Police discovered human remains in a 55-gallon drum filled with hardened concrete yesterday, and believe it may be a NJ mom who has been missing for over a month. DNA testing will determine whether the remains are that of 32-year-old Randy "Amanda" Lehrer, who was reported missing on August 17 after an argument with her husband. But police call the find a “significant development”, and investigators have spoken with Lehrer’s parents and corroborated a tattoo on the body: "Laugh Now Cry Later." more ›

There's nothing like a day at the beach: the cheery gaggles of children, the race to finish your ice cream before it melts off the cone, the smell of burning flesh as your feet cook against the searing concrete boardwalk. Yes, life is good now that Community Board 13 approved a 12-foot strip of concrete down the middle of the boardwalk. The Daily News reports that the vote was 5-1, and "came after a raucous meeting where opponents brandished signs and 'Boardwalk Not Sidewalk' T-shirts." Will the Wood People ever get along with Shel Silverstein fans? more ›

Residents were upset this week when Parks Department officials announced that the wooden planks of the Coney Island Boardwalk would likely be replaced with concrete. Brooklyn Borough President and stoop drinker Marty Markowitz wrote a letter to Parks Commissioner Adrian Benepe to try to dissuade them of changing the historic boardwalk: "We should not hastily turn our legendary Coney Island Boardwalk into just another concrete sidewalk. The last thing we want to do is take away one of the main reasons people come to Coney Island!" more ›

Last spring, because of years of damage and disrepair, the city began replacing the classic wood planks on the Coney Island Boardwalk with large concrete slabs and a "faux-wood" (recycled plastic lumber) to test both materials durability. Last night at a community board meeting, Parks Department officials announced the results of the trial run: the Boardwalk will most likely become Concretewalk. more ›

For the second time in as many months, a corrupt concrete testing firm boss tried and failed to kill himself before a pivotal court date. The first attempt occurred at the end of February, days before a jury found Reddy Kancharla guilty of enterprise corruption. (He slit his wrists and swallowed sleeping pills at his offices, but was found by his secretary and survived.) On Tuesday, Kancharla tried again, the day before he was to be sentenced. But once again he couldn't close the deal. more ›

Two days after being found guilty of faking concrete and steel strength tests at Yankee Stadium, the Freedom Tower, hospitals and schools, Reddy Kancharla, the president of the ironically named Testwell Laboraties, attempted suicide. Kancharla was looking at up to 25 years in prison if convicted of the top charge, enterprise corruption, and he believed that the jury would send back a guilty verdict on that, too—which they did on Wednesday. He slit his wrists and swallowed sleeping pills at his offices last Friday, but was found by his secretary and survived. Kancharla's lawyer says he's recovering and vowed to appeal. more ›

Decades back, few — if any — would oppose a plan to open a concrete plant in industrial Red Hook. But today, it's a different story. Residents of the quickly gentrifying neighborhood have petitioned and picketed in attempts to stop U.S. Concrete from opening a factory this month that they fear will scatter airborne particles "to the yellow-and-blue Ikea next door, heavily used baseball fields across the street, and a 2.75-acre farm nearby on a former playground," according to the Times. Community activist John McGettrick laid it out for the paper of record: “There’s a certain irony that we have a mayor talking about no smoking in parks, but he has no problem allowing the construction of a concrete plant that would shower cement dust on children in the park,” he said. more ›

An exterior wall at 270 West 123rd Street in Harlem collapsed around 3:15 p.m. WCBS 2 reports the building was "partially under construction" and "appears to be a five-story walk-up with a pizza shop, Pizzaria 123, on the bottom floor." WABC 7 says that some pizzeria customers were temporarily trapped: "Workers were pouring concrete at a construction site when the wall collapsed into the pizzeria next door." Four people were injured; the extent of their injuries is not known. more ›

Prosecutors are poised to slap New York's top concrete testing company with some serious racketeering and fraud charges. After a nine month investigation, the DA is urging a grand jury to vote for charges against at least a dozen employees of Testwell Laboratories, which holds $12 million in city contracts for analyzing the strength of concrete at public projects including bridges, subway tunnels and schools. Some of the top officials at the company could face a maximum 25 years in prison for allegedly failing to conduct some tests and falsifying others, the Times reports. The Buildings Department says it's now going back and "assessing concrete at various sites across the city." Investigators have also found irregularities in tests conducted at the new Yankee Stadium and the Freedom Tower. Hopefully none of this will cause delays with Ground Zero construction! more ›

After bringing many construction projects, including high-profile ones like the new Yankee and Mets stadiums and Freedom Tower, to a halt by striking last week, cement truck drivers are back at the negotiating table. Teamsters Local 282 and the Association of New York City Concrete Producers have not given specifics about what they are discussing, but Local 282's Francis Finnerman told NY1, "We're not asking for the moon, we're not asking for outlandish raises. All we want enough to get by and even with these raises we are still going to be behind the eight ball. We want to get back to work. That's what we want." more ›

The new Yankee Stadium, Second Avenue subway, Citi Field and Freedom Tower are just some of the projects whose progress may be delayed a little more due to a strike by cement trucker drivers. more ›

The City Council is set to pass a law requiring that homeowners keep 20% to 50% of the property in front of their homes covered with greenery. The law is in response to a trend by homeowners to cut down trees or pave over their lawns in order to create parking spaces. more ›

After a year of widely publicized construction site deaths, New York City's Buildings Dept. is working to tighten up some work rules that may have fallen by the wayside or are no longer sufficient. DOB Commissioner Patricia Lancaster wants new rules and a strengthening of the enforcement of work licenses for contractors and concrete operators. more ›

The tragic death of a construction worker at the Trump Soho building has put the spotlight on the spotty history of a contractor on the project. On Monday afternoon, a worker, Yuriy Vanchytskyy (pictured below), fell 42 stories to his death when the molds he and other workers were pouring concrete into broke, causing a collapse into lower floors. more ›

In November, we wrote about famed realtor Barbara Corcoran advising home owners to ditch their lawns and gardens in favor of a concrete parking spot. Some homeowners really take this advice to heart and insist on wedging an extra parking space onto their property even when it's not very practical, or possible. Above is a cropped portion of a picture posted at Queens Crap. While this sidewalk-blocking parking job at 68th St. and Hull Ave. looks ridiculous at first glance, Queens Crapper points out that the owner also had to build a makeshift plank system under the front of the car to prevent the sedan from bottoming out on the steep grade. Perhaps a Smart Car would have been a better vehicle choice for this driveway. more ›