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Residents Dissatisfied at Fulton Street Reconstruction Hearing There were more city officials than residents in attendance at the hearing on the Fulton Street reconstruction project Nov. 19. But those residents who did show up had more than enough complaints about the $38 million project between Church and Gold Streets, which began this summer and will continue into the summer of 2009. The project is centered around the replacement of a crumbling 150-year-old 17-inch water main with a new 20-inch main, but also includes other underground utility work, subway duct work, streetscape beautification and the renovation of several neighborhood parks. Residents said they appreciate the need for the work, but they wish it could be done in a quieter, cleaner, less disruptive way. John Fratta, a member of Community Board 1 and a resident of Southbridge Towers, said he has been frustrated by the construction. “The community was promised quiet work at night,” Fratta said. “But the sawing of the pipes at night has been outrageous.” Fratta also complained that poor coordination between the Fulton Street work and other construction projects has led to snarled traffic in the neighborhood. Ann DeFalco, another resident of Southbridge Towers and CB1 member, who works nearby at Pace University, said she is frustrated by the trash, loose electrical cables, and other debris created by the construction project. “The streets are really very dirty,” DeFalco said. “It’s a mess every corner you turn.” DeFalco is also worried that the traffic blockages caused by the work could pose a safety hazard. “We had a fire-drill at Pace recently—an actual fire, not just a drill—and the trucks couldn’t get down spruce street because the cars were backed up by the construction.” Tom Foley of the Department of Design and Construction, which is coordinating the Fulton Street project, told the residents who attended the meeting that their concerns are being heard. As a response to noise complaints, all jackhammers on the site have been fitted with mufflers, Foley said, and the contractor has ordered a noise suppression tent to minimize the amount of sound that escapes above street level. The work schedule is also being reconfigured to replace noisy night work with weekend work, after residents said they would rather live with water shutdowns on the weekend than endure disturbing late-night construction. Foley said the Fulton Street community will get a brief respite next month, when construction pauses between Christmas and the new year. Work will begin again in January, but Foley said the project is moving along and should be completed on schedule. Underground work between Broadway and Nassau Street should be finished by March. Between Gold and William Streets the water main replacement is 80 percent complete, but because of additional subway duct work, underground construction is expected to continue until June of 2009.
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