We have been down this road before with 98 Clay Street in Greenpoint, so we thought a “Now & Then” sort of comparison would be useful. There’s good news–the gaping hole in the fence we showed in March has been plugged up. And there’s bad news–now, the gate is open. Whoopee. Our Greenpoint correspondent who snapped both photos, details some of the issues, calling the building “a poster child for what is wrong with New York City’s ‘oversight’ of development, especially in Greenpoint.” She writes:
1. A fence has been left to (further) deteriorate by the developer because our city is either unable or unwilling to do anything about it.
2. As a consequence, anyone who cares to can access the adjacent property’s yard. This poses some serious safety concerns for the tenants of 100 Clay Street. Yet nothing is being done about it.
3. The same developer appears to have damaged the fence/sidewalk at 96 Clay; clearly nothing has been done about this either.
4. I suppose I should be happy this developer got a stop work order; if a construction company is unable or unwilling to build a decent fence, god only knows what their construction practices are like.
5. What is the point of having agencies charged with policing shit like this if they are ineffectual? If there was no oversight whatsoever at least everyone would know where they stand: anything goes. Why bother giving people the hope of redress when their property and personal safety are placed at risk when it is unlikely to get them anywhere?
6. This situation has been left to fester for far too long. The city should be ashamed. I know I am.
All of which would be good, if anyone in the hierarchy at the dysfunctional Department of Buildings knew the meaning of shame. Given the critical safety violations and violence done to Brooklynites quality of life every day at hundreds of buildings sites, what chance does a crappy fence have of registering on their defective radar screen?
Related Post:
Construction Site Du Jour: Greenpoint’s 98 Clay Street
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1 newyorkshitty.com » Blog Archive » From The New York Shitty Inbox: A Dead Body On Dupont? // Jul 8, 2009 at 2:34 pm
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