Symbol of union protest in Great Neck: giant inflatable pig
The giant pig is part of the union members' protest Thursday outside the Great Neck Village Hall site. Credit: Dawn McCormick
Nearly every day for the past week, Great Neck Village Hall employees have walked past an unusual display on their way into work: a giant inflatable pig.
The faux hog, planted outside the series of trailers that comprise the temporary Village Hall, is the work of Local 46 Metallic Lathers Union and Reinforcing Ironworkers of New York, the union confirmed.
The pig has been accompanied by members of the union protesting the village's decision to allow Construction Consultants of Long Island Inc., which is overseeing work at the new $14 million Village Hall, to hire a nonunion concrete subcontractor.
"As long as they're not distracting the work of my staff, they can protest," Mayor Pedram Bral said in an interview. "I just think it makes them look stupid."
Kevin O'Keefe, the business agent for the union, in an emailed statement said the village's decision to not hire a "qualified union" subcontractor to perform concrete work will result in "lower wages, fewer benefits, less training, and weaker protections for workers."
"That hurts local families who depend on good construction jobs, and it undermines the standards that responsible contractors work hard to maintain," O'Keefe said. "Taxpayer‑funded projects should not reward the lowest road on wages and safety."
Construction Consultants of Long Island did not respond to multiple requests for comment.
Village employees have been operating out of the trailers since 2022, when a lightning strike triggered a fire that destroyed the previous Village Hall. Bral then arranged for the village’s building department, court, zoning board and more to work out of the trailers in the Department of Public Works’ parking lot.
Construction started on the new Village Hall, across the street from 765 Middle Neck Rd., in October, Abraham Cohan, the village clerk-treasurer, said in an interview. He noted that all workers are being paid prevailing wages in line with New York State standards.
The village properly followed the bidding process, Cohan said. Construction Consultants of Long Island Inc., which is based in Riverhead, will receive $10,568,000 for the work.
"The village board voted to award the contract to the most qualified and least expensive submitted bidder," Cohan said.
O'Keefe did not single out any specific union subcontractors he would have preferred to see awarded the bid.
Bral said he had little sympathy for the union workers.
"They had the option to bid," he said. "They failed. Now they're crying."
There are no immediate plans to halt the near-daily pig protests, O'Keefe said. Until something changes, he said, the porker will continue to sit on the grass in front of the makeshift Village Hall, dressed in a painted-on vest with money flowing from the pockets, and with a painted cigar hanging from its mouth.
Joshua Needelman covers the Town of North Hempstead for Newsday. A Long Island native and University of Maryland graduate, his work has appeared in publications including The New York Times and The Washington Post.
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