By COLlive reporter
A large construction project which has been ongoing on President Street near Kingston Avenue in Crown Heights will be halted this Thursday due to the upcoming Pesach holiday, COLlive has learned.
Rabbi Chanina Sperlin, Crown Heights community activist, has requested the assistance of the office of NYC Mayor Eric Adams in arranging for the work to be stopped to allow for Crown Heights residents to prepare for the upcoming holiday.
“Thanks to the efforts of Fred Kreizman – Commissioner of the Community Affairs Unit and Uri Fraenkel – Director of Special Projects for City Hall, the work will stop this coming Thursday to allow residents to shop and ease the flow of traffic which is typical in the busy days leading up to Pesach,” Sperlin said.
Sperlin said he plans to meet with City Hall once again to discuss the plans for restarting the work following Pesach, which will also take place on the community’s main shopping boulevard Kingston Avenue.
“I will be requesting that they work around the clock so that the project takes less time, so that residents will hopefully be inconvenienced for a shorter amount of days and weeks ahead,” Sperlin said. “Bridge and highway construction takes place during the night as well, so as to affect traffic less, why can’t they do that here?”
Sperlin also said he plans to ask for breaks in the work every day from 7:30 am – 9:30 am to facilitate school bus traffic as well. He also says the work should be done on Saturdays, when residents anyways don’t mind if the streets are closed.
Sperlin, who has been working to make sure the construction projects are done with the community’s needs in mind together with Devorah Halberstam – Honorary NYPD Commissioner, Yaacov Behrman – Director of the Jewish Future Alliance, and activist Avi Lesches, thanked Fred Kreizman and Uri Fraenkel, as well as Menashe Schapiro – Deputy Mayor for Communications, and Moshe Davis – Senior Liaison for Community Affairs, for their assistance with the matter.
Last month, residents were frustrated that the construction project closed off President Street during the busy holiday of Purim.
At the time, Yaacov Behrman told COLlive.com he had informed the City’s Department of Design and Construction, which oversees the project, and the contractor about a year ago of the impending holiday, asking them to suspend work during that day. However the schedule of work included construction during Purim.
“The contractor’s continued disregard for community concerns raises serious questions as they move into Kingston Avenue,” Behrman said, saying that he expected them “to be sensitive to the community’s needs and respectful of future holidays.”
nobody is a better friend than Eric Adams, he has even appointed Richie Taylor to protect us from various dangers and things are getting better.
Yessir. things are getting better. BH. there is a ways to go tho.
This won’t help because they are still keeping all their stuff on the block which means we still have nowhere to park or stop to unload!
Thank you Chanina!
Keep up the good work.
Thank you for asking them to speed up the job, but – unlike bridges and highways – there are homes on President Street, with bedrooms in the front, and the noise of construction during the night would greatly disturb the sleep. Also, if they take a break from 7:30 to 9:30 am for school busses, please ask them to work 12-hour shifts from 9:30 am through 9:30 pm only and let the residents have their quiet during the night. Thank you for all your efforts on our behalf.
Thank you!!!!
What about the people who live on the street and already are disturbed by the early morning start of construction? Pushing the work to nighttime and weekends will further disrupt the sleep and lives of the people who live right near the construction. Traffic isn’t the only consideration!
ok fine. well just leave you with 100 year old sewers, enjoy. Construction is loud, it is what it is. live with it.
Exactly, and construction also disrupts traffic. Why aren’t you suggesting that all the people driving don’t just “put up with it”. Its preposterous to suggest nighttime construction as a solution in a residential neighborhood.
Completely agree.
The quality of life of the residents on President St is also an important factor that should be taken into consideration.
We have been dealing with this endless construction for months and should not have to put up with nighttime noise as well!
Would be better for them to work over yom tov when no one is driving anyway so we can all be finished with this ordeal as soon as possible.
Sincerely,
Frustrated President St Resident