Wednesday's parting shots

Seems like old times on Seventh Street at First Avenue...

Previously

A water main break on 7th Street at Avenue C

City crews continue work on Seventh Street just west of Avenue C... there was a report of a "water condition" here at 1:13 a.m. ... (A reader told us it was a water main break...)

Water Condition: Expect emergency personnel and traffic delays in the area of East 7th Street and Avenue C in Manhattan. Consider alternate routes. Multilingual & ASL Link: https://t.co/1AMbHyhIEU.

— NYCEM - Notify NYC (@NotifyNYC) April 24, 2022

Seventh Street is closed to through traffic between Avenue B and C.

Another reader reported that the city has shut down the water to the block. (This after low water pressure last night.) 

Hopefully, this is something that can be repaired quickly...

Good news-bad news about the water-main work on 7th Street and 1st Avenue

Here's some positive news about the roadwork taking place on the west side of First Avenue at Seventh Street in recent months.

A rep for the Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) told Community Board 3 late last week that the contractor has completed the water-main installation on the west side of the intersection and between First Avenue and Second Avenue. 

Workers have also removed those noisy metal plates and filled in the roadway with temporary asphalt.

So far, so good with the west side of this intersection. However, the contractor is now scheduled to begin similar work on the east side of First Avenue and Seventh Street. 

According to the DEP rep, crews will be installing the new water main on the east sidewalk of First Avenue, "about 40 feet (give or take) to the north of the north curb line and 40 feet (give or take) to the south of the south curb line of Seventh Street."

In addition, the project calls for the installation of a water main pipe up to the mid-block on Seventh Street between First Avenue and Avenue A. (The rep said that this will be done without "disturbing" any outdoor dining structures on Seventh Street east of First Avenue.) 

"We have also requested the contractor to divide this work into phases," the DEP rep said. "This will minimize the number of road plates on location for the duration of the project."

No word on a timeline for the east side. The repair work on the west side of the intersection began in early May.

As previously reported, there were back-to-back breaks here in late December. The multiple ruptures sent water rushing into businesses and residences along Seventh Street between First Avenue and Avenue A. 

The work earlier this summer disrupted the lives of residents and businesses due to the all-consuming noise, both during the day when the work crew was on the scene and after-hours when cars and trucks would pass over the multiple metal plates on the roadway. (Read our posts here and here.)

Our coverage, as well as a follow-up piece in the Post, apparently got the attention of the DEP, who told the paper: 

"The ongoing upgrades to the critical infrastructure that serves the East Village must be carried out in a way that respects the residents and businesses in the area and we have directed our contractors to take several steps to ensure that this happens. Inspectors will be following up with regular visits."

Businesses and residents can file service complaints with Community Board 3 via this link. 

Checking in on the intersection of 7th Street and 1st Avenue

Last week, EVG regular Daniel Efram reported on the hellish roadwork consuming the west side of First Avenue at Seventh Street.

Crews reporting to the Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) returned to the intersection to replace portions of the water main back in May. 

As previously reported, there were back-to-back breaks here in late December. The multiple ruptures sent water rushing into businesses and residences along Seventh Street between First Avenue and Avenue A. 

Neighbors talked about an all-consuming noise, both during the day when the work crew was on the scene, and after-hours when cars and trucks would pass over the multiple metal plates on the roadway.

Neighbors now report a slight improvement, as workers removed some of the metal plates and hauled away stacks of old pipes and other constructions materials left scattered on the curb along Seventh Street (thanks to Steven for these photos...)

Over the weekend, the Post picked up our story (even linking to EVG, a rarity — clunk).

The folks at E7 Deli & Cafe on the northeast corner of First Avenue and Seventh Street are understandably not happy. A few hours after their grand opening this past December one of the water main breaks flooded the basement.

"It is a big pain in the ass, I am pissed off," E7 owner Esam Alreyashi told the paper about the ongoing construction. "There's noise every day."

Local City Councilmember Carlina Rivera's office has been working with the DEP to clean up the site and do a better job of securing the metal plates.

The Post also got a comment from a DEP spokesperson:

"The ongoing upgrades to the critical infrastructure that serves the East Village must be carried out in a way that respects the residents and businesses in the area and we have directed our contractors to take several steps to ensure that this happens. Inspectors will be following up with regular visits."

Still no word on an end date for the work.

[Updated] Construction hell is consuming the intersection of 1st Avenue at 7th Street

Photos and story by Daniel Efram

The ongoing roadwork on the west side of First Avenue at Seventh Street continues to negatively impact the quality of life for both residents and business owners along this corridor. Noise from backhoes, earth flatteners, jackhammers, circular saws, and cars and commercial cartage trucks on the uneven metal plates on the streets and avenues have brought this intersection to a boiling point.

Piping and construction materials, garbage and standing water are the norms. Human waste oozes from the rarely emptied portable toilets. Worst of all — there isn't any timetable for the end of the roadwork.

Crews reporting to the Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) returned to the intersection to replace portions of the water main back in May. 

As previously reported, there were back-to-back breaks here in late December. The multiple ruptures sent water rushing into businesses and residences along Seventh Street between First Avenue and Avenue A. 

In the weeks/months after the breaks, there was a patchwork of quick fixes on the intersection, and a hodge-podge of sinkholes and cracked surfaces emerged

The DEP contractors covered the various holes with metal plates, and the sound of cars, trucks and buses driving over the plates overnight has disrupted the sleep of residents living within earshot.

   

A resident assembled the above video in March — a best-of montage of cars and trucks driving over the metal plates.

However, it's not just the noise — the reverberations have caused cracks in several nearby buildings. Two residents in the area said when they called 311, the city eventually dispatched inspectors, who subsequently fined the landlords for the cracks in the buildings exacerbated by the ongoing street repairs. Meanwhile, there has been near-constant jackhammering in the past two-plus months, with some complaints being lodged for work on Saturdays. Residents said they are also irked by workers apparently slacking off on the job and crews taking weeks off without explanation. "I live in one of the buildings on the corner and have had a front-row seat to the shoddy work and laissez-faire attitude of this crew since December," said one resident, who asked to remain anonymous. "They show up at 7 a.m. with a crew of six or so, stand around yelling to each other until about 10 a.m., work for an hour, take lunch, work for a little bit more and finish by 2 or 3 p.m." According to the resident, only a few workers will be active at any given time, and they "walk around like they own the block." "They have taken over a huge part of our block and make no effort to clean up where they have worked or minimize the effects on the residents," the resident said. According to the residents I spoke to, there appears to be little, if any, oversight on this sprawling project. Several residents said they have reached out to local elected officials, including City Council Member Carlina Rivera, Assemblymember Harvey Epstein and Manhattan Borough President Gale Brewer, to request immediate accountability with a transparent timeline — delivered by an independent third party. According to Rivera's office, there is someone assigned to oversee this case. Residents and business owners hope that elected officials can have the work expedited with a definitive timetable. (Anyone wishing to file a complaint can use the subject "7th Street & 1st Avenue Construction Complaints." Community Board 3 has a service complaint here.) Updated 8/5 We asked Community Board 3 District Manager Susan Stetzer for an update. She said that her office has asked the DEP for a timetable and signage to let people know what is happening. As for complaints, Stetzer said to let her office know via the service complaint form here.

"We will not be able to fix all the problems, but we can try to have mitigated as much as possible," she said. And residents should file a complaint sooner rather than later: CB3 has an interagency meeting that will include the DEP this coming Tuesday. "So it would be helpful to have complaints before then," she said.

Repairs finally for the 'warped' intersection of 1st Avenue and 7th Street

Workers from the Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) are back at the intersection of Seventh Street and First Avenue to replace portions of the water main...

As you may recall, there were back-to-back breaks here in late December ... the ruptures sent water rushing into businesses and residences along Seventh Street. 

It took a while for these more substantial repairs. The "fucked-up street surface," as one nearby resident called it, has been a topic of frustration in conversations on the East Village Neighbors Facebook group (and in the EVG inbox) this late winter and early spring.

In the weeks/months after the breaks, there was a patchwork of quick fixes on the wonky-looking intersection...

Said one resident: "Basically, the second water main break warped the avenue ... They come out to jackhammer constantly, make a hole, fill it with dirt, and then it caves in. "

Then another sinkhole would form.

And after residents file a complaint: "They come, throw some asphalt onto a sunken hole, leave and nothing is fixed."

The DEP contractors then started covering the holes with metal plates instead ... and the sound of cars, trucks and buses driving over the plates overnight has disrupted the sleep of some residents living nearby.

Said the previously quoted resident: "The trucks wake me up at 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 a.m. and I've started getting migraines, which I've never had."

Hopefully, the repairs that started this week will prevent any future breaks and stabilize the roadway — and put an end to the various headaches.

Sinkholes forming in the freshly repaired intersection on 1st Avenue and 7th Street

Last Wednesday night and Thursday morning, DEP crews repaired the ruptured water main on First Avenue and Seventh Street — the second such break in a week. 

Now just a few days later, a tipster points out two budding sinkholes in the intersection...

Hopefully none of this leads to another disruption for nearby residents or businesses ... the water that gushed for several hours from the broken main last Wednesday night flooded basements along Seventh Street between First Avenue and Avenue A.

Also, as a reminder, this intersection saw several sinkholes (and a broken pipe) in March 2018. Revisit our post on it here.

[Updated] Morning-after look at the damage caused by the broken water main on 1st Avenue and 7th Street

Emergerncy crews are on the scene this morning... making repairs to the ruptured water main on First Avenue and Seventh Street — the second such break in a week. 

The break was first reported at 8:30 last night. There wasn't much info on the cause of the break via officials, as local news outlets reported. 

Multiple residents/sources (received several WTFs via Instagram DMs) along Seventh Street said the water continued to gush from the street past midnight. 

Here are a few photos showing the aftermath this morning on Seventh Street between First Avenue and Avenue A...

The curbside dining structure outside Ladybird appeared to have received the most damage from the stream of mucky water...

Ladybird, like all of Ravi DeRossi's East Village restaurants, is currently on hiatus.

Meanwhile, northbound traffic on First Avenue is being diverted at Sixth Street... (you'd be saving time to turn on Fourth Street, should you be out driving...)

Hard to tell at this hour the extent of the flooding. E7, the deli that debuted yesterday on the northeast corner of First Avenue and Seventh Street, is open this morning. 787 Coffee and Abraço are both open on Seventh Street. There were reader reports of flooded basement apartments along Seventh Street.

Will update when more information becomes available. 

Updated 7 p.m. 

Wow — the roadwork was completed this afternoon...  and the Avenue is back open...

... and businesses are open along Seventh Street, including Los Tacos, Pylos and Trash & Vaudeville... and there was a service at St. Stanislaus ...

And as for all the reports of brown water...

.@NYCWater is responding to quite a few complaints about this. Yes, likely related to the watermain break. Call 311 with your address so nearby hydrants can be flushed. In the meantime, DEP recommends to run cold tap water for a while to see if it helps flush the pipes.

— NYC Council Member Carlina Rivera (@CMCarlinaRivera) December 31, 2020

[Updating] 1 week later, there's ANOTHER water main break on 1st Avenue and 7th Street

One week after workers repaired a broken water main on First Avenue at Seventh Street, another rupture has occurred tonight, flooding the street all over again...

Happening now! Another water main breaks at the same spot on East 7th Street and 2nd Av. @evgrieve pic.twitter.com/DQGoZidnx9

— Gili Getz 🔥 (@giligetz) December 31, 2020

It took workers two-plus days to clean up the broken pipe last week... which forced several businesses to temporarily close and residents to lose their water service.

Here's a clip via EVG reader Raquel Shapira ...

As you might expect, northbound traffic on First Avenue is being rerouted. The city had also just reopened Seventh Street between First Avenue and Second Avenue on Monday for the first time since the devastating fire on Dec. 5.

Updated 9:45 p.m.

Photos via a tweet by Jake Offenhartz at Gothamist shows the water rushing across Seventh Street to Avenue A...

Updated:

More footage from along Seventh Street near A, where the water continues to flow from the point of the break... flooding the outdoor dining spaces (again)...

for real this is wilddddd pic.twitter.com/i1cBV8rFfp

— Jules Suzdaltsev (@jules_su) December 31, 2020

Residents have reported the city has shut off the water to the buildings in the immediate area... and several residents on Seventh Street were spotted leaving their apartments with suitcases...

Updated: 

As of 11 p.m. the water main had not been shut off for unknown reasons, and water continued to flow along Seventh Street toward Avenue A... Jackflashnyc shared these photos...

Top photo via @jeremoss

You may now drive — or jump up and down on — 1st Avenue at 7th Street again

Workers have repaired the broken water main from early Monday morning on First Avenue at Seventh Street. 

Sadly, we missed the photo op of the person jumping up and down on the freshly filled-in hole...

Road repairs continue on 1st Avenue at 7th Street

City crews continue making repairs on First Avenue at Seventh Street this morning... following the early-morning water-main break here yesterday...

... an event that sent mucky water across Seventh Street toward Avenue A... you can see the remnants of this on Seventh Street...

Thank you to EVG reader James Rogala for the photos. 

For now, northbound traffic on First Avenue is being rerouted across Sixth Street to Avenue A.... causing some backups along the way. As a reader noted in the comments: "The drivers start honking around 3rd or 4th St. As if we haven't been tortured enough." 

Water service was also shut off in the area, causing several businesses to temporarily close.

A look at the water main repairs on 1st Avenue and 7th Street

Workers continue to make repairs on First Avenue and Seventh Street after the early-morning water-main break here (it was reported to occur outside 99 E. Seventh St.) ... water has been shut off around the intersection, forcing several businesses to close. 

EVG readers Pete Dettmann shares the above photo...

Updated 9 p.m. 

And a night-time shot courtesy of Lola Sáenz ...

Updating: Water main break shuts down part of 1st Avenue

An early morning water main break on First Avenue at Seventh Street has made a mess of the immediate area. 

The first report of the break came just before 6 a.m. as witnesses reported water flowing along Seventh Street and the sidewalks. 

For now, the 9th Precinct reports that there isn't any northbound traffic on First Avenue from Fourth Street to 10th Street ... Seventh Street is closed from Avenue A to First Avenue (Seventh Street west of First Avenue was already closed for ongoing demoliton work after the fire on the southeast corner of Second Avenue on Dec. 5)

Updated 10:30 a.m. 

Ugh. What a mess. William Kalyer took these photos looking south on First Avenue from St. Mark's Place...

Updated 10:45 a.m. 

The repair and cleanup continues...

The break sent a rush of brown mucky water along Seventh Street toward Avenue A...

Several businesses are closed for now, including McDonald's and International Bar on First Avenue.