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BROOKLYN WEEKLY, MAY 26, 2019
OPEN: Surf Avenue has reopened after an eight-month construction project. Photo by Steve Solomonson
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BY AIDAN GRAHAM
Surf’s up!
Coney Island’s Surf Avenue has reopened
after an eight-month construction
project which forced closure of the densely
traveled roadway, causing painful traffi c
delays across the peninsula.
The three-phase project, which shuttered
the avenue between W. 16th and W.
21st streets, was designed to raise Surf
Avenue by three-and-a-half feet in an effort
to improve storm drainage in the
fl ood-prone neighborhood, as well as support
a massive real estate development in
the area.
While locals celebrated the reopening,
the area’s councilman chastised the government
offi cials tasked with overseeing
the project, who he said failed to properly
manage the construction effort.
“This was a bureaucratic mess,” said
Mark Treyger (D–Coney Island). “It called
into question the oversight, and accountability.
Who is in charge?”
Treyger said he understood the inherent
complications of the large-scale project,
which was done in concert with other ventures
on the cramped peninsula, and which
involved multiple government agencies,
but felt that offi cials botched basic traffi cmitigation
efforts.
“You need traffi c agents stationed at
problematic intersections,” said Treyger.
“There have been a number of times that I
had to call the NYPD and City Hall to make
sure the traffi c agents were there, because
often times, they were not.”
Treyger pointed to a recent incident
where a construction vehicle fatally struck
a 58-year-old man in the crosswalk of W.
21st Street on May 11 as evidence of lacking
safety precautions.
The construction vehicle operator, who
had been working through the weekend to
meet the project’s May 15 deadline, was issued
multiple safety equipment violations
in response to the tragedy, according to police.
Treyger also blasted the lack of communication
between agencies and other entities
throughout the project, even attempting
to centralize information fl ow through
monthly coordination meetings.
“There were times when the contractors
were doing work beyond the agreement,” he
said. “For example, you can’t close off Neptune
Avenue while Surf is closed.”
Still, Treyger stood by the decision to
fully close the roadway for eight months,
rather than the alternative option presented
by the Economic Development Corporation
— a quasi-governmental agency
tasked with growing the city’s economy
— to partially close it for three-and-a-half
years.
“Knowing what I know now, they
would’ve probably take more than threeand
a-half years,” he said. “The last eight
months have not been easy, but if they had
gone with option two, I think there would
have been more egregious violations of the
agreement, and it probably would’ve lead to
full street closures. This was the lesser of
two evils.”
‘A bureaucratic mess’
Surf Avenue reopens after eight-month project
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