This Morning's Chaos In Front Of 360 Smith Street Construction Forces Pedestrians And Subway Riders To Dodge Traffic

 

 

 

photo credit: PMFA reader

On my way to the subway this morning at about 11 AM, I walk by the Boom, LLC 360 Smith Street construction at 2nd Place and was surprised by the number of trucks which were not only blocking the intersection, but also stopped cars from driving down Smith Street. 
Meanwhile, people were trying to cross the street to get to the subway station at the corner of 2nd Street.
It was a a real mess. I did not have the time to stop and take picture.
One of my readers must have been on his way to the train shortly before and sent me the photos above.  He describes the situation this morning as dangerous.  I have to agree.


Below is his email to me:

As a local resident who uses the 2nd Place subway entrance daily, the construction at 360 Smith is a real nightmare. But now its become dangerous.

These pictures were taken at 10:47am this morning. This is the only crosswalk at the junction, and our cement truck driver can be seen eating his sandwich in the sun while his truck is parked on top of the crosswalk and pedestrians are left to dodge the traffic and other construction vehicles.

FYI, local precinct, constriction company and cement company have all been contacted and complaint registered.

Thank you for sending the photos and for making the phone calls.



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Construction Incident At 360 Smith Street Yesterday

Reader Joe reported to me that there was a rather scary incident at the 360 Smith Street/ 131 2nd Place construction site yesterday, that could have had rather serious consequences. A huge piece of corrugated steel sub-flooring, like the one shown on the photo above, came crashing down on to Smith Street and crashed lengthwise between two cars that were parked across the street next to Frankie's diner.
Luckily, there were no pedestrians in the way, otherwise, as Joe said, "they would have been sliced in half."

As the construction crew was scrambling to remove the piece as fast as possible, a sergeant and officers of the 76th Precinct showed up. I tried calling the precinct to see if a report was written, but have not yet been successful in getting that information.

The sound of the crash must have been so loud that the principal of neighboring Hannah Senesh Day School came out to investigate.

Scary stuff.

Did you happen to witness the incident?

In early January, a young man was injured by a falling construction fence.

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360 Smith Street Construction Site Gets Steel Beam Delivery

At First Street, looking down towards 360 Smith Street



Steel delivery to 360 Smith Street construction site

A view of the site from 2nd Place



Cars backed up on Smith Street because of lane closure

Telescopic crane as seen from Second Place

The sky couldn't have been bluer on Monday, which made the huge yellow telescoping crane, which hovered over the 360 Smith Street/ 131 2nd Place construction site, look even more offensive. Slowly, ever so slowly, it hoisted huge steel beams over the blue plywood fence. All I could think of was that in the not too distant future, these steel bars would make up a 7 story building which would obscure the same sky which looked so open and wide at that very moment.

The "Oliver House", as it was once called, has been in the works for quite some time now. When Developer Robert Stein first presented his plans to the community, he was met with opposition. Many in Carroll Gardens felt that his building was too high and looked too modern for this brownstone neighborhood and no one seemed to like his architect, Robert Scarano, who as quite an unsavory reputation.

Stein eventually switched architects and had the plans (slightly) changed.


Construction at the 360 Smith Street/ 131 2nd Place started, but came to an abrupt halt in July 2008, when developer Bill Stein's "Oliver House" was slapped with a Stop Work Order immediately after the City Council passed the Carroll Gardens Wide Street Zoning Text Amendment, which limits permitted building height and density in Carroll Gardens.
Developer Stein promptly took his case in front of the Board of Standards and Appeals, that oh-so-contentious board that grants developers exemptions in cases such as this.

In order to be able to continue, Mr. Stein had to prove that a significant portion of the project's foundation had been completed before the Stop Work Order went into effect. Though inspectors from the NYC Department of Buildings determined that only 20% of the foundation had been completed, the BSA gave Stein what he wanted at a hearing in November 2008. The Stop Work Order was lifted. He was now free to proceed.

By September 2009, construction resumed. There have been some rumors that Bill Stein had sold the property to another developer, but he was just spotted with a large group of people, including his architect, in front of the site. So obviously, he is still involved.



Related Reading:

Did You See This Happen? Man Injured By Falling Construction Fence At 360 Smith Street

2nd Place Subway Station Now History

Last Glance At Old Carroll Gardens Subway Plaza on Second Place

Boom, Boom...Construction Resumes At 360 Smith Street

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Last Glance At Old Carroll Gardens Subway Plaza on Second Place

photo credit: Gary Reilly

KSQ Architects' design for 360 Smith Street

K.S.Q.Architects' rendering of new subway plaza

Now you see it, soon you won't!

A last glimpse at the old 2nd Place subway plaza before it is plowed under to make way for Bill Stein's out-of-scale luxury condo development at 360 Smith Street. Mr. Stein had promised to restore the plaza once construction is completed. We can only hope.

The renderings of the building above were presented by Stein to the Carroll Gardens community in February 2008. Back then, Stein had fired the highly controversial architect Robert Scarano and had hired Armand Quadrini of K.S.Q. Architects to redesign the 70 feet condo building.

Construction at the 360 Smith Street/ 131 2nd Place site came to an abrupt halt in July 2008, when developer Bill Stein's development was slapped with a Stop Work Order immediately after the City Council passed the Carroll Gardens Wide Street Zoning Text Amendment, which limits permitted building height and density in Carroll Gardens.
Developer Stein promptly took his case in front of the Board of Standards and Appeals, that oh-so-contentious board that grants developers exemptions in cases such as this.

Mr. Stein eventually won his fight, but construction only resumed a few weeks ago. As of last week, the main subway station has been closed and will only reopen in 2010.

It is unclear, if Armand Quadrini's design for 360 Smith Street has been modified in the meantime or if the building will still look like the rendering above.

* Thanks to Gary Reilly for allowing me to post his photo



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Gilbert, Carroll Gardens Wheelchair-Bound Resident Makes It Onto 'You Tube'

(This video has no sound)


Imagine my surprise, dear reader, when I stumbled onto this 'You Tube' video featuring none other than Gilbert, the wheelchair-bound Carroll Gardener who has been spending his days sitting at the 2nd Place subway station for as long as I can remember.
In the last few months, poor Gilbert has had to sit in Developer Stein's blue plywood labyrinth.
I bet he misses the subway plaza and the trees as much as everyone else here in Carroll Gardens.

The video was uploaded onto You Tube by Peter Neddo



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According To Developer Stein, His Foundation Is Completed!

Developer Bill Stein

Bill Stein with supporter Buddy Scotto

According to Bill Stein, developer of Oliver House at 360 Smith Street, his foundation is completed. That is at least what his legal council, Deirdre Carson and structural engineer Neil Wexler of Wexler Associates stated in front of the Board Of Standards and Appeals yesterday morning.
Mr. Stein's construction site was served with a Stop Work Order immediately following the passing of the Zoning Text Amendment by the City Council back in July.
In order to continue the project, Stein has two choices: He either conforms to the new zoning regulations and puts up a 55 foot building instead of the 70 foot one that he intended, or he tries to convince the B.S.A. that his foundation was complete before the Stop Work Order went into effect. And for good measure, he will plead financial hardship if they don't give him what he wants.
Stein of course chose to appeal, which brought him in front of the five members of the B.S.A. yesterday morning.
Mr. Wexler, Stein's engineer, explained that due to its location over a subway tunnel, 360 Smith is an unusual site with two different building foundations: One foundation is made up of a "complex pile foundation" located on only one side of the building. The second, according to Wexler, is supported on the original subway foundation. In other words, the 60 year old subway tunnel that had been reinforced with cement when it was built, is to act as a 'super foundation' for most of Oliver House.
All Stein needs to do, according to Wexler is to put a mat foundation over the subway tunnel, but that cannot be considered 'a foundation element.' Rather, this mat is 'designed specifically to protect the subway roof of the tunnel structure.'
In other words, according to Wexler, Stein's foundation is done.
B.D.A. Chair Meenakshi Srinivasan asked if additional excavation needed to be done since that would need to be taken into consideration. In response, Wexler stated: " No more excavation for foundation purposes."
During the public comment session, many Carroll Gardeners took the stand to ague that Stein had ample notice that the neighborhood was working to have the wide-streets loophole closed.
They suggested to the Board that Stein's original application was made under a flawed version of the zoning law. Now that the mistake has been fixed, Stein should have to conform.
The Board scheduled another hearing on the matter for October 28th. Additional information will be accepted till October14.



Related Reading:

Revisiting Mr. Stein's 360 Smith Street / 131 Second Place Oliver House Site

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Closure Of Entrance At 2nd Place Subway Plaza "Sucks"

Bill Stein's Blue Edifice

The Carroll Gardens community was informed last week that the 2nd Place F train subway entrance will closed for about 6 to 8 months ( +/-) as part of developer Bill Stein's Oliver House construction at 131 Second Place /360 Smith Street.
Below are just some of the comments left on the post that I wrote on the subject
last week when the blue plywood edifice first went up.

********This sucks!!!

******** This f@#*ing s*@t piss me off. God damn Condo thats going to tower 70 feet over every other build in the area is taking away a piece of the neighbor. Yeah Brooklyn needs more condos for more yuppies and NO I'm NOT Bitter.


******** Last nite i came home and was about to exit at the plaza exit, i look up and there are the neighborhood panhandlers just LOOKING down the stairs, waiting to accost. I should of taken a photo it was classic. Like night of the living dead classic. I never give to drug addicts but i tolerated them in the plaza (and get furious when i see fall for their b.s and give them money) but this just cant fly, there is just no room.

I am familiar with the other guy pictured too...i guess he will have to find a new place to go. anyway i agree with carola& castillo and disagree with anon.


********I also agree that there needs to be an attendant at the turnstile to help the elderly, disabled, and people with carts, baby carriages, and luggage through the maze. Why is having a public meeting such a big request for the MTA and our elected officials to arrange. To wait for the CGNA meeting in September is totally too late and not acceptable [...]
For months we have been asking for some answers from the developer Billie Stein, your office, and NYC Transit about a number of concerns. For some reason, the MTA/NYC Transit can be in communication with the developer all summer, and answer his multitude of questions, but it can't be in communication with us, their patrons. Their job in government relations is community relations, but it is too inconvenient for them to deal with the community. They might get screamed at!! If they would have answered our questions in the beginning, there would not be all of these rumors that are going like wildfire throughout the community in private emails. I think the MTA is used to dealing with neighborhoods in Manhattan where they just close an entrance and people just shrug their shoulders and use another entrance. I think that Manhattaners just have a feeling of hopelessness, and are resigned to the MTA's incompetence, and subway inconveniences [...]
We are a true neighborhood, and expect a certain level of service, which seems to be a strange request for the MTA. We expect for the MTA to do its job and meet with the community, answer our questions, and address our concerns. Is this too much service to ask?

What Do You Think?

Related Reading:

Stein's Labyrinth Around 360 Smith And The 2nd Place F Train Entrance

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Behind Billy Stein's Labyrinth

I have been posting "behind-the-blue construction fence" photos of Bill Stein's 131 Second Place/ 360 Smith Street construction site for a few month now. The last one was just posted on July 15th. But then, Stein was issued a Saturday work permit by the Department of Buildings for July 19th which was this last Saturday.
Notice, the newsstand is gone and few of the trees in the plaza have been cut.

To see the entire series of bird's-eye-views, click here

Photo courtesy of Barbara of Carroll Gardens Brooklyn History

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