10.2190/9421-6590-0LUJ-BQV3 942165900LUJBQV3 5 In the Construction and Maintenance Programs Of the New York City Parks, Recreation, and Cultural Affairs Administration 165 178 20020509 20020509 20020509 20020509 942165900LUJBQV3.pdf http://baywood.metapress.com/link.asp?target=contribution&id=942165900LUJBQV3 2 Carol Williams Payne Pratt Institute, Brooklyn, N. Y. Public construction is potentially a good source of employment for small minority-group construction firms. However, obstacles must be overcome such as contractors' lack of experience in estimating and contract management, the requirement that a contractor be bonded, delays in payment to the contractor and difficulties with the building trades unions. This paper examines these problems in one New York City agency and proposes some solutions. Out of about 870,000 contractors in the United States, some 8,000 are estimated to be Black. Of these only 5 per cent are estimated to be capable of performing jobs in excess of $200,000. Reginald Stuart, <i>Black Contractors' Dilemma</i>, Race Relations Information Center, Nashville, August, 1971, p. 6. <i>Ibid.</i> U. S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, Federal Insurance Administration, <i>Report on Availability of Crime Insurance and Surety Bonds in Urban Areas, Supplemental</i>, July, 1970, p. 244. Marvin Shenkler, Assistant Administrator for Design and Capital Projects, PRCA, Telephone interview, June 10, 1971. Robert Ditty, Director, Project Management Divison, PRCA, Interview, July 22, 1971. U. S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, Office of the Assistant Secretary for Equal Opportunity, <i>Registry of Minority Construction Contractors</i>, Vol. 1, Government Printing Office, Washington, D. C., 1970. <i>Calendar of the Board of Estimate of the City of New York</i>, Thursday, February 11, 1971, No. 180, pp. 88 and 89. "Turner Company Aids Negro Contractors," <i>Engineering News-Record</i>, May 22, 1969, p. 168.