MTA Construction Keeping Brooklynite Up At Night

The noise in New York has taken another victim. Meg Richichi of Brooklyn says she is being kept up all hours of the night as the MTA works on a 250-foot passageway between the Jay Street subway station and the R train at Lawrence Street. She told NY1 that the ongoing racket has been going on since she moved to her apartment in February, and "It’s just this continuous bang, bang, bang. Drilling that goes on and off all night, and its nerve-wracking. I wish they would stop the heavy work at night. If they have to do work, they have to do work, but drilling and jack-hammering, and cutting of pipes, I can’t tolerate it."

At first the MTA denied they were doing construction in the area at night, but finally caved and told the station they were, but have "followed Department of Environmental regulations for allowable noise and responded promptly to neighborhood complaints. Also, construction equipment such as jackhammers and trucks were equipped with mufflers in order to keep noise levels as low as possible."

They are scheduled to finish the project in March 2011. So basically, you can sleep when you're dead, Richichi!

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By Jen Carlson in News on April 28, 2010 10:55 AM

Comments [rss]

sbest2048

Close the window. Turn on a fan. Problem Solved.

I'd much rather the MTA finish the project and get off of Lawrence/Willoughby than stretch out the project timeline to accommodate more noise restrictions.

robingee

Quiet enjoyment is the situation by which the owner or occupier of the property can enjoy the benefit expected out of the property without interference or disturbance.

xgeyiph772

In a legal sense, yes. But in the real NYC, construction of buildings, roads, subways and other infrastructure has been ongoing since about 1664. To expect construction to stop just because you moved into the neighborhood is silly. For the MTA to work on a new subway passage during the day would be much more disruptive to residents and vistors alike. Her neighborhood didn't just pop-up overnight, it had to be constructed bit by bit.

xgeyiph772

Check out the NY1 video. The woman moved into a monstrously large new building that went up over the past few years in a former manufacturing/commercial area of Lawrence St. You think the construction of that monster made more than a little bit of noise when it was being built? Did it wake the neighbors nearby? Well, it doesn't matter, because SHE wasn't living there at the time. T-Y-P-I-C-A-L.

Powerhugs

Welcome to New York - pal!!!

BillyShears

Oh man. The amount of space relative to the monthly rent needs to be AWESOME if you're knowingly taking an apartment within earshot of construction.

xgeyiph772

MTA: so you moved to Lawrence Street after we began this project?

Brooklyn Lady: Yes

And now you want us to stop digging in a mostly commercial district at night, even though this project will benefit thousands of New Yorkers riding the "R" train?

Yes

Do you think we should dig during the day, when thousands of buses, trucks, cars and emergency vehicles use Lawrence Street?

Uh, maybe. When I lived in Portland, it was a lot quieter. :-0

Wza

lol

mingusahum

The MTA denied they were working there and then later caved?

I can picture pretty much every exchange with them to end the same way:

Hi MTA, so do you have a fiscally balanced budget ready?

Yeaahhhhhhh

Are you sure?

Yeah of course, its totally balanced.

Are you sure sure?

yeah, i mean, well, the thing is...alright you got me we're running massive deficits!

Son of Spam

Hi MTA, so do you have a fiscally balanced budget ready?

Yeaahhhhhhh

Are you sure?

Yeah of course, its totally balanced, unless Albany decides to take away revenue that was specifically earmarked for transit support and use it to fill holes in their own budget.

Are you sure sure?

yeah, i mean, well, the thing is, we'll probably be able to get by despite the money the state took from us by implementing administrative and service cuts.

That is, unless the revenue projections for real estate transfer tax and mobility payroll tax we got from Albany, you know, the ones that we based our budget on, were flat out wrong and the actual money we will get is much much lower. Then the budget will need to be revised again.

But, we'll try to hold off on raising the fares for as long as we can, even though Albany wants to make up for this staggering loss of funding by passing it along to our customers, so their constituents don't actually think the "tax" is coming from Albany, but rather this Public Benefit Corporation.

Fixed!