If you live anywhere near Public School 32, the Samuel Mills Sprole School at 317 Hoyt Street between Union and President Streets in Carroll Gardens/ Gowanus, you will have no doubt heard the loud pounding noises coming from the construction site behind the school these last few days.
The construction relates to the expansion of P.S.32 with a new three-story addition directly behind the current 1950's area structure. Designed by Edelman Sultan Knox Wood/ Architects, the addition will provide the school with approximately 200 additional seats and replaces the trailers that had being used for the lower grades at the back of the schoolyard.
The new building will house a large dining area, administrative offices, as well as pre-k and kindergarten on its first floor. Occupancy of this new wing is slated for September 2020.
In an effort to inform you of upcoming construction activity, please note:
Pile delivery began today and production piling will begin shortly.
Baring unforseens and weather permitting, production piling will continue for 2-3 months.
Please be reminded that monitoring of the vibration around the school will take place. Piling will be suspended if the vibration is above allowed levels.
The SCA apologizes for any disruption to the community and thanks you for your patience."
Construction began with the demolition of the trailers this fall. Currently, steel piles are being driven into the ground on the site of the new building. The piles are needed to stabilize a structure of this size, and are most probably an indication of the poor soil in the area. The noise from the pile driving has been reverberating all the way to Smith Street in Carroll Gardens and across the Gowanus Canal in Gowanus.
In March 2017, the New York City School Construction Authority and Councilman Brad Lander held a joint public meeting meant to give neighbors of the school a chance to address their concerns regarding the construction. A similar meeting was held with parents of students.
At the meeting, Councilman Lander stated: "It is an indisputable fact that we need more school seats in District 15," he told local residents. "It is also an indisputable fact that it is a headache living near a construction site."
Yvette Knight, the Project Support Manager for SCA, assured local residents that her agency has managed many projects like this and "is very experienced in doing this kind of work with kids in the building." However, she added, "I am not going to sugar coat this. Please do not expect that there will be no noise."
In March 2017, the New York City School Construction Authority and Councilman Brad Lander held a joint public meeting meant to give neighbors of the school a chance to address their concerns regarding the construction. A similar meeting was held with parents of students.
At the meeting, Councilman Lander stated: "It is an indisputable fact that we need more school seats in District 15," he told local residents. "It is also an indisputable fact that it is a headache living near a construction site."
Yvette Knight, the Project Support Manager for SCA, assured local residents that her agency has managed many projects like this and "is very experienced in doing this kind of work with kids in the building." However, she added, "I am not going to sugar coat this. Please do not expect that there will be no noise."
Carroll Gardens and Gowanus residents are used to construction noise by now, as the community has endured its fair share in the past ten years. However, no one mentioned at the meeting the need for all the piles that would need to be hammered into the ground during school hours, no less.
Take a look at the videos above, filmed yesterday at about 11:30 am, while kids were trying to learn inside their classrooms just feet away. The sound was deafening and one wonders what kind of learning can take place under these conditions.
On February 9, 2018, Yvette Knight sent out the following email to local residents:
"Dear K32 neighbors:In an effort to inform you of upcoming construction activity, please note:
Pile delivery began today and production piling will begin shortly.
Baring unforseens and weather permitting, production piling will continue for 2-3 months.
Please be reminded that monitoring of the vibration around the school will take place. Piling will be suspended if the vibration is above allowed levels.
The SCA apologizes for any disruption to the community and thanks you for your patience."
Another 2 to 3 months of that noise? Really? That brings us almost to the end of the school year.
There are ways to reduce the sound associated with the installation of piles. For example, they could be screwed into the ground, instead of hammered. The use of special sound-deadening apparatus, commonly called a 'noise shroud', would also make a difference.
As we all know by now, the area around the Gowanus Canal was once marshland, which was filled in to create more land in the 1800s. Any larger building going up in the area near the canal needs to be supported by steal piles. (Remember the more than 1,200 piles that were needed for the recently completed Lightstone Group's buildings at 363-365 Bond Street?)
There are ways to reduce the sound associated with the installation of piles. For example, they could be screwed into the ground, instead of hammered. The use of special sound-deadening apparatus, commonly called a 'noise shroud', would also make a difference.
Are you are parent, teacher or student at P.S. 32? Are you a nearby resident? What has the noise been like for you? We would love to hear from you.
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9 comments:
It is much better to have the pile driving done during the day while residents are at work. By the time the get home, the workers are long gone. However, if I had a child attending PS 32, I would move them to another school especially if they were in a lower grade given the fact that construction will take several years to complete.
Kids need to learn to deal with less than ideal conditions. They'll be fine.
Thank you for posting this - I don't have a child at this school, but I do have young children and we live nearby. I am absolutely appalled that this is taking place during school hours and wonder if it puts the children in that school at risk for more than just falling behind/not learning for months, but hearing loss and anxiety. I walked past the site today and left with a headache, and that was just after enduring the noise for a few minutes. Why aren't they performing the piling after school or on weekends? This seems like gross negligence by the school and the parents and I appreciate your shedding light on the matter. I hope they are able to come up with a solution, soon.
I live on Hoyt between President and Carroll. The noise is horrible. They should use materials to lessen the noise. However, I would be appalled if they did it on a weekend. Homeowners nearby have to have some quality of life too.
I am astounded at the callousness of 12:21 that "kids need to learn with less than ideal conditions." I also realize that when someone thinks and feels that way, there really is nothing to say to try to impress upon that person that he or she is dead wrong. We should provide children with optimum opportunity and conditions. Thank you Caroline for pointing out that this can create hearing loss and anxiety. The same effects that the residents experience.
Geotechnical engineer here, long time neighborhood resident & blog reader of yours.
The noise does stink! But in this case it must be tolerated for the foundation to be installed.
It's not as easy as just selecting a helical pile you reference for building support. They are weaker than steel piles and wont have nearly as much capacity as a driven pile- in fact their capacity is limited by the NYC building code. Noise mitigation is difficult to impossible with a driven pile. To get the capacity they need another option would be a micropiles, but the costs..... huge.
Hopefully this is almost done!
Boom boom boom.
Anon 10:41.
Thanks for this information. The noise continued to be pretty disruptive, and I live three blocks away from the construction site.
Just thinking of what we can expect when the City rezones the Gowanus Canal corridor to allow more high rise buildings like Lightstone at Carroll and Bond.
I vividly remember weeks and weeks of pile driving at that site that reverberated all the way to Smith Street.
Since it appears that all larger buildings in Gowanus will need piles, the 'boom boom boom' will be overwhelming in our little community.
Katia-
Thanks for the response! Do you have a block/lot for the site you reference? If you're wondering what type of foundation to expect or what was recommended, you may be able to find the geotech report @ DOB BIS system.
Here are a few links to background information regarding what it takes to build on the shores of the Gowanus. We should assume that all new developments along the canal will need piles. After the rezoning of the Gowanus corridor, we will have to deal with pile driving and construction noise from several sites at once, as developers are just poised to start on their residential towers on former marsh land.
https://pardonmeforasking.blogspot.com/2014/05/sing-petition-to-curb-excessive.html
https://pardonmeforasking.blogspot.com/2015/04/its-time-to-checking-in-on-lightstone.html
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