This is nothing to scaff at!
A contractor has created an impressive, one-of-a-kind scaffolding tunnel and tower over Hoyt Street, between the Downtown Macy’s and its soon-to-be-demolished parking garage, in what may just be Kings County’s greatest engineering marvel since the Brooklyn Bridge.
But the mammoth project was just business as usual for the workers who built it, according to the humble man in charge.
“It’s kind of what we do and we’re comfortable doing it,” said Phil Susi, owner of Long Island’s Arsenal Scaffold Inc. “It’s not something we were afraid of.”
The company erected the structure so workers can demolish the skybridge between the two buildings before tearing down the whole garage.
Susi and his crew first created the tunnel to protect cars underneath, then spent four days building up scaffolding on top up to the suspended span between the buildings’ fourth and fifth stories — which even he admits is a rare sight.
“It’s a bit unique because it’s got scaffolding on top, you don’t see this every day,” said Susi, adding that it was the largest job he has ever done in Brooklyn, although he has executed far grander projects in the outer borough of Manhattan.
Macy’s sold the hulking garage to developer Tishman Speyer last year, and the builder then filed plans to raze it down to one level — though will likely build a high-rise on the site eventually.
Work on the sky-high pathways is expected to wrap up in nine weeks, a which point Susi will take his tower down.
