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Canarsie Road Building Site Hot Topic At Civic Meeting
While a stop-work order was issued last month to the construction crew next to the home of Eldora Philips, at 1608 Canarsie Road, the violations - which included inadequate shoring and excavation too close to her home - were rescinded by the DOB and construction has since continued. Vice President Lenny Fogel invited fellow UCSCA member Menachem Lumpkin, a community resident who works in the construction industry, to attend the meeting and offer his personal opinion. Lumpkin had taken photos of the property in question a few days before the meeting and said there are additional violations on the site. "There are beer bottles lying around, loose soil, and children can easily slip inside the gates and injure themselves. It appears the site is not very secure. I was able to walk right in," he said. "It looks like they were in a rush to build this house." Assemblyman Alan Maisel had look-ed at the site but did not see all the violations Lumpkin had pointed to in the photographs. "I think there is an issue of incompetence where the Department of Build-ings is concerned," he said. "A lot of them take advantage of the public." Councilman Fidler said, "The problem is that these violations are settled with no problem and the Department of Buildings pays architects who are self-certified - they pay for their own construction. We've had it with their misbehavior and we're going to fight to make sure thousands of dollars in fines are imposed." Philips was present at the meeting and shared her feelings with the crowd, and said, "I've called the po-lice so many times. The construction workers are so nasty and my complaints haven't been taken care of. I've lived in that house for nine years and I don't want to have to worry about flooding and other damages to my property. I'm asking everyone to call 3-1-1 and make complaints about that site because I can't do any more." The City Council recently voted on a law that would improve construction safety and stiffen consequences for construction violations. The law, which has been sent to Mayor Michael Bloom-berg for approval, will not only in-crease penalties for violating stop-work orders, but create additional criminal and civil penalties for contractors who carry out demolition work without a permit on one or two-family homes.
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