Results tagged “repair”

The Manhattan Bridge has been plagued with problems since it was constructed 100 years ago... and the ol' gal still isn't perfect after all this time. The NY Times reports that a $150 million project will soon be underway to replace all of the vertical suspension cables on the bridge, causing disruptions in weekend subway service (B, D, N and Q lines), closing the bikeway and even shutting down some traffic lanes... for the next four years. (The cyclists will have to share a pedestrian walkway.)

There's good news for the famously decaying Windermere, a complex of three 1881 apartment buildings in Hell's Kitchen that was landmarked in 2005. The Japanese owner of the structure, Masako Yamagata, has finally agreed to a settlement with seven tenants who had to be evacuated in 2007 because of the extreme decay. They'll collectively share $2.6 million in exchange for relinquishing claims on their apartments, and Yamagata has also agreed to pay $1.1 million in civil penalties to the city for failing to maintain the building. A judge had issued a court order last year requiring Yamagata to repair the landmark, but the city had been unable to enforce it because he was in Japan. Once a buyer expressed serious interest in purchasing the Windermere, Yamagata finally settled so he could unload it for an undisclosed sum. The buyer has promised make all necessary repairs to the complex, which was popular with single working women and artists at the turn of the 20th century. When it opened, it was known for its technological marvels like the hydraulic elevator and telephone.

The Department of Housing Preservation and Development spent more than $4 million this year to maintain 113 buildings that have been all but abandoned by their landlords. These landlords are required to reimburse taxpayers for the work, but until then the city places a lien on the properties, most of which are located in Bushwick, Bedford-Stuyvesant, Prospect Heights and East New York. Yet despite the emergency repairs, conditions at some of these residences are still utterly appalling. Angelica Jimenez of Bushwick tells the Daily News, "Every night, we have rats in my apartment—big ones! They walk all over the kitchen and that's not nice. I kill them. I have no choice, I can't afford to move." City Councilwoman Diana Reyna sees a pattern, and speculates that landlords in Bushwick are neglecting repairs to drive out low-income residents, thus enabling them to cash in on the neighborhood's proximity to trendy Williamsburg by renting to hipsters.