Gerard A. Varlotta of Great Neck, died suddenly on Feb. 27, 2015. He was 87 years old. Mr. Varlotta was born on June 8, 1927, in lower Manhattan and attended St. Joseph’s Parochial School and Stuyvesant High School. After high school, at age 17, Mr. Varlotta enlisted in the U.S. Navy and then attended NYU, earning a degree in mechanical engineering. After college he was awarded a Fulbright Scholarship to study engineering in many European countries and went on to earn his NYS professional engineering license. Returning to the U.S., he worked for the NYC Department of Water Supply.
In 1960 he established GDL Construction Corp. and specialized in all facets of subterranean construction. GDL Construction evolved into Varlotta Construction Corp. Mr. Varlotta ran Varlotta Construction until his retirement in 1992. After retirement, he continued to work as a consultant. Varlotta Construction installed all the water mains for the original World Trade Center. Variotta Construction completed all underground utilities and infrastructure, street and sidewalks for the World Financial Center in Battery Park City. The company was also called upon to assist with the clean-up aftermath the 2001 terrorist attack on the World Trade Center.
For 18 years, Varlotta Construction was responsible for all emergency water main repairs in the five boroughs of the city, from the 1970s through the 1990s and was also responsible for snow removal at the city’s major airports, sections of Manhattan and all the parking lots of the Brenden Byrne Arena in New Jersey.
In addition, Mr. Variotta was co-owner of Billy Bud, a midtown Manhattan restaurant, the Flamboyant Hotel and Casino in San Juan, Puerto Rico, and a founding investor in Insitruform Metropolitan.
His hobbies included horse racing; he owned a number of trotters.
Mr. Varlotta was a loving husband, father and grandfather. He is survived by his wife, Isabel; sons, Gerard (Angela) and David (Barbara), daughters, Laurie (Thomas) and Lynda (Vincent) and grandchildren, Michele, Richard, Kristen, Carolyn, Caroline, Christopher, Stephen and Geena.
In lieu of flowers, contributions may be made to Garden of Dreams Foundation or Boomer Esiason Foundation.
