Brooklyn Library Entrance Construction

sevenoneeighty

Is it me or is the construction of these steps taking forever?
Listen I know what is involved in construction - its what I do but...

I know there are fountains and new stone and foundations, etc, but what probably bothers me most is that I NEVER see anyone working on it...
not during the weekday o

The sign says summer 2007 for completion.Is there just one crew working on all projects throughout the city?

Has anyone ever seen workers there in the last month?

elitt

Subject: Re: Brooklyn Library Entrance Construction

I'd bet that it will be finished around the same time 1 Prospect Park opens. That's my hunch.

Now...how about the park on Underhill between Park and Prospect? The 'completed by' area of the sign announcing the construction keeps changing...it's actually now written in wet erase marker on cardboard that can be swapped out as the city sees fit.

SevenOneEighty wrote: Is it me or is the construction of these steps taking forever?
Listen I know what is involved in construction - its what I do but...

I know there are fountains and new stone and foundations, etc, but what probably bothers me most is that I NEVER see anyone working on it...
not during the weekday o

The sign says summer 2007 for completion.Is there just one crew working on all projects throughout the city?

Has anyone ever seen workers there in the last month?

djuoh

It's a city project and there is plenty of red tape. They always take forever. I bet the contractor is riding this thing out. It's all about making money and we as tax payers, pay for it. Look at how long the Museum and the entry to the Botanical Gardens took. They were all designed by a company called Polshek, and maybe that might have something to do with it also? Everyone is to blame!

sevenoneeighty

Yea,

Polshek is the architect: http://www.polshek.com/ and I actually like their work. But I dont think they control the construction schedule.

But these are city owned properties ( including the insanely slow part renovation you speak of). The contractor typically sets the construction schedule andI am just wondering what is taking so long.

If anyone is in the nabe now, go see if anyone is working there. I had a few days off and never saw anyone on either day. I thought the only reason I never saw workers was becuase I only visited on weekends - but this does not seem to be the case.

But Another YEAR ??
1 Propsect Park is on their 4th floor already after making a cellar level!!
I fear Summer 2007 really means October 2007.
As for the park, I have also NEVER seen anyone working there and have seen no noticeable progress since demolition work began.


Here is the work application from the DOB website: How do I shorten this??
http://a810-bisweb.nyc.gov/bisweb/JobDetailsServlet?requestid=2&allisn=0001090593&allboroughname=&allnumbhous=&allstrt=

whyfi

SevenOneEighty wrote: If anyone is in the nabe now, go see if anyone is working there. I had a few days off and never saw anyone on either day. I thought the only reason I never saw workers was becuase I only visited on weekends - but this does not seem to be the case.

My understanding is that much of the work being done at this point is underground... maybe someone else can elaborate or confirm.

SevenOneEighty wrote:
As for the park, I have also NEVER seen anyone working there and have seen no noticeable progress since demolition work began.

We go by just about every morning with the dog. Usually there are one or two people working, today there were four or five. Looked like the were setting down the forms for a concrete pour around the perimeter.

SevenOneEighty wrote:
Here is the work application from the DOB website: How do I shorten this??

http://tinyurl.com/ is your friend.

sevenoneeighty

Yes,

There is an underground auditorium too...
Glad to hear guys are in fact working on site at least.Thought I was going crazy.

But what about the park....? Maybe they are underground too

That site link "Tinyurl" rocks!
Thanks!

carnivore

Yeah, what is up with that park anyway? Is it just me, or isn't that the kind of think you could get done in a weekend with a group of friends, some shovels, a few pizzas and a few cases of beer? They have earth-moving equipment for god's sake! This should have been done long ago.

jamzer

http://www.brooklynpubliclibrary.org/about/bng/plaza.jsp

Here is some info on the library plaza renovation.

sevenoneeighty

Hey, thanks for the link.

So there IS a whole Dr. Evil-type auditorium thing going on underneath, huh...? It looks like a low ceiling.

What else they got in there?

Did you now that Mount Propsect Park ( behind the library) used to be a reservoir...some cool pictures of it exist somewhere. Interestingly the New York PL in Manhattan was also a site of the old New York Croton resevoir too.

It is the second highest point in Brooklyn - what is the highest?

Found some images of the reservoir at NYPL:
http://tinyurl.com/l45yz
http://tinyurl.com/gleff

And YES, JEEZ, all of us from this board could finish that damned park on Underhill in a weekend. That truly is pathetic. Didn't they start late last summer?

I think its time for a letter writing campaign to the mayor, marty m. and the borough comissioner....

sweet tea

SevenOneEighty wrote:

It is the second highest point in Brooklyn - what is the highest?

isn't it the tall hill in greenwood cemetary? where there is a statue of athena saluting lady liberty across the harbor?

in a genius move, i decided on one of the hottest days last summer that we should go climb that hill for the sake of the breeze. it was beautiful, but, of course, climbing up the sucker in full sun wasn't the best method of cooling off..... mad dogs and englishmen, i tell you what.

sterling2000

SevenOneEighty wrote:

Found some images of the reservoir at NYPL:
http://tinyurl.com/l45yz
http://tinyurl.com/gleff

Jeesh! Who ever approved that god-awfully designed water tower to be constructed on the reservoir! It's sooooo out of style and scale with the rest of the neighborhood!

Ooops...sorry I was in my time machine talking about 1 Prospect Park.

:twisted:

jml

I've walked by the Underhill playground and seen a few guys working. Once, they were demolishing some steps with a giant jackhammer attached to a small bulldozer, andother time it looked like they were laying pipe underground - maybe for a fountain.

iowagirl

sweet tea wrote:

SevenOneEighty wrote:

It is the second highest point in Brooklyn - what is the highest?

isn't it the tall hill in greenwood cemetary? where there is a statue of athena saluting lady liberty across the harbor?

I think Sunset Park is the highest point in Brooklyn.

armchair_warrior

yeah everytime i pass by i never see anyone either. blah i bet you the condos on grand army plaza one prospect park(?) finish like a whole year before this lol.

homeowner

I know there are fountains and new stone and foundations, etc, but what probably bothers me most is that I NEVER see anyone working on it...
not during the weekday

I live near the Children's Museum and we've commented on the same thing for its addition. There are never people there, not during the day, not at night, not on the weekends, NEVER. And yet there is progress (although it is glacially slow).

Theories kicked around in our family for this:

• 1. The work is being done by faries
  2. A work force of gnomes
  3. Union job site with 30 min workday

But perhaps the guys who are building the library are also working on this...

easternpkwy

in a classic case of cutting off your nose to spite your face, NYC enacted a rule guaranteeing that all city-sponsored construction projects go to the contractor who offers to do the job for the least amount of money.

Sounds good, right? keeps taxpayer expense low, eliminates the possibility of favoritism and graft...but it also means that the lowest bidder is usually not qualified to handle the job.

Reputable construction firms with a track record can make a lot more money in the private sector. Even if they are the low bidder, they will often subcontract out the work to less experienced, less qualified contractors. And they cannot afford a large work force: so a virtual handful have to do everything, which drags out the time horizon tremendously.

Case in point: compare the swarm of people crawling over 1 Prospect Park - a private development - with the previously observed absence of people at the BPL, at the BCM, at Underhill Playground....

Underhill brings up another flaw: the original contractor who bid the lowest couldn't do the job for that cost, ultimately, and defaulted on the project. So the city had to renegotiate with another contractor, who has resumed construction, after several months down time. This happens A LOT!

armchair_warrior

homeowner wrote:

I know there are fountains and new stone and foundations, etc, but what probably bothers me most is that I NEVER see anyone working on it...
not during the weekday

I live near the Children's Museum and we've commented on the same thing for its addition. There are never people there, not during the day, not at night, not on the weekends, NEVER. And yet there is progress (although it is glacially slow).

Theories kicked around in our family for this:

• 1. The work is being done by faries
  2. A work force of gnomes
  3. Union job site with 30 min workday

But perhaps the guys who are building the library are also working on this...

I think youre close to the truth . probably a unionize work force of darwves that have a underground tunnel job site thats far away.