Sunday, October 20, 2019

Muddy Construction Site - World Financial Center NYC - 1980s




200 Vesey Street, called American Express Tower when built in mid 1980s, part of world financial center, across west street from World Trade Center, the old one, built by construction company Olympia and York, out of Montreal, now defunct. Also built Canada Plaza, Canary Wharf London. Similar exterior, only 42 feet difference in heights, 739 and 771 respectively. Worked in a complex of trailers, accounts payable, for Amex Building, in a muddy, muddy lot at Vesey and West Streets, now site of Goldman Sacks HQ, for about six months in 1985. O&Y owned then by Orthodox Jews. No work on Saturday allowed on site. Had to work Sunday if I had to work weekends. 16 hour days and an experimental PC that lost and scrambled its exterior "grasshopper" brand main drive every time a cement truck passed by drove me up the wall. Company, a sub construction shell co of Amex. trying to invent and copyright new accounting software for PCs in construction etc. Overtime for clericals like me straight time even if I worked 80 hours a week or "sundays" on "weekends". Screw that. Quit. 


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