Businesses: Second Avenue Subway work has caused damage, power loss

12/7/09
mta
By Heather Haddon

Businesses: Second Avenue Subway work has caused damage, power loss

Joe Pecora small business Delizia Pizza on Second Avenue has experienced water damage from the subway construction. (Photo by Marco Gualtieri)

The disappearance of customers was bad enough.

But when the food rotted, the water got rusty and the walls oozed mud, several Upper East Side businesses reached their literal breaking point with the Second Avenue Subway.

“Instead of that chicken cutlet lasting a day or two, you killed it,” said Joe Pecora, owner of Delizia Pizzeria & Restaurant on Second Avenue, who had to throw out food after his power was cut three times. “It’s a big mess.”

The construction work for the train tunnel has led to complaints of busted equipment, flooding and power outages that have led to food spoilage.

And it’s not just businesses who are hurting. Tenants in at least two buildings have suffered from lost power and water, according to residents and building superintendents.

At 1779 Second Ave., the water turned rusty or was knocked out completely on several occasions, leaving senior citizens to schlep gallon jugs home.

“It’s a rough situation up here, it really is,” said Sal D’Egidio, the building’s super.

Tunneling between 63rd and 92nd streets is more than half done, according to MTA materials. But frustrations are likely to worsen as the construction moves near dense retail strips around 72nd Street, said city Public Advocate Betsy Gotbaum. “I anticipate a nightmare,” Gotbaum said.

The MTA has coordinated all utility work with building owners to minimize its impact, spokesman Kevin Ortiz said. Business that experienced construction-related damage would be compensated, he said.

Still, other cities have done more to help businesses impacted by major transportation projects, according to an analysis by Gotbaum’s office. Assistance has included low-interest loans and federal grants, along with making construction crews park away from the work site, the report found.

The MTA has employed a full-time liaison to address issues throughout the community, and undertaken more than a dozen other initiatives to mitigate the work, Ortiz said.

“The MTA is committed to completing this project … with the minimum possible disruption,” Ortiz said.

Chris James contributed to this story.

Horror stories reported by business owners:

- Mud oozing into the bathrooms of the Big Easy bar

- A weekend of suspended phone service that killed orders
at Nina’s Argentinean Pizzeria

- Broken equipment and lost business resulting in $21,000 in damages at
Delizia Pizzeria & Restaurant
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Businesses: Second Avenue Subway work has caused damage, power loss

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