ea~.
Ove~ the
yea~~ we have pe~60~med
in all
a~ea~
06
ind~t~ial,
comme~cial,
and multi-~e~idential
avenue~.
We a~e p~e~ently
app~oved
cont~ac.to~~
with
Leh~e~
McGoveJin,
E.W. Howell,
HRH Con~t~uction,
John W. Ryan,
Benjamin
Cont~acting,
Gotham
Con~t~uction,
Kuhn,Smith
& Ha~~i~,
N.Y.
State
Vo~mito~y
Autho~ity,
City
06 New Yo~k Va~iou~
Vlvl~ion~
, and Blue
C~o~~ amon~~t
othe~~ .
Pace Plumblng,
a null
066lce
expe~lenc.e
in
p~e~ently
06 quali6ied
all
pha~e~
We a~e bondable
manpowe~,
06nice
awa~ded
to u~.
It would
and li~t~
no~wa~d
.tJl.ultj
p~/LU~B:NG
~~&~
Ha.Jl.old
with
Fi~eman'~
In~u~ance
~ta66
and expe~ience
to
be oU~ plea~u~e
to 6u~nl~h
you
06 job~,
cu~~ent
and completed,
We looR
Ve.Jl.tj
employ~
ove~
100
pe~~onnel
with
06 ou~ ope~ation~.
to
hea~ing
6~om
you
people,
includlng
many yea~~
06
Co..
We have the
handle
any job
with
at
~ene~ence~
you~ ~eque~t.
~oon.
tjOUJl..6,
-",CORPo
Bloc.k
pJl.e..6-<-de.n.t
Plumbing
Contractor
for the Statue
of Liberty
.
Reprinted
~
from PLUMBING
& MECHANICAL,
December
1!!85
"
T
00 many headaches,"said Harold Block to a
PacePlumbing associatewho wanted him to
bid the first contract let on the Statue of Liberty restoration project. "For $37,000, let somebody elsedo the worrying." He envisionedhimself at project end tired, poor and yearning to be free.
WU1iamGrossberg (a former associate,now deceased)
would not accept Block's initial reluctance as a final no.
'Bid it, Harold,' he told me over and over. 'It's only the beginning of many contracts,' "Block explains.
SoBlock reluctantly bid -and won -the first contract
on the island, a temporarystructure to house the workers
building the new torch. He was much more excitedwhen
Pacewas awarded the subsequent four plumbing contracts; for the statue itself, for drainagesite work on Liberty Island, and for the three new buildings, a museum, concession stand and administrative office. In total, work
worth approximately$1 million.
Grossberg'spersistence paid off for Block, owner and
president of PacePlumbing Corp., Brooklyn. However,the
renovation isn.t the biggest -or the most profitable project undertaken by the firm. Becausethe statue is a national shrine and all restoration work is being funded
through private donations, contractors are onlyallowed to
earn 10%overheadand 5% profit for their work.
"Wefeel a little more patriotic and we make a little less
Reprinted from PLUMBING & MECHANICAL, December1985
3
From left, Project supervisor Richard
McInerney, Pace president Harold Block, and
projectforeman
John Ryan.
HAROLO BLOCK:
Ihe
Liberty
Statue
Plumber
Of
money,"laughs Block. But he understands that the value
of being known as the Statue of Liberty plumber will more
than make up for any lost profit on the project itself. In
fact, Block's business cards and stationery were recently
reprinted. Both contain a likeness of the shrine -with
the tag line, "plumbing contractor for the Statue of LIberty."
War Between The States: Once awardedthe first contract, project supervisor, Richard McInemey .and foremen John Ryan and Joe Radu wereanxious to begin construction. "Initially, everybodywas excitedabout this but
me," saysBlock. However,spirits fell, tempersgrew short
and work waited as NewYork and NewJerseyfought their
own version of the War Betweenthe States.
NewJerseyofficials claimed the Statue's home, Liberty
Island, as its own. NewYork politicos said, no it's ours.
The United Association couldn't decidewho hadjurisdiCtion on the island either.
With millions of tourism dollars at stake, the states are
still fighting the battle in court. The UA solvedits jurisdictional dispute. NewYork won. So did the 8 to 10 plumbers
Paceassigned to the statue. Not only is Liberty Island a
nice placeto work, but eachman receivesan hour of overtime at double-timeeverydaybecausehe is paid portal-toportal.
Once on the island Harold Block soon warmed to the
renovation efforts. "I wanted all the work," Block says.
"Therewas no point in setting up shop for a $37,000 contract and then not bidding the much larger contracts for
work in the sameplace."
Though Pacewas already at work on the island, they
had no guaranteeLehrer/McGovern,project manager for
the $62 million restoration effort, would award them the
remaining contracts. "Everybodyon this project has eight
other peoplelooking over his shoulder," Block explains.
Reprinted
~
from PLUMBING
& MECHANICAL,
December
1~85
"There is very little room for contract negotiations or good
faith in awarding work. Everyonem.ustbe able to proveevery expense."
Block, however, feels Pace's presence on the island
helped it capture the remaining contracts. "Wewere able
to prepare a very tight competitive bid becauseour men
werealreadythere," he explains."The mystique of the statue and our anxiety about building on an island weregone.
Weknew what could and couldn't be done. Other bidders
didn't."
The secondcontract, the plumbing and piping work required on the statue itself, proved to be what foreman
Ryan expected."It's not the most complicatedof projects,
but it's a lot of hard work and requires more coordination
and cooperation than usual, Unlike most construction
projectswhere one trade completelyperforms its function
beforeanother movesin, everytrade works simultaneouslyon the Statue.
"The construction deadline is July 4, 1986, period,"
says Ryan, "There is no time for the demolition crew to
complete its work before everyone else comes in. We all
have to work at once, which makes for cramped quarters
sometimes, "
Installing the copperpipe that runs from the baseof the
statue to the very top of the lady'sarm was one instance of
verycrampedworking conditions. The nearly I ,800 ft. ofK
copperpipe that carries rainwater down through the statue was installed at the same time as the copper heating
lines and the specialstainlesssteelvacuum line neededto
keepthe inside clean.
That, however,turned out to be one of the easierparts of
this job, saysRyan, who worked on that installation. "Inside the statue we at least could seewhat was there and
where to run the new pipe."
Pacewas not so lucky with the site drainage and sewer
work, which beganas a minimal part of their contract, No
''asbuilt" drawings exist for Liberty Island, which originally washalf its present size,At somepoint landfill was used
Reprinted
from PLUMBING
& MECHANICAL,
December
ABOVE:Harold Block takes a peek at the old
torch from the Statue of Liberty. A new torch is
currently under construction and will be
unveiled July 4, 1986. BELOW: Two Pace
employees install part of the Liberty lsland's
storm water drainage system.
1985
HAROLD
The
liberty
Statue
BLOCK:
Dr
Plumber
to expand the island and granite seawalls were built to
keep the structure secure. Later the island was home to a
fort and a series of administrative buildings related to the
statue's construction.
No one, however, could find any construction drawings
for these projects. "There have to be drawings for all that
construction somewhere, but why the Federal Park Department or state can't fmd them now is beyond me, " says
project supervisor Mclnemey. "Every time the excavators
dug a hole they'd break another pipe. No one on the island
knew if they were sewer lines, storm lines, or water mains.
We had no idea what pipe led where, what it was used for,
or if it was still used at all, " he added.
Pacewas awarded change orders to fix the existing pipes
after they were uncovered. .'What if these pipes were a
functioning part of the water or sewage system and we
didn't fix them ? What then ?" Block asks. "I don't want any
mishaps on any of our jobs, but most certainly not on the
Statue of Liberty."
Tempers were stretched to the limit as more and more
unforeseen problems were uncovered on this island. They
were finally pushed over the edge when the statue's storm
water piping had to be tied into the island drainage system. At that point Pace hit its first granite seawall.
"Nobody knew these things were there until we hit one, "
explains Ryan. "Getting through them made drilling
through building foundations look easy." It takes two men
and a large compressor a full day to bore through one of
these walls. Pace has hit five such seawalls during its year
on the island.
That Sinking Feeling: Thus, the site work that began as
a very minimal part of the first contract grew larger and
Project supervisor Daniel McManus reviews blueprints before leaving the officefor thejob site.
The BlockfamUy: From left: daughter Bonnie. wife Sandy. Harold. and daughter Lisa Levy.
Reprinted
from PLUMBING
& MECHANICAL,
December
198?
larger as more and more pipes were uncoveredand drainagein the new park being built on the island proved inad- Harold
Block
equate.
.
Becausetheseproblems stalled other trades, Lehrer/Mc- value
of bemg
Govern negotiated this work with Pace.But ~e negotia- of Liber
tions,
says
Block,
were
unlike
any
he'd
entered
mto
ty
before.
He explains:
"They had no time to go out for an estimate on this.
work, so they asked us to prepare a bid on Tuesday and
have it to them on Wednesday.We got the go ahead on
Thursday with instructions to begin construction on
Monday.
"Well, to completethe work, which basically meant installing a whole new drainagesystemon one part of the island, we needed48 tons of 8", 10", and 12" cast iron pipe.
No wholesalerstocks that much pipe, so with our supplier's help, we found a manufacturer in Pennsylvaniawho
could fill the order and would roll the trucks overthe weekend so they could be there by 7 a.m. Monday.They quoted
us a price and we gladlyacceptedit, relievedto find someone ableto supply the material.
"Well, after reviewing our quote and applying their unit
prices for material, Lehrer/McGovern's.projectestimator
came back to me and said, 'We can buy the pipe for 2%
less.' I couldn't believeit. Wewere quibbling over a differenceof pennies per foot for pipe which they wanted there
in three days!"
Pacebought the pipe and was ready to begin work on
Monday. That is before they lost nearly the entire load to
the Hudson River. Loading the five truckloads of pipe onto
the barge occurred without incident. If only the same
could be said of the unloading, remembers Ryan. When
the first truck was backed off the barge and the trailer hit
the pier, the pier begansinking.
"I rememberlooking over toward the dock," saysRyan,
.'and I couldn't believe what was happening. The whole
damn thing was sinking. The t4ailer was going down, the
cabwas starting to rise, and the boat was flopping around
with the tide. It was a disaster."
Somequick thinking, a lot of yelling and a construction
Billing supervisor Permaul Thompson
Reprinted
from PLUMBING
Chief
& MECHANICAL,
estimator
Robert
December
make
lost
up
understands
known
Plumber
for
on the
any
project
that
as the
will
more
profit
he may
.
Itself.
the
S tatue
than
have
crane helped to get the trailer back on the barge. "Every
person on the island was at the dock working to savethat
trailer and it took everyone of us to do it too," Ryan comments. The trucks werebrought back to the mainland, the
pipe was transferred to smaller trucks, and shipped to the
island again. This time it was unloadedwithout incident,
exceptfor the $3,800 barge rental fee that had to be paid
twice.
Though the dock has only sunk once, the logistics of
shipping material to the island have continued to be a
problem, saysRyan. Somematerial can be transported by
boat, but the large majority must comeby barge, but "eitherwayisslow. I can count on losing at leasta half day on
any delivery."..
"All of this was my worst dream coming true, " says
Block. "I had a hard time remembering why I ever said
we'd take this project." His memory cleared when the
change order billed out at over $150,000 and the park
project was completedwithout further incident.
Once Burned, Twice Shy: Patriotism and publicity
aside,Block had another reasonfor wanting to restorethe
Statue of Liberty. "Projectslike this make us different," he
says."This kind of work givesus a chanceto show our versatility, our expertise,our ideas, and our men."
.
Different, as Block explains, can be important. Within
the New York area, Block guesses there are 10 to 12
plumbing contractors that are capableof handling most
largejobs. He frels Paceis among that group. Within that
group are three or four contractors capableof doing any
Levine
1985
Director ofpurchasing Harvey Kalter
s tatue
job, but this firm is not among them.
"l'm happy where we're at, doing $10 to $12 million
worth of work a year... Block explains. "I'm not interested
in the $15 to $20 million contracts the top guys go after.
We can do a professional job on the $1 and $3 million projects and if for some reason we don't make out on ajob, it
won't mean the end of the business. I'm not interested in
the exposure that comes with the bigger jobs. My father,
William, always told me that I cannot lose money on a project I don't take."
Most of the work in the $1 to $3 million dollar range are
apartment buildings and office complexes. New commercial construction is everywhere in New York's five boroughs, but the work is very, very competitive.
"We do our fair share of apartment construction, but
margins are getting tighter and tighter... says Block. "Every contractor wants these projects because they are comfortable. We've all done them before."
But Block knows this apartment and office construction
market won't last forever. With an eye on the future, Block
hopes to position Pace one step ahead of his competitors
because of the expertise his firm has gleaned from projects
like the Statue of Liberty restoration, the rebuilding of the
Central Park Zoo, and the new flower market in Queens.
Also in preparation for the day that the apartment market goes soft, Pace has nurtured relationships with the
small developers that formed the foundation of the company when Block took it over from his father in 1968. Today, though Block could keep his entire crew busy on larger contract work, he actively seeks the $10,000 restaurant
or $20,000 renovation project. "The day may come when
that is the only work around, " he says, "and I want to
make sure that 111have my share of the market. "
That relationship, however, wasn't always there. In the
first year as owner and president, Block relied on such
people for business. But during the construction craze of
the early 1970s business took off for Pace. He first took advantage of a day care center construction boom. When
that ran its cycle, he grabbed on to New York City's nursing home construction craze, and Pace's credibility as a
competent, reliable contractor was established. Soon he
was bondable, on the city's approved list of contractors,
"
ahd dropped the small customers that had been his backbone.
"I was young and business was terrific. What did I need
them for?" h-eremembers. He found out -the hard way.
In 1973 the construction market collapsed. New York City
was on the verge of bankruptcy.
"The City wouldn't pay on any of my jobs. I would call
aI}d they wouldn't talk to me. If I got through they would
find any technicality and use it as a reason to withhold
payment. The nursing home boom had run its cycle and I
haG no work. If I did get a job for $50,000, the customer
would call me the pext day and tell me of the contractors
who wanted to d9 the work for $45,000. I had a wife, three
daughters, and a mortgage. I was in serious, serious trouble.
"I went back to the small contractors I had done business with earlier and they rightly said, 'Where were you
when we needed you'?"
Block was lucky enough to cultivate a couple of friendships, get a few small jobs, and slowly pull Pace out of the
fire. He also learned a lesson. "I really thought my company
was going to go down around me," he says, "but these
guys helped me out, and because of that I will not give up
the small jobs today. It takes as much effort to put up a
$20,000 project as a $200,000 project, but lord only
knows when the $20,000 job maybe the only work I can
get.
.'When the next recession hits, Pace may get smaller ,
but I'm sure we will ride it out because of that customer
base. I may be wrong. I may get bumt a new way, but I
won't be bumed the same way twice."
Building For The Future: In addition to forming solid
business relationships with developers, Block has taken
other steps to ensure the success of Pace Plumbing in today's volatile marketplace.
He has put together an office staff of roughly 15 people
to support a field staff which usually numbers around
loo. Project supervisors Daniel McManus, Dom Ribando
and Richard Mclnerney, work with estimators Robert
Levine and Mike Alfonso to bring projects in at the estimated cost. Director of purchasing Harvey Kalter, controller Norm Holland, and bookkeeper Janice Buckridge
are also important members of this team.
Block's daughters, Bonnie and Lisa Levy, share some of
the sales responsibility with him. Specifically, they go after
City and municipal work. They collect the drawings and
work with the estimators and purchasers in preparing the
bids. Another daughter, Michelle, works with her sisters
during summer vacations. She is currently a sophomore
at the University of Maryland. Block's wife Sandy no longer
works at the office full-time. She does, however, serve as
corporation secretary.
"Every contractor says the same thing, but we really try
to work as a team here, " says Block. "None of us would be
as successful working alone because the company couldn't
be. This business demands that everybody work together.
Supervisors rely on the office work of the estimators and
purchasing agents to help them bring a job in on budget.
In turn, the office staff counts on the project managers
and foremen for their expertise in preparing the bids. It
really is a two-way
street, except for me. I rely on everybody."
-
Estimator Michael Alfonso and project supervisor Don Ribando inspect some imported Italianfaucets Pacepurchased
for an apartment project.
Ultimately, though, Block knows decisions must be
made by him. "My job is to decide what we can handle and
I have two rules I won't break.
"I won't take a job unless I can staff it with 50% of my
own people, and I won't let the company grow more than
20% in one year .Any more than that and I have to go to
the bank. Running ahead of your money can kill a business faster than anything else, and I won't do that.
"Besides. I want Pace Plumbing to be around in lOO
years when the Statue needs to be restored again. " -PM
Reprinted
from PLUMBING
& MECHANICAL,
December
1985