LI company explains Super Bowl seat snag

The owner of the Commack company at the center of a dispute over botched seating at Sunday's Super Bowl XLV on Friday defended his company's performance.

Scott Suprina, owner of Seating Solutions, said that he ran out of time to safely place railings and other finishing touches on the 14,000-seat project at Cowboys Stadium in Arlington, Texas, after an ice storm cost his crews more than two workdays over the course of a week. About 400 fans were denied seating at the game.

"I never left the job," Suprina said. "Time ran out and there were still rails to put up."

He said he called it quits around 3 p.m. on game day, just hours before kickoff, because he was concerned about the safety of fans and his crews, who continued to work even though fans were being let into the stadium.

He said stadium officials were nitpicking on such things as rail heights, and said he told them the scrutiny was causing delays. He added that from the beginning fire officials were "overzealous" in questioning the integrity of the structures.

"They were putting us through the paces for minute details," Suprina said. "Considering I had worked there four times before, and they accepted the exact same equipment, it seems odd. I don't get it."

Snow, ice and cold weather forced planners to limit access to some parts of the stadium. Suprina said he supported the decision because the ice endangered his workers.

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Don Crowson, chief of the fire department in Arlington, told Newsday on Friday that despite the conditions, limited access was still provided through an alternate entrance.

But Suprina said he was told by security guards and fire marshals that he did not have access to the area because ice was still falling. Suprina said he still felt the area posed a danger to his workers because materials they needed to resume work were in the area where the ice was falling.

On the Friday night before the game, Crowson said officials had made "special accommodations for [Suprina's] crew to continue working and they weren't there overnight."

Suprina acknowledged his crews were not there because they were resting.

To try to catch up, Suprina said, "I hired in an extra 30 people the last day." Another contractor, Manhattan Construction, was "brought in at the last 20 hours," he said.

He and his crews worked for 30 hours straight, Suprina said, but ultimately, "it was too much to overcome."

Suprina said he accepts some of the blame but noted that his contract said he was supposed to have access to the stadium at all times and that was not the case. He added that he feels like a scapegoat.

"I think it's an effort to hang somebody with the blame, clear the Cowboys, clear the NFL, to let their fans have someone to be angry at," Suprina said.

Suprina, who is in Texas dismantling the project, said he expects to be done on Monday.

Seating Solutions, a $10-million business, designs and manufactures about nine types of seats, including the luxury seats in VIP suites at stadiums.