An inflatable pig has appeared outside the Village of Great Neck’s temporary Village Hall trailers at least three times since Monday, Nov. 24, according to village officials. The display is part of a protest by union members who are unhappy that the village did not hire union workers for the construction of its new Village Hall, officials said.
Village Clerk-Treasurer Abraham Cohan said the first sighting occurred early Monday morning, when he saw the inflatable tied to a bench outside the trailers that serve as Village Hall during construction. He said he saw one person pacing near the display and approached him with another staff member.
According to a card Cohan said he received at the site, the protest is being conducted by members of Local 46 Metallic Lathers Union and Reinforcing Ironworkers. The card belongs to Business Agent Kevin O’Keefe. The Long Island Press was unable to reach O’Keefe or other representatives before publication.
Cohan said the protesters told village staff they believed the union should have been selected to work on the project.
“They said that the new Village Hall that is being built, we did not give it to the union to do it,” he said.
Mayor Pedram Bral, who also visited the site, said the village followed state public bidding requirements, which mandate splitting the work into multiple trade categories and paying prevailing wages.
“There are certain laws and rules and regulations that we had to abide by,” Bral said. “One of them is the prevailing wages, which is way above what a regular contractor for a private individual would charge.”
Bral said union-affiliated contractors did submit bids, but their proposals were higher than those of the lowest responsible bidders.
“The unions also bid in this project, but they lost because the bid came out a lot higher,” he said. “I have fiduciary responsibility to make sure that the money is going to be spent wisely, and we were not going to choose unions just to choose unions.”
Cohan said the same.
“Companies that use unions also were invited to bid on the construction. They bid it. Their number was more than some of the lowest bidders, and they lost the bid,” he said.
The protesters returned Wednesday morning, officials said. Bral said he saw the display on Tuesday and Wednesday, noting the demonstrators arrived “early in the morning, like 6, 6:30, 7 o’clock,” and stayed until about 1 p.m.
Around late morning on Monday, Cohan said a group of 10 to 13 representatives arrived, including a man who identified himself as O’Keefe. The group “asked a whole bunch of questions” and requested information. Village staff told them to submit a Freedom of Information Law request, Cohan said. The representatives stayed another 10 to 15 minutes before leaving.
Despite the repeated appearances, Cohan said the demonstrations have not affected village operations.
“They can come every day, 24/7, and sit in front of Village Hall,” he said. “I can’t care less about it.”
In August, the village awarded bids to five contractors for the new building. Contracts were awarded to Construction Consultants of Long Island for general construction, Hirsch & Co. for plumbing, Intricate Tech for mechanical construction, Roland’s Electric for electrical work, and Sky Testing for third-party controlled inspections.
The former Village Hall was destroyed in August 2022 after being struck by lightning. Construction of the new building began in October and is expected to take 16 to 18 months to complete, according to village officials.
