In a 2020 report, Nassau County's inspector general questioned whether E&A Restoration had the “requisite business integrity” to be responsible for an $85 million contract to build a courthouse in Mineola.
The company ultimately disclosed its leadership and was given the contract. Officials from the inspector general’s office then monitored the project, which dragged on more than three years past its scheduled completion date.
A spokesperson for the city’s Department of Design and Construction, which awarded E&A Construction the Bomb Squad contract, said agency officials were aware of the prior investigation when they awarded the city contract.
The spokesperson said every procurement goes through a stringent review, and the Bomb Squad project and E&A Restoration were reviewed accordingly. But experts who spoke to Gothamist said the company’s history should have raised red flags.
Alex Camarda, a senior policy adviser for good-government group Reinvent Albany, said that’s especially true because it involves an important NYPD unit. “The fact that this is a building that is going to be housing the NYPD’s Bomb Squad, and it’s obviously a sensitive area, you would think that the city would want to ensure that all the boxes are checked and all the due diligence has been done,” Camarda said.