By Mark Hallum
The city Department of Design and Construction has encountered another snag in one of its projects that had residents at the Bayside Hills Civic Association meeting Tuesday night in uproar.
An extensive and now defunct project to install upgraded water mains that has squeezed residential streets, taken up parking and supposedly hit property values is not expected to be completed until 2018, according to DDC Deputy Commissioner of Infrastructure Ali Malick.
The project started in 2014, but the lowest bidder, Trocom Construction Corp., defaulted on the work the following year after finishing 35 percent of the job and soon filed for bankruptcy, Malick told the meeting. Equipment and supplies have sat stacked behind barricades on suburban streets since the work ended. On 216th Street there is an open trench, raising fears that children will climb inside.
Originally installed in 1928, the water mains being replaced are not designed to accommodate the level of development which has occurred in Bayside Hills. Neither Queensborough Community College nor Benjamin Cardozo High School had been built at the time.
“I wouldn’t want this in my neighborhood and I feel ashamed coming here because this is not what DDC does,” Malick said to residents at the meeting in Bayside Colonial Church before he broke the news about the lengthy time frame for completion. “Our housekeeping is much, much better than what I see over here.”
The DDC now has a new contractor on the job with a good track record who has had about eight contracts with the city, but the work will not be finished until 2018. Meanwhile, people have complained of dirty water and issues with snow removal, state Assemblywoman Nily Rozic (D-Fresh Meadows) said.
“There’s nobody here who would say that we don’t want new water mains,” Councilman Barry Grodenchik (D-Oakland Gardens) said. “We need infrastructure. These mains are almost a century old and not big enough to serve our community… I just want to say, as nicely as I can, we will be watching closely.”
Residents voiced cynical views about the ability of elected officials and the DDC to take control of the situation.
“I know this community has been frustrated, and I share in that frustration as well. We are going to be keeping tabs and making sure that when 2018 rolls around, we really are sealing the deal and moving on,” Rozic told Malick, explaining that there needs to be an interplay between city agencies for snow removal during the work hiatus.
According to DDC bid documents, water main upgrades were slated for Springfield Boulevard between Long Island Expressway and 56th Avenue; Luke Place between 216th and 218th Streets; 216th Street between 39th Avenue and Luke Place; 48th Avenue between Bell and Springfield Boulevards; 51st Avenue between 214th Street and Springfield Boulevard; Bell Boulevard between Luke Place and 51st Avenue; 217th Street between 48th and 54th Avenues; 43rd Avenue between 216th and 217th Streets; 49th Avenue between 215th and 216th Streets; 49th Avenue between 217th Street and Springfield Boulevard; 50th Avenue between 215th and 216th Streets; and 50th Avenue between 217th Street and Springfield Boulevard.
The original bid was for $19.7 million.
Reach reporter Mark Hallum by e-mail at mhall
