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Task Force to Protect Quality of Life from Construction Boom The volume of construction in Lower Manhattan has escalated to such a degree that a new task force, with representatives from the city’s transportation, buildings and police departments is being assembled solely to monitor Downtown projects. The Permit Enforcement Task Force, charged with the mission of protecting the quality of life in Lower Manhattan, is a project of the Lower Manhattan Construction Command Center (LMCCC), which oversees the coordination of Downtown construction. “The idea behind the task force,” said Josh Rosenbloom, LMCCC Director of City Operations, “is that given the unprecedented levels of construction underway in Lower Manhattan, it’s going to put tremendous strain on the borough-wide agencies. We need to focus enforcement forces directly on Lower Manhattan.” Rosenbloom explained the task force this month to several committees of Community Board 1. The task force includes 10 highway inspectors from the city’s Dept. of Transportation (DOT), six Department of Buildings and 42 traffic enforcement agents from the police department. (An additional 14 traffic enforcement agents also will be available for overtime work.) Each agency will also provide a supervisor. The task force was originally designed to deal solely with traffic management. “We said we’re going to take the three agencies that affect traffic the most and provide them with dedicated resources in Lower Manhattan,” said Rosenbloom, “But as we started to put this program together, it became readily apparent that it had an ability to help in a number of other situations.” Rosenbloom said that with DOT, DOB, and the police department working together, the task force would be able to do much more than manage traffic. “With DOB and DOT together, for instance, you can address noise at night, “ said Rosenbloom, “or unsafe construction conditions that create pedestrian safety issues, or unsightliness.“ Other agencies, such as the city’s Department of Sanitation and the Department of Environmental Protection, also are meeting with the task force. Task force supervisors are already meeting daily to assess where their forces are most needed, Rosenbloom said, and most of the new enforcement personnel have already begun working. LMCCC expects the task force to be fully operational by the end of the summer. If all goes well, he said, it may be around for a while. “We have funding in place until the end of 2010,” said Rosenbloom. “And I have every expectation that if the need is still there, the powers that be will find a way to continue to fund it.” Rosenbloom introduced members of the task force to the Quality of Life and Affordable Housing Committee at Community Board 1 on June 20. He told the committee that although construction in the downtown area will continue for several years, it is already approaching its projected limit. "In terms of the quantity of construction, we're two thirds of the way to the peak," he said. "In terms of the number of trucks on the roads, we're between two thirds and three quarters of the way to the peak." He said that traffic congestion on Broadway will not be worse than it was last fall, during the construction of the new transit hub. However, Church Street is likely to become more congested from work at the World Trade Center site. "We will try to maintain the two lanes that we have there [on Church Street]," he said. Rosenbloom also encouraged residents to report any problems relating to Downtown construction directly to the task force, including excess noise or traffic congestion. The task force can be reached via telephone, 212-442-4500, or by e-mail through the web site www.lowermanhattan.info. Residents will also reach the task force if they call 311 and say "construction Lower Manhattan."
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