Shelter construction ruins neighbors' homes

From CBS New York:

As CBS 2′s Elise Finch reported, residents in the Flatlands section of Brooklyn say they’ve endured months of house-shaking construction related to the construction of a nearly 200-bed, city-commissioned homeless shelter on East 45th Street.

Homeowners in houses adjacent to the site say when crews used pile drivers to insert poles deep into the soil to provide support for the building, the vibrations were so violent they shook the entire block and caused costly cracks in dozens of homes.

In 2013, the city Department of Buildings issued seven violations to the project’s general contractor, Townhouse Builders, which was hired by the site’s developer, Helm Equities. Records show Townhouse Builders failed to follow the rules of pile driving.

All of the violations have since been resolved with the city, but residents say the damage to their homes has not. They want the developer to pay for repairs to their homes.