By Julie Shapiro
DNAinfo Reporter/Producer
LOWER MANHATTAN — The cursed Deutsche Bank building fired a parting shot at the man who devoted the past four years to demolishing it.
David Emil, president of the Lower Manhattan Development Corp., slipped and fell as he was leaving the construction site Tuesday and fractured his wrist in several places, the LMDC said Wednesday.
Emil spent most of Tuesday in an emergency room and was absent from Wednesday morning’s LMDC board meeting because he may need surgery, an LMDC spokesman said.
"He’s obviously still thinking about the job, if for no other reason than [the injury]," LMDC Chairman Avi Schick told board members Wednesday, in apologizing for Emil’s absence.
Emil took an early retirement deal from the LMDC in December but has stayed on informally since then to oversee the Deutsche Bank project, an LMDC spokesman said.
The long-delayed demolition of the Deutsche Bank building is finally drawing to a close, with just one story of the former 41-story tower remaining. The $264 million project’s troubled history includes tens of millions of dollars in cost overruns and a 2007 blaze that killed two firefighters and resulted in criminal charges.
Once the building is gone in early February, the LMDC plans to sue contractor Bovis Lend Lease for at least $100 million, Schick announced Wednesday.
Bovis, which admitted to mistakes that led to the fatal fire, owes the LMDC at least $70 million for extra costs based on their negligence and delays, and Bovis must also return a $30 million loan, Schick said.
"We certainly believe we are obligated to get this money back," Schick said Wednesday.
The first $30 million the LMDC recoups will go toward economic development downtown, Schick said. The agency has not decided on a use for any additional returned funds.
Schick said the LMDC has also found instances of Bovis taking public money to pay their subcontractors but then pocketing the cash.
Meanwhile, Bovis has sued the LMDC for $80 million, claiming that they did not profit sufficiently from the job, Schick said.
"We believe the claim is legally baseless, and frankly, given what they’ve done, morally obtuse," Schick said.
A spokeswoman for Bovis Lend Lease declined to comment.
