Thursday, May 8, 2014
East Side Access project damages a business
From CBS New York:
An $11 billion construction project is on track to improve commutes on the rails, but some residents and business owners in Queens have said it is making a mess.
As CBS 2’s Dave Carlin reported exclusively Tuesday, the East Side Access Project is intended to create a new railroad and tunnel to link Manhattan to Long Island.
But caught in the middle are Marc Newman and his business, Standard Refrigerators.
As CBS 2′s Dave Carlin reported, Newman blames construction for the East Side Access Project, which has involved blasting and tunneling across Queens and under Manhattan, with rattling and ripping apart his business.
“When they could have taken care of us, they didn’t,” Newman said.
Newman showed Carlin his property line, abutting the tracks with loose soil on a hill that sends water into his business.
He claims the damage estimate from cracks and flooding is up to $60,000 and counting.
8 comments:
The tunnel linking Manhattan and Queens, you know, part of Long Island, was finished decades ago.
The tracks don't dive down underground until they get into Sunnyside yards do they? Has construction on that segment even started? Won't it be cut and cover to avoid destroying the active LIRR mainline and heavily used rail yard over there? This guy looks to be on the wrong side of the yards for the tunneling that has taken place so far to have any effect on him and his property. The rails being up the hill isn't new. You blast to deal with bedrock in Manhattan, not to get through soft soil in Queens. What does any of this have to do with East Side Access? Other parts of Sunnyside might suffer from the construction, but how does this Refrigerator place?
If I had to guess, maybe the building wasn't constructed to withstand the vibration from hundreds of LIRR trains rattling by every day. Those tracks have been there for a long time, so it's something you'd need to keep in mind when building anything there. So you get some cracks eventually. Then the hill the tracks have always been on and have always sent water flowing down started to be a big problem.
45-02 37th Ave.: The construction they are complaining about happened about 110 years ago. That hill, that vibration, that rain runoff, etc. has been going on in that area for a very, very, long time.
Cavets to anyone abutting rail lines. I can't figure out this operation's exact address... but I think Anon #1 has it right: it's hard to see how this particular mess is something the owner should be reimbursed for...
You folks crack me up. You can very clearly hear the pile drivers in this video, which was shot not too far from this business. So no, that hill, that vibration, that rain runoff, etc. has NOT been going on in that area for a very, very, long time, which is why the head of capital projects said they were planting the hillside and installing sewers to prevent runoff. The business deserves compensation.
Could it be the Harold Interlocking work? (Asking, not telling)
What video? Your link is broken. How are the hill and train vibration and rain runoff not new? Where were the trains coming from before? If you want to blame the problems on something else, fine, but how can you claim that the trains haven't been running there for a very long time? And why aren't all the other buildings closer to the construction complaining of damage? Maybe this building just wasn't built to last.
'planting the hillside and installing sewers to prevent runoff' Cheap fixes that don't seem to admit any liability. What's your point?
And asking if it's Harold interlocking work, as part of thae Harold interlocking relief project two bypasses are being built to allow amtrak trains heading towards Boston via Hell's Gate Bridge, and to be used by any metro north trains that are ever routed into Penn Station, to minimize conflict (crossing in front of) LIRR and NJ Transit trains, the latter of which sometimes deadhead into Sunnyside yard after finishing a run into Penn. Those little tunnels are probably going to come closer to the refrigerator place than the tunnels for ESA will.
Jesus, we got some railroad foamers here, it seems. I just checked and the link works fine. No one said the trains haven't been running there for a long time. They said the damage is new. And why do cheap fixes if no fixes are required?
It could be Harold interlocking work. It's still damage being done by railroad construction. Why do some buildings sustain damage during an earthquake and others don't? It's the same principle here.
Extend the N over Hell Gate to the 6
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