Friday, March 8, 2013

Next phase in Cabrini conversion: Unbearable jackhammering



Developer Ben Shaoul's conversion of the former Cabrini Center into residences continues on Avenue B and East Fifth Street.

Now, according to a Cabrini neighbor, workers have turned their attention to the surrounding area.

"Having jackhammered every inch on the ground floor of the Cabrini building ... they have taken to jackhammering the pavement around the building," the neighbor told us. "If it was loud before, it is even louder now. My floor, walls and entire apartment shake like a minor earthquake. The noise starts just before 7 and doesn't end until after 6."

The resident describes the noise as "unbearable." The resident has called 311. But. The resident wonders if there are alternate solutions for filing a complaint.

"They post no notices or heads-up to the surrounding residences and appear to have no regard for people who live in the neighborhood and have to deal with the constant noise," the resident said. "It remains to be seen if this is also acceptable for their Saturday permit."

The workers are back at the outdoor jackhammering this morning.



Previously on EV Grieve:
Cabrini Center patients out by the end of today; closes for good June 30

More details on Cabrini's closing announcement

19 comments:

Anonymous said...

Try contacting the Department of Buildings "BEST Squad." I have heard they are good.
Buildings Enforcement Safety Team (BEST):
280 Broadway, 5th Floor
Phone: (212) 669-7043
BEST@buildings.nyc.gov

Anonymous said...

Rosie Mendez has sold the East village down the river. She hasn't done anything but conform. No press conferences for this or anything else. She writes letters. Letters do nothing. Pathetic.

Margarita Lopez is another one. She's going to put luxury housing at Compos Plaza and Meltzer Towers.

She is a real Bloomberg original. The first compromise came when she conformed to the Avalon Bay complexes. In exchange she was given a job as NYCHA Commissioner. What has happened to the area including NYCHA since Avalon Bay? Deterioration and corruption.

It's like Rosie, Margarita, Quinn, Bloomberg. Shame on both of them.



Anonymous said...

I believe that Cabrini could have been saved. Oh well. Rosie and Margarita have their housing. Don't even bother to call Rosie's office for any help with DOB. It's a waste of time.

http://www.nypost.com/p/news/local/manhattan/city_officials_among_gal_only_tenants_JIWPNImAB6ZrmNBKIHA8LN

http://christine-quinn-sold-out.blogspot.com/2012/08/NYCHA-Scandal-On-The-Brian-Lehrer-Show.html

Anonymous said...

Margarita and Rosie are the worst. The reason NYCHA is broke is because Margarita and the other members of the Board take six figure salaries and watch as the management of NYCHA squanders whatever resources they have. Now the solution is luxury development, how about giving up their salaries and protesting the cuts the Feds are making, instead of giving away everything to Bloomie and his gang of private developers. What a joke.

Gojira said...

@Anon 10:58 - actually, La Margarita's first "compromise" (read: sellout) came in the 1990s when she helped engineer the building of a luxury condo tower on top of her buddy Crystal Field's Theater for the New City. Crystal had run the theater into the ground financially and whined that she would lose the place if she could not sell the air rights; Ms. Lopez pushed through a deal with the EDC to let it happen, her rabidly anti-gentrification cronies (read: hypocrites) on CB#3 fell into line behind her and they all voted for that abomination. Thanks, Margarita - for nothing.

Anonymous said...

GOLES and The Cooper Square Committee are pretty pathetic too. They are weak and submissive.

Damaris Reyes, Joyce Ravitz and Chris Quinn all recently attended a special fundraising event celebrating Rosie's 50th Birthday.

Anonymous said...

Thanks Gojira!

Anonymous said...

This is an excerpt from a Daily News Article dated October 10, 2012. It's about corrupt former City Councilman Larry Seabrook. He was considered worst member in terms of attendance.

"He wasn’t the only Councilmember with an attendance problem: Queens Councilman James Gennaro came in second to Seabrook, missing 26% of his meetings; Manhattan Councilwoman Rosie Mendez was a no-show 25% of the time; while Brooklyn Councilwoman Darlene Mealy and Queens Councilman James Sanders Jr. duked it out for a tie at 24%"

Rosie Mendez came in third place.


Anonymous said...

Please do NOT let QUINN win. Some people who are voting for her have no idea how terrible her agenda is...the same with all the aforementioned fools. The media has been promoting her because she is a puppet of publicity. I still cannot get over that terribly offensive New York magazine cover. Maybe some more catnip ? She also was behind Bloomberg's rolling back the third term policy, among many other blatant policies.

If we want to be pro-active, then we ALL need to volunteer-- including me-- to stop this homogeneity of bland OMG and increasing stroller attack of monopolizing for a more increasingly washed out atmosphere of grey. Just getting off the F train stop after work at night has been a horrifying experience of weaving between loud, screaming, predominantly unattractive groups of people, who block the sidewalks or yell in your face for further proof that they do exist and matter in the world.

We must also start at the local level. Remove CB3 current members who have helped to bring on this current state of affairs.


Progress is fluid. It doesn't have to be so bad.

Be positive. I am.
Lucie Gato

on behalf of felines everywhere

and, one heck of a cat...

glamma said...

Lucie Gato I love you.
It's true.
The recent transplants are not only vapid and self-possesed, but largely fat and unattractive as well.
We must do SOMETHING to prevent these hoardes from reproducing in NYC at once!
DOUBLE YUCK!

Anonymous said...

Hi Glamma! Thanks for all the love!!

I don't imply anything personally specific about anyone nor would I ever other than the politics and ideas imposed (as a once feral cat I have had my share of criticism, ahh, but that is in the past...), but rather I comment on the collective behavior of groups which tend to be predominantly unattractive. There is a fervent lack of respect and a terrible sense of entitlement that is particularly shocking as you emerge from the subterranean "Homesick" blues of the F train.

Its also why I love the accordion player who plays late at night. Its a fitting prelude.

Love and stay inside all you gatos. You know who you are.
You too Glamma;)!

Much love from the comforter,

Lucie Gato

Anonymous said...

Instead of all this drama over another 7-11 why aren't people doing something to prevent all this new luxury housing going up in the neighborhhod. Campos Plaza is now slated for luxury development as is Mary Help of Christians and the attached parking lot. Yes that's right a school, a church and the location of our great flea market will be bulldozed for more luxury housing. All this energy behind stopping a 7-11, for what, so that the rich folks in the luxury housing across the street and living in Campos Plaza have another fancy artisinal eatery to go to? What do people think is gonna go in the space? If we continue carrying on about 7-11, Fro-Yo, Santacon and all this stuff and don't so anything about the ever expanding luxury housing, then the East Village will look just like Nolita or Bleeker street in the west village. A bunch of pretty buildings that look nice on the outside, but have been cleansed of the working class people who once inhabited them. Wake-up folks, the 7-11 isn't our real problem it is the elected officials who are all owned by the real estate developers and the nightlife industry. How about some direct action around this?

Crazy Eddie said...

Anony 4.02. The 7-11 AND all of the other issues you have mentioned need to be on the political radar for this fall's election. Thanks. And Quinn must be stopped.

Anonymous said...

UPDATE:
The Noise is intermittent (they take breaks) but when its on its EXTREMELY LOUD.

Gojira said...

@Anon 4:02 - Fine, what's your plan? We await your thoughts on how, where and when to begin.

It's always so much easier to suggest "people" do something, rather than stepping up to the plate and beginning the process yourself.

poopy pants said...

Have those in the neighborhood disturbed by the excessive noise forgotten how to drop piss bombs?

Anonymous said...

@Gijira

Here's one. Join the fight to change the direction of the SPURA Plan. We need 100% affordable housing now.

http://www.thelodownny.com/leslog/2013/03/oped-lets-not-miss-a-once-in-a-generation-opportunity-to-get-spura-right.html


Here's another one to get involved in.


Please attend March 15th, 2013:

Downtown Neighborhood Coalition Meeting
Friday March 15
6:00 PM - 7:30 PM
REI Community Room
The PUCK Building
303 Lafayette Street (at Houston)

Please RSVP by March 12th, 2013: info@lesdwellers.org.
Note: If there are other community activist groups you know who might be interested in attending, please have them email info@lesdwellers.org for details.

There is power in numbers. Please join the list and let's take back our communities!

In addition there are activists in the East Village and LES who have been able to either close or stop dozens of douchey lounges/restaurants and bars from opening.

Some examples in the EV are: The former Superdive space will now become an animal hospital, Avenue A and 2nd Street was going to be a late night eatery and it's now a deli, the pet shop on A was going to be another wine bar-instead it's a hair salon, the former Aces & Eights is now a karate school-art school and doggy daycare center, the former nuisance Sin-Sin on Second Avenue is now a burger franchise, and so many more examples of where activists have stepped in.

Maybe we can't bring back the places of the past because of the rents, but whatever we can do in this crisis we should do.

Noone is enthusiastic about any of the chains. It's just that local developers, landlords, restauranteurs, lounge/bar owners, have turned the EV and LES into an entertainment area to accommodate tourists staying at the hotels as well as assholes from everywhere.

As more and more luxury hotels and luxury housing go up the new model is to turn the East Village and Lower Eastside into a very upscale community.

The problem with more liquor licenses is that they are a sellable asset. Therefore if a business gets a liquor license and isn't successful, they will sell it, and so will the next unsuccessful business. At this point it's big money.

Here's an example: This is about the gastopub Spitzer's Corner at 101 Rivinton Street. "apparently the asking price is in the neighborhood of $2.5 million".
http://www.boweryboogie.com/2013/03/report-shamlians-fat-baby-and-spitzers-in-trouble/

If A and 11th wasn't turning into a 7-11, it would be either a very upscale restaurant or Kate Spade handbags. That is what hoteliers, restauranteurs, luxury housing developers, lounge/bar owners, other business owners, the community board and public officials are counting on. They have been very successful in destroying our community.

Anonymous said...

GETTING BACK TO THE JACKHAMMERING...
Call 311 if they start a minute before 7am...
Call 311 if they go a minute over 6pm...
Call 311 if they are working Saturday...
In fact, check the DOB site and see if they have a permit for jackhammers. By law they are required to muffle the noise. By law they are required to wet down their work area to keep the dust down (I'm sure it's getting into surrounding apartments).

Will calling 311 actually DO anything? No. BUT you will have a record and a pattern of abuse by both Shaoul AND the DOB can start to be revealed.

Don't be afraid to make your own noise!

Anonymous said...

...happened to walk by yesterday (Saturday) around 1 pm and yes the jackhammering was happening. VERY loud, and I am sorry for people who are stuck listening to it all day. Also sorry for the poor guy running the machine with no ear protection.