BY ZACH WILLIAMS | Local residents went to the police to learn what progress has been made in keeping the closure of one Chelsea street from feeding too much traffic onto their own blocks.
More cars are turning west on W. 15th St. ever since an Oct. 20 building fire closed down W. 17th St., between Seventh and Eighth Aves. The resulting influx brings increased danger in the absence of city outreach to residents on how to mitigate this, according to the West 15th St. 100 and 200 Block Association. Its president, Stanley Bulbach, told police at the Oct. 28 meeting of the NYPD 10th Precinct Community Council that elected officials and city agencies have not responded to the association’s concerns.
“Our street is completely congested and the emergency vehicles are getting trapped,” he said. “At some point something is going to result from that.”
City agencies and the office of Councilmember Corey Johnson are coordinating a response to these concerns, Det. Mike Petrillo said at the meeting. The closure will last until Nov. 18 as cleanup continues at the site of the fire, he added.
“We lost a main artery. I know its tough,” said Petrillo who received an award at the meeting for his 25 years of service to the department.
A public meeting is scheduled for 6 p.m. on Nov. 5, at the Rubiuseum of Art (150 W. 17 St. btw. Sixth & Seventh Aves.). Representatives of the city Department of Transportation and Department of Buildings (DOB) will attend. The owner of the W. 17th St. building did not commit to coming, according to Erik Bottcher, chief of staff for Johnson.
An investigation continues into the cause of the five-alarm fire at the site of the condominium renovation. Clean-up crews received city permits on Oct. 28 allowing them to work around the clock through Nov. 10, according to DOB records. Workers will deploy a crane, but will not conduct any demolition, according to the DOB.
It remains unclear just how much traffic from the resulting closure has gone to W. 15th St., but there has been a significant increase there exacerbating longstanding issues, Bulbach said in an interview.
A bike lane and double-parked delivery trucks already squeeze other traffic to one lane on the street. He added that he is concerned about how the increased weight on the street could affect a nearby underground gas line. Communication with residents has offered potential solutions, such as the suggestion that parking be restricted in the meantime to one side of the street, allowing increased traffic flow, Bulbach said.
“It’s a nightmare because twice as much traffic as normal is diverted onto our street with no steps taken to mitigate it,” he said. “We reached out for help and we haven’t heard anything back until tonight, so that’s a problem.”
An Oct. 30 building collapse on W. 38th St. (btw. Fifth & Sixth Aves.) underscored the potential for emergencies to arise at local construction sites.
The DOB issued a Stop Work Order that day at the site where a luxury hotel is planned to replace the five-story building, according to records. “We’re getting the feeling, especially since the fatal collapse Friday, that things are spiraling totally out of control and that no one really gives a hoot about any intelligent mitigation or prevention,” Bulbach said in a Nov. 2 email to Johnson’s office.
Police said at the community council meeting that they would have their hands full in the following week, with the Halloween Parade, New York City Marathon and a Nov. 2 presidential visit. They recommended that residents concerned about the street closure contact Johnson’s office (212-564-7757).
Deputy Inspector Michele Irizarry, the commanding officer at the precinct, said that the death of NYPD Officer Randolph Holder has taken its toll on police during a busy time. She attended his Oct. 28 funeral just days after protesters took to West Side streets once again, marching against police brutality.
“It’s a very difficult time for law enforcement in the city,” she said. “At least in this community in Chelsea, we do feel our community does have our backs.”
Black Lives Matter protests in the last year strained relations between Mayor Bill de Blasio and the NYPD, when critics said he should be tougher on activists who cause civil disruptions.
Although the relationship between the police and the mayor has improved since then, Irizarry invoked de Blasio’s direction on dealing with the homeless, in answering a question at the meeting about addressing problems associated with people living outside of Fulton Houses (btw. W. 16th & 18th Sts., and Ninth & 10th Aves.).
Homeless people are sleeping in the park outside the buildings or under nearby scaffolding, according to Miguel Acevedo, president of the Fulton Houses Residents Association. Two weeks ago, a resident was slashed in the face by a homeless individual, he added. While police apprehended a suspect, residents remain scared of the other homeless people sleeping there, said Acevedo.
“The homeless population just continues to get larger and larger there,” he said. Police cannot arrest people simply for sitting on local streets or begging for loose change per the mayor’s instructions, said Irizarry who reiterated what she said at the previous month’s meeting of the community council. But she added that she would look into what could be done about the situation outside of Fulton Houses.
“Mayor de Blasio’s stand on [the] homeless is that homelessness itself is not criminal,” she said. “But some of the actions taken by the homeless are criminal.”
