Pages

Wednesday, June 7, 2017

The Build it Back Saga on West 11th and 12th Roads Continues....

Prior to the transition from EIC contractor staff who were working on the new bulkheads and raised streets on West 11th and 12th Road to contractors from the city’s Build it Back Program back in April of this year it was made crystal clear to the Build it Back staff there are multiple families who are not part of the Build it Back operation who will continue to reside in their homes on both streets.  At that time it was requested that Build it Back contractor staff remain acutely aware of these remaining families and occupied properties and afford them a modicum of courtesy and consideration so as to not inordinately impact their day to lives (parking, deliveries, street ingress/egress, driveway access. refuse removal, etc.)

Recently when reminding a contractor of the above I was told that perhaps I was “over-reacting” to the work on the block because, and I quote, "...you probably never had to deal with construction activity of this magnitude before."   After taking a deep breath I advised this contractor that residing on West 12th Road I have experienced some 2+ years of significant construction activity with EIC and other contractors constructing a new bulkhead at the bay end as well as ripping up the entire length of the street for new infrastructure and then constructing a newly raised roadbed along the same length of road.  I also added that the difference between the EIC/DDC operation and the present Build it Back operation is one of an awareness of and consideration for those residents their work impacts.  EIC excelled at it while Build it Back appears either unwilling or unable to grasp the concept.

It has long been held that the definition of insanity is repeating the same actions, over and over again, each time expecting a different result.  Since  I believe both myself and my neighbors are of sound minds, I suggest the time for half-baked apologies, veiled assurances and finger pointing is over.  Someone has to place the proverbial size 10 up the rear ends of some of these contractors and wake them up to the reality of the environment they are working in.

There is absolutely no excuse for what follows below....



Earlier this week, at approximately 11:30 am Monday morning, contractors apparently took it upon themselves to cut a Verizon Fios feed line in order to accommodate their work at the top of West 12th Road.  The contractors neatly rolled up the line and stuck it out of site at base of a telephone pole.  In cutting this feed line, the contractors effectively eliminated all Verizon Fios service to all customers on the north side of West 12th Road.

Affected residents made individual calls for service to Verizon which resulted in a technician arriving on the block the following day (Tuesday) when it was quickly determined that the wholesale outage on the north side of West 12th Road was caused by the cut line at the top of the street.  Initial conversations with involved parties had the contractors quickly disavowing any involvement in this matter and said that Verizon must have cut the line. Verizon technicians steadfastly and incredulously denied cutting the service.

One unidentified contractor joked that it was a "he said - she said" situation and we would never know who the actual culprit was.  At that time I mentioned that over the past several weeks I have personally noted intermittent Verizon interruptions which occurred only on work days when the Build it Back contractors were present on the block and I posited that these intermittent outages were a result of contractor manipulation of the Verizon lines to accommodate their work.  I also noted that I found it hard to believe that any Verizon technician would intentionally cut service to an entire block of customers and simply depart the area.

Verizon service to the north side of West 12th Road was restored at 12:55 pm Wednesday, some 50 hours after the initial outage.



Recently one of our neighbors on West 11th Road who is displaced while her house is being raised, returned on a weekend to check the progress of the lift and discovered that her home's Central Air unit had been disconnected from the house and had been placed under the raised structure where it was destroyed by recent and significant tidal flooding .  The water line on the exterior of the unit indicates it was more than 50% submerged in the tidal salt water.

Obviously distressed, the homeowner contacted the contractor raising her property asking how this could have happened.  The contractor's response was not only similar to the response from the contractors on West 12th Road regarding the Verizon Fios line but actually took their denial to a new and absurd level, and I quote...

"Do you know if any of your neighbors have a security camera?   We need to find out who removed your condenser from the back deck and did what they did.  Some one meant to cause harm."

What is this, a dime store novel..."We need to find out who removed your condenser from the back deck and did what they did. Some one meant to cause harm"...are you kidding me?   

The homeowner had to remind the contractor that perhaps he forgot that when his workers leave  at the end of each work day the property is secured behind a wrap around fence and a locked gate!


BiB contractors have placed a dumpster directly in front of the entrance to an occupied home on the south side of West 12th Road and have effectively blocked the resident's access to their driveway during the day.  The homeowner contacted BiB stating "I have had a dumpster outside my house for almost 10 days now. I am unable to bring anything heavy in or out, have no driveway...along with very little garbage pick-up. Before that I was blessed with port-a-potties, first one, then two....How much longer do I have to deal with this?...I really think this is unfair..."  




This past week contractors have been utilizing the area directly in front of  an occupied home at the bay end of West 12th Road to store tools and stack railroad ties.  The railroad ties on the right are smack in the middle of the homeowners driveway.  


Lest we forget the owner of this residence on the north side of West12th Road who awoke to find a "Call a Head" portable toilet smack in the middle of her driveway where it remained for several days until it was finally relocated!



The owner of an occupied property on the end of West 12th Road missed a schedule furniture delivery because the above 30' rig was parked for several hours across the front of his property (including a driveway) while delivering "I" beams and railroad ties to a contractor with no prior notice to the homeowner advising which contractor was involved.



Unimpeded access for a Sanitation truck on a recent Thursday morning?

As they say in Brooklyn - "Fuggedaboutit"!

In closing, there are several other (and more egregious) complaints regarding inconsiderate behavior on the part of Build it Back contractors that have been brought to my attention but I have not included them here as I have been unable to verify them at this time.  Nevertheless, I think the above incidents speak for themselves.

1 comment:

  1. A couple of weeks ago there was a cable drooping slow low in front of my house at 51 W 12 that the mail man had to duck I called Con Ed not theirs I called Time Warner (Spectrum) not theirs I tried calling Verizon and because I don't have Verizon they tried to sell me their product. I spoke to Fern and I don't know who but someone pulled it up. Now I see it's starting to droop again, and I read that a Verizon wire was cut. Is it a Verizon wire? I don't know but it will keep drooping.
    Thank you

    ReplyDelete