tappan Zee Constructors, the consortium that built the big New York Hudson River crossing that opened in 2018, is embroiled in another lawsuit related to the bridge.

But this one doesn’t concern cost and schedule.

该项目成为安全举报人的一名前工作人员在12月与氟领导的财团达成了几乎完整的和解。他声称在该项目期间，在3.1英里长的Mario M. Cuomo Bridge上使用钢连接中使用的螺栓非法隐藏的问题，以前州长的名字命名。

the consortium denied it and New York State Thruway Authority claims it has solid engineering evidence that there was no bolt problem and that the structure is safe.

当举报人与财团定居时，根据建筑团队的要求，这些指控仍然被密封和秘密。

现在，州检察长莱蒂蒂亚·詹姆斯（Letitia James）与举报人一起以原告的身份加入了举报人，他正敦促继续诉讼，并将一些文件带入公众视野。举报人还要求解开一些文件。

the consortium opposed the unsealing, and offered as a possible alternative, keeping the documents sealed for five more years.

State Supreme Court Judge Joan Lefkowitz, presiding over the case in White Plains, N.Y., ruled that some documents should be opened to the public but the consortium appealed once more.

On March 7, the largest newspaper in the state capital, the Albany Times Union, published a 7,000-word investigation that included many details of the whistleblower charges and claimed the bridge structure itself may be compromised.

法官莱夫科维茨（Lefkowitz）对法院文件的裁决，首次在《同时工会的故事》中报道，首先是公众了解举报人的投诉。在其中，举报机指控螺栓在2014年至2016年在现场组装现场和桥梁建筑工地被折断时骨折或破裂。

With technical information about what occurred still sealed, the newspaper’s report—which included details on metallurgy, quotes from a forensic engineering analysis and a claim that the consortium had agreed to extend its warranty on some portions of the bridge for a year—cannot be fully assessed.

Neither the consortium nor the bridge owner would comment on those details.

In response to the story, however, the thruway authority pointed to its million-dollar engineering analysis, conducted when the charges were first made in 2017, which showed there was no problem with the bolts and that redundancy in the many bolts in the structure assures there is no safety issue.

Jamey Barbas, thruway authority project director, said in a statement that the bridge is safe and the published story is misleading and alarmist.

the wrangle over making documents in the lawsuit public, however, could affect other matters still unfolding in the state and related to the project.

Cited in Push to Oust Cuomo

Tappan Zee构造函数is在州法院陷入法律斗争with the authority over $900 million in costs the consortium says should be paid for its work on the project. The case is just getting under way.

更接近纽约市以北15英里的老化的塔潘·泽桥（Tappan Zee Bridge）的桥与州长安德鲁·库莫（Andrew Cuomo）（D）密切相关，后者以他的父亲命名。在涉及疗养院大流行死亡统计的争议之后，Cuomo现在正在努力继续任职。

On March 8, state Senate Majority Leader Andrea Stewart-Cousins added the bridge controversy to her list of reasons for Cuomo to resign. She cited "questions about the construction of a major infrastructure project," referring to the Times Union story, in explaining her position to reporters.

桥争议始于2014年James McNall, who was employed by an administrative subcontractor to the consortium at a worksite at Port of Coeyman's, near Albany, where the consortium and its subcontractors were assembling parts of the bridge frame prior to transporting them down river to the jobsite. McNall said he was offered a safety role on the project, overseeing safety training and the assembly site and other matters.

McNall said he learned of the problem of breaking bolts on steel sub-assemblies from project ironworkers and other staff, according to Judge Lefkowitz’ summary. But McNall said the consortium staff concealed the issue from the thruway authority.

该财团违反了《纽约州虚假索赔法》，麦克纳尔被指控，继续接受螺栓问题期间的工作付款，并代表桥梁符合设计和安全标准。

He said he was fired on July 1, 2016, in retaliation for trying to disclose the alleged bolt problems.

the basic whistleblower lawsuit between McNall and the consortium, Judge Lefkowitz stated in her ruling last month, has been settled out of court, with only McNall’s attorneys' fees and related expenses outstanding. When state attorney general James decided to join as a plaintiff, the consortium asked the judge to continue the document seal, saying it protected the privacy of those involved and headed off possible needless public alarm about the bridge condition.

荧光and Tappan Zee Constructors did not confirm or deny the settlement with McNall or whether the consortium had appealed Lefkowitz’s Feb. 16 ruling to open some of the court documents.

Adversaries Temporarily United

Although the consortium and authority are contesting the builders' large project claim with full legal arsenals, they are temporarily on the same page over the whistleblower allegations.

Tappan Zee构造函数在一份声明中表示,“the pending court matter discussed in the Times Union’s article remains under court-ordered seal, and we cannot comment on its substance." But it added, “we want to make one thing clear: TZC unequivocally stands by the quality of our work and safety of the bridge.”

Barbas, in her statement, says the thruway authority immediately informed its inspector general of the allegations in 2016 and tested 500 bolts, confirming that they met standards set by the American Society for Testing and Materials.

“损坏的螺栓数量很少，这并不是由于超过一百万个螺栓组成的如此大的桥梁而引起安全关注的原因。”她说。

Barbas called the Albany Times Union's reporting reckless.

In an editorial on March 8, the newspaper editorial board doubled down on what was reported, calling on the state to quickly begin a thorough investigation of the bridge.