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Community Angry After Falling Debris At Goldman Sachs Bldg.
“This is the most angry, the most upset I’ve seen parents and community members,” said Mark Costello, the president of the Downtown Little League and a member of CB1. Leah Donaldson, a spokeswoman for the Buildings Department, told the committee that a stop-work order remains in place for the site, and would remain so until the contractor, Tishman Construction, met several requirements, including meeting with members of the community. Both Tishman and Goldman Sachs were invited to the committee meeting, but neither company sent a representative. CB1 member Dennis Galt, who lives in Battery Park City, said he was dismayed by the absence of the invited officials. “I find it appalling that Goldman didn’t send someone tonight. It’s dismissive and inadmissible,” he said. Tishman Construction did not send a representative to the Community Board meeting either, but issued a press release the following day calling the incident “unfortunate and regrettable.” In the statement Tishman pledged to secure all plates like the one that fell and to install full-height vertical netting around the building. It will also hire an additional safety director for the site. The plate that fell was being used as a ramp to load drywall from an external hoist to the inside of the building – an activity Tishman did not have a permit for that day. The May 17 accident wasn’t the first time construction debris has fallen around the building. Last December seven tons of metal studs plunged from a crane at the site, ripping through a construction trailer and paralyzing the architect working inside. Although the city generally requires high-rise construction in residential neighborhoods to stop on weekends, it makes exceptions, and Tishman was allowed to be on the job site May 17. The committee passed a resolution demanding stronger safety regulations, including provisions that work on the site conclude by 4 p.m., at least until June 24, when the Little League season ends, and that the Department of Buildings revoke all variances for weekend work through the same period. But Doug Monticciolo, whose son Alexander was playing left field just 20 feet away when the steel plate fell, said the incident also raises new fears about future seasons, when there will be more construction even closer to the Battery Park City ballfields. “There are two more buildings going up right next door,” he said, referring to the residential complex under construction on the field’s western edge. “How can we have a safe environment here?” Monticciolo said wind had been blowing insulation off the building throughout the morning of his son’s game. “He kept pointing it out to me, but it was very light against the light sky, so I couldn’t see it,” said Doug Monticciolo, Alexander’s father. “That’s when the steel fell.” The plate, about the size of a pizza box, sliced through the sky, embedding itself six inches in the outfield turf, just 20 feet from Alexander. “It made a huge sound, like a big beam coming down,” Monticciolo said. “It scared everybody.” To Alexander, it sounded more like “a whole bunch of air rushing, like a giant storm.” Linda Casper, who was also watching the game, didn’t see the impact either, but heard it. “It was like a meteor had just hit center field,” she said. Linda’s son Theo Levine was catching for the Dodgers at the time, so he did see the steel fall. “It was green and falling very fast,” he said. “I thought that it was just a piece of wood, not metal.” Councilman Alan Gerson said the city needs to reexamine both the regulatory framework for construction and its “construction culture.” He said the new building code that goes into effect July 1 is an improvement over the current one, but more needs to be done.
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