4 SEPTEMBER 6, 2018 RIDGEWOOD TIMES WWW.QNS.COM
Comptroller will expedite Middle Village sewer project
BY RYAN KELLEY
RKELLEY@RIDGEWOODTIMES.COM
TWITTER @R_KELLEY6
It was deja vu for a group of local
elected officials as they walked
along 74th Street in Middle Village
on Tuesday, listening to the concerns
of local residents about another
botched sewer project.
City Comptroller Scott Stringer
joined Councilman Robert Holden,
Senator Joseph Addabbo and Assemblyman
Brian Barnwell on Sept. 4 for
his second summer trip to the area
in consecutive years, this time to observe
the damage left by the Penelope
Avenue sewer project that was stalled
due to contaminants found in the soil.
In August of 2017, Stringer walked
through Maspeth to see similar problems
that were caused by the Calamus
Avenue sewer project.
Stringer also announced his intention
to expedite an $8 million change
order required to restart the stalled
project. According to Holden, the
additional money is needed to cover
the cost of properly disposing of the
contaminated soil, which must be
hauled all the way to New Jersey.
“I don’t pretend to be an expert on
these matters, but this is a very beautiful
neighborhood, but a very unusual
street,” Stringer said. “This is not the
way streets are confi gured, and I think
we need to get more experts out here
so we can prevent more damage from
happening, and that’s what I’m going to
commit to do with all of you.”
The elected offi cials spoke to many
residents of 74th Street to hear about
the struggles they have faced because
of the prolonged construction, and
lack thereof. The digging and drilling
along the street has caused structural
damage to many properties, including
cracks in stoops, foundations and the
sidewalks in front of homes.
One resident, Lina Lotrean, welcomed
the offi cials into her back yard
as she pushed her grandson in a stroller.
She lift ed the wheels of the stroller
over two large cracks in the concrete
of her patio that formed during the
construction, she said.
For others, the severe fl ooding aft er
any heavy rainstorm that necessitated
the work in the fi rst place is still the
worst part.
“My daughter, when it heavily rains,
she actually locks herself in her closet
and cries,” said Nancy Demino, a 74th
Street resident for the past 10 years.
“So this is getting bad. This is getting
vicious, and it’s not fair to the kids
that have to grow up in this kind of
environment.”
The sewer reconstruction in the
area was promised to the residents in
2007 aft er a severe storm caused major
Senator Joseph Addabbo, Assemblyman Brian Barnwell, Councilman Robert Holden, Comptroller Scott Stringer and
local resident Nancy Demino look at damage from a sewer project on 74th Street in Middle Village on Sept. 4.
fl ooding and damage. The $22 million
project did not begin until 2014, and
it was scheduled to be completed this
summer before the contaminated soil
was uncovered. According to Holden,
a Middle Village native, the neighborhood
was developed decades ago atop
a landfi ll, so the Department of Design
and Construction (DDC) should have
known the soil could be problematic.
“They didn’t even know it, and that’s
the problem I have with DDC,” Holden
said. “They didn’t know where they
were working. All they had to do was
Photos by Ryan Kelley/Ridgewood Times
ask somebody who has lived here all
their lives.”
Barnwell, whose representatives
were also involved with the Calamus
Avenue visit last summer, said that the
continued problems with sewers in the
district and the apparent neglect from
city agencies is unacceptable.
“The damage we saw today is hurtful
for the neighborhood, but this is nowhere
near what we have seen in the
past on videos and pictures,” Barnwell
said. “There’s no oversight on all of
these projects, and it’s getting out of
hand.”
While Addabbo thanked Stringer
for making the trip out to the neighborhood
again, he reiterated that the
project must be completed as soon as
possible so that his constituents no
longer have to live in fear.
“Now that it’s here, now that it’s
started, we’ve got to keep it moving
forward,” Addabbo said. “We cannot
live in fear of every heavy rainfall …
when you come upon an unforeseen
situation like this soil, we have to have
the mechanisms available to move on,
and to move quickly, and we’re not
seeing it here.”
Holden added that he was told the
project could be back underway by
Thanksgiving, but he wants it to begin
even sooner, and the timeline for
completion aft er it resumes is unclear.
Despite Stringer’s visit to Calamus
Avenue last summer, that project still
does not have a clear timeline for completion
either.
A spokesperson for the DDC said
that once Stringer approves the $8
million change order, the agency will
“immediately direct the contractor to
re-start work.”
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