Photo: QueensPost
July 29, 2012 By Bill Parry
Construction along 47th Street, between 43rd Ave. and 39th Ave., is drawing to a close—as the sewer and gas lines have finally been repaired.
“This is the start of the final process,” said Victor Carames, a contractor from Maspeth Supply, who said the whole job has taken well over four months.
“First it was the sewer line and after the earth settled we did the gas main. It should be paved next week and within a week and a half, we’re out of here,” Carames added. Maspeth Suppy was hired by the New York City Department of Environmental Protection to undertake the project.
Residents will also be saying their goodbyes to an unwelcome symbol of this project: A huge boulder the size of a small car that was unearthed and left in a prime parking spot in early May.
Bob Murphy’s house overlooks the boulder, which he likened to the local rock of ages, “It’s monumental–from the Neolithic stage before Adam. We’ve been calling 311 for months and they were no help at all.”
The boulder should be removed by the weekend, something the crew contends would’ve happened a while back had it not been for a request: “We would’ve removed it sooner, but these two ladies wanted it moved to Sunnyside Gardens Park,” explained Carames. His supervisor Gregory Pellini added that, “Once they heard the price they didn’t want the rock so much anymore. Nothing’s free.”
“A specialist from the DEP. told me that thing’s over twenty-eight thousand pounds. We have to rent a boom truck to get that out of here,” Pellini said.
