« Accountable Development Working Group Meets this Wednesday | Main | Forest City in the News »
July 29, 2008
Glaring gap: AY EIS ignored noise, vibration, disruptions faced by footprint residents
Atlantic Yards Reoprt
Maybe the authors of the Atlantic Yards Environmental Impact Study and the Empire State Development Corporation assumed that all of the remaining residents and property owners in the footprint of Bruce Ratner's controversial project would be driven out by the time construction started.
Grating, honking noise from construction equipment. Vibrations that shake buildings, enforcing a 7 a.m. wake-up call. Cracks in building walls and steps. Dust and dislodged paint in the house. Unsavory diesel and sewer aromas. Surprise cutoffs of water and gas. Long waits for restoration of utilities.
That’s life some days for the people--fewer than two dozen--living on the north side of Dean Street between Flatbush and Sixth Avenues in the Atlantic Yards footprint, as massive construction equipment is used to upgrade water and sewer connections destined to help service an 18,000-seat arena and thousands of apartments.
Here’s the catch: the Empire State Development Corporation’s (ESDC) voluminous environmental review, required to disclose the potential impacts of the project, said nothing about the impact on those in the footprint, whether residents or those working at or visiting Freddy’s Bar & Backroom, on the corner.
The Final Environmental Impact Statement (FEIS), which detailed the potential impact of the project, did acknowledge that construction activities might be “perceptible and annoying in buildings very close to a construction site.” But it didn’t acknowledge that some “very close” buildings might be on the north side of Dean Street, destined to be demolished for the project.
Read the rest of the article, which contrasts the impacts outlined in the Environmental Impact Statement with the reality of unscheduled utility shutoffs, cracking buildings, and the 345C L Hydraulic Excavator, plus bonus coverage of what our elected and appointed officials are doing about it.
Posted by lumi at July 29, 2008 4:40 AM