By Mark Hallum
A city Department of Design and Construction project has commenced after an extended hiccup which left residents at a November Bayside Hills Civic Association meeting in uproar.
An extensive project to install upgraded water mains, which has squeezed residential streets, taken up parking and supposedly hit property values, became defunct after contractor Trocom Construction Corp. defaulted on the work in 2015 after finishing only 35 percent of the job. The company then filed for bankruptcy.
Now Community Board 11 District Manager Susan Seinfeld said the work is proceeding as planned with the new contractors. Upon meeting them, Seinfeld said they were professional and on top of moving the project ahead.
Equipment and supplies had been left stacked behind barricades on suburban streets since the work ended. On 216th Street there is an open trench, which raised murmurs at the meeting about fears that children would climb inside.
The materials abandoned by the original contractors are now being utilized by the new work crews. Equipment and heavy machinery, owners unknown, had been cleared from the area. The open trench which caused a stir is being covered following the delivery of the pipe needed, Seinfeld said.
DDC Deputy Commissioner of Infrastructure Ali Malick briefed residents at the November meeting about developments in the plan to update water mains, some nearly a century old. A new contractor had been brought on board, and summer of 2018 would be the projected completion date from the new contractor.
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.”
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,” Assemblywoman Nily Rozic (D-Fresh Meadows) 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 the 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 blvds.; 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
