Elizabeth Crowley has a long and robust history of public service and work in construction and community development.
Government Service. Crowley served on the New York City Council, representing the city legislature’s 30th District in Queens from 2009 to 2017. As a member of the New York City Council, she successfully fought for a record amount of funding for construction of schools and passed resolutions that strengthened construction safety standards, expanded opportunities for Minority and Women owned Business Enterprises, and funded programs that provided industry training including Nontraditional Employment for Women.
Non-Profit and Advocacy. Prior to joining BTEA, Crowley was a board chair and co-founder of a non-profit group “21 in 21” — renamed “The New Majority.” The organization was dedicated to bringing more gender parity into the City Council. The effort succeeded in establishing the first female majority in the legislative body.
Before her election to the NYC Council, Crowley worked in the construction industry as a decorative painter with District Council 9 on landmark restorations including Radio City Music Hall, the Central Synagogue and St. Patrick’s Cathedral.
Education. Crowley holds a Master of Science Degree from Pratt Institute’s Graduate Center for Planning and Environmental Science from the School of Architecture, as well as a bachelor’s degree of Fine Arts in Art Restoration from the Fashion Institute of Technology (SUNY) she resides in Queens with her two sons Dennis and Owen.
BTEA NEW YORK 2022 - 2023 Officers
Co-Chairman
Pat A. Di Filippo is an executive vice president of Turner Construction Company with responsibility for Turner’s offices in New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Connecticut and the New England states. Additionally, Pat is responsible for managing Turner’s partial ownership of E.E. Cruz, a New York City based heavy construction company.
Di Filippo joined Turner in 1984, and from there built up his career within the company and in 1998, he was promoted to vice president. In 2003, Di Filippo was promoted to Senior Vice President overseeing projects in Texas, New Mexico, Oklahoma, Arkansas and Louisiana. In January 2005, he returned to his current assignment as Executive Vice President of the New York and New Jersey Business Units, managing Turner’s largest region.
Throughout his career, Di Filippo has been involved with and taken a leadership role in numerous high profile construction projects including the United States Tennis Facility in Flushing Meadows New York, Goldman Sachs Tower – 30 Hudson Street in Jersey City, NJ, the World Trade Center Bomb Blast Repair, and the most current project – Xanadu Entertainment Facility in East Rutherford, NJ. In addition to serving as Chairman of the Contractors’ Association of Greater New York, Inc., Di Filippo is BTEA New York’s 2022-2023 Co-Chairman.
Pat A. Di Filippo
Contractors Association of Greater New York
Turner Construction
Co-Chairman
As President of KSW Mechanical LLC, one of the largest mechanical contractors in New York, Peter C. Vrankovic oversees and manages the day to day operations, as well as the marketing and sales efforts for the firm.
Vrankovic is heavily involved in the promotion and advancement of the unionized mechanical contracting industry. He is Trustee on several Local 638 union funds. He is currently President of the Mechanical Contractors Association of New York (MCA of NY). Vrankovic arrives at his new post as Co-Chairman for BTEA New York with extensive industry and leadership experience.
Vrankovic has had extensive experience in the mechanical, electrical and plumbing industries and is a recognized leader. He was President and co-founder of Orion Mechanical Systems Inc. Orion was an industry leader specializing in all aspects of mechanical contracting. In 2015, KSW purchased the assets of Orion and integrated Orion into its operations. Prior to forming Orion Mechanical Systems, Inc., Vrankovic was the President as well as one of the founders of Trident Mechanical Systems. Trident was sold shortly after inception to a large public company. Vrankovic was instrumental in conceiving of and driving Trident from inception to an industry leader in three and a half short years.
Vrankovic was Vice President of Operations at X-Air of New York, Inc., a major mechanical contracting firm. While he was in this position, X-Air’s volume increased five-fold. Vrankovic was responsible for all “in-house” and contract personnel, X-Air’s project management staff and maintenance of client relations. Prior to joining X-Air, Vrankovic was a Design Engineer and Project Manager with Edwards & Zuck, PC., a major New York City engineering consulting firm. At Edwards & Zuck, he supervised the design of mechanical, electrical, plumbing and sprinkler systems.
Peter C. Vrankovic
Mechanical Contractors Association
KSW Mechanical
Kristine DeNapoli
New York Electrical Contractors Association
KND Licensed Electric
Treasurer
Kristine “Krissy” De Napoli is a Licensed Master Electrician and co-founder of KND Licensed Electrical Contracting & Services, Corp., a certified Women-Owned business and signatory contractor with both IBEW Local 3 Chapter in New York City and IBEW Local 25 Chapter in Long Island. She has been in the electrical contracting trade for over 22 years, making her the third generation in her family to perform electrical work.
Kristine De Napoli is a recognized industry leader. In 2021, she was installed as the President of New York Electrical Contractors Association, making her the second woman to hold that position. She also serves as Treasurer for the Building Trades Employers’ Association of New York.
Kristine DeNapoli is the President, Treasurer and co-founder along with her partner, Vice President and Secretary, Nanci-Jean DeNapoli of KND Electric. As President of KND, Kristine leads the firm in its strategic planning, policy and operations. She is involved in all aspects of her business from the bidding process, estimation, and job analysis to site inspections and maintaining client and union labor relationships. She is actively involved in project management and brings hands-on expertise to reducing costs and improving productivity for the firm’s projects.
Kristine is a Licensed Master Electrician in New York City, Suffolk County, Nassau County’s Town of Hempstead and the State of New Jersey, a Licensed Certified Public Accountant in New York State, and is also a Licensed New York State Security & Fire Alarm Installer. She received a diploma in Electrical Technology from the Mechanics Institute and her B.S. in Accounting from SUNY Plattsburgh.
Additionally, Kristine serves as a Board Member on NYC’s Master Electrician Licensing Board, Trustee of Local 25 Long Island Joint Apprentice Training Committee, is President for National Electrical Contractors Association – New York City Chapter, as a Trustee for Joint Industry Board of the Electrical Industry, Annuity Plan Fund, Deferred Salary Plan Fund, Additional Security Benefits Plan Fund and Cultural and Educational Fund, Joint Industry Finance Committee, Treasurer of Employer/Employee Self Insured Safety Plan, a Board Trustee of the Building Trades Employers’ Association of New York and is a Founding Board Member of The Bridges Academy in West Islip, NY.
Steven Charney
Chairman
Peckar & Abramson, P.C
General Counsel
Steven M. Charney is the Chairman of the firm and is regarded as one of the foremost construction lawyers in the United States of America. Mr. Charney’s practice includes ongoing representation of contractors that are among the top ten as reported by Engineering News Record. Mr. Charney’s background couples extensive academic and hands-on experience in the construction industry with decades of experience in litigating for and providing legal counsel to contractors and developers.
Throughout Mr. Charney’s career, he has handled numerous construction related disputes, in court, arbitration or in alternative dispute forums. Mr. Charney frequently handles multimillion-dollar delay, lien, default, equitable adjustment, termination and construction and design defect matters. Mr. Charney’s experience includes the representation of contractors and owners in connection with some of the most prominent projects built throughout the United States. He represented the developer of the largest private building construction project ever to take place in New York City and represented contractors and design/builders in connection with numerous professional sports facilities (such as the Arthur Ashe tennis stadium and several National Football League and Major League Baseball stadiums). Mr. Charney led the Associated General Contractors of America to establish a task force to study mold related issues, and then vice-chaired that task force as it drafted the industry’s first guide to understanding this problem.
Mr. Charney serves as an Adjunct Professor for Columbia University, in both the College of Engineering and College of Law.
Before joining Peckar & Abramson, Mr. Charney served as Eastern Division Counsel for Turner Construction Company. Mr. Charney was employed by Turner Construction Company for nearly a decade, prior to entering private legal practice, and served in a number of operations related roles, including field superintendent, cost and scheduling engineer, and manager of litigation and claims, before serving as counsel.
Mr. Charney is a member of the Associated General Contractors of America, and was awarded the prestigious Gold Coin for his contributions to that organization, including his service on the Risk Management and Contract Document Committees of this leading national organization. Additionally, his contribution to the construction and development industry includes serving as General Counsel to the Building Trades Employers’’ Association New York (BTEA) and active engagement with the Association for the Improvement of American Infrastructure (AIAI).
Mr. Charney has often published commentary regarding issues applicable to the construction and development industries, including commentary in New York Construction. He is a member of the Association of the Bar of the City of New York and served on the Construction Law Subcommittee of that association. He is also a member of the American Bar Association and the New York State Bar Association.
In view of his accomplishments, Mr. Charney has been repeatedly recognized by Chambers USA, as a leading attorney in the field of Construction Law in New York. He has also been repeatedly named to Who’s Who of International Construction Lawyers, selected for inclusion in the publication Best Lawyers in America, and listed in New York Magazine, as a top construction attorney in the New York, New Jersey and Connecticut area. Mr. Charney is also a fellow in the American College of Construction Lawyers.
Mr. Charney is a graduate of Seton Hall University School of Law, where he attended as an evening student while working full-time in the construction industry. In 1983, Mr. Charney received a Master of Science degree in construction management from the School of Civil Engineering at New Jersey Institute of Technology (where he also studied as an evening student while working full-time in the construction industry). Mr. Charney also holds a bachelor’s degree in accounting from Syracuse University, with a concentration in construction technologies.