Talk about a major depression.
Efforts to fix a giant sinkhole on Fifth Avenue and 64th Street in Sunset Park will take at least until November, and with all cars and pedestrians banned from passing through, residents — who have to walk for blocks to get to a corner they can see from their stoops — are starting to feel the pinch.
“It’s tough, especially if you have kids,” 64th Street resident Diana Castelan said while pushing a stroller. “If they could just open up a path so we can pass, that would be great.”
The pit opened on Aug. 4 and the city quickly closed the street to traffic and opened it up to workers with jack-hammers, pile drivers, and giant drills. Just two weeks in and residents say they are already starting to feel the grind.
“They’re clearly working as quietly as they can, but I haven’t had a good night’s sleep since this began,” said Kathleen Pena, whose Fifth Avenue bedroom overlooks the site. “They’re here 24 hours a day. It’s a pretty constant level of noise and light.”
And then there’s access. Fifth Avenue between 63rd and 65th streets is closed, and 64th street dead-ends between between Fourth and Fifth avenues.
Still, Pena and Castelan both said they appreciate the fact that work has to be done.
“They’ve gotta do what they’ve gotta do,” Pena said.
Officials believe a defective manhole connecting the sewer to the street formed the chasm, a Department of Environmental Protection spokesman said.
Fixing the street will take months because workers have to replace a 48-inch water main, which requires moving telephone, electric, and gas lines, the department spokesman said.
And that is no easy task, according to a staffer for Councilman Carlos Menchaca (D–Sunset Park) who says he has been keeping tabs on the project.
“Its just complicated spaghetti under there,” said David Estrada, Menchaca’s chief of staff.
A phone and internet service outage has harried a tax service on the corner, Estrada said.
The tax-preparer said she couldn’t chat when this paper dropped by.
“I’m too behind,” she said.
Other businesses seem to be faring better. Bay Ridge Lexus moves 20 cars a day in and out of a lot opposite the hole, and a manager said contractors have been accommodating. Likewise at the Wash Club laundry service, which employs deliver vans and fronts the closed street. So far the business lost water once when the street caved in and for six hours when workers shut it off, a manager said.
Busses are now passing through the intersection — the only vehicles allowed, Estrada said.
But workers have been drilling a hole, and piling-driving is set to begin soon, he said.
Pena may invest in ear plugs to get a good night’s rest, but for now she just hopes the city shores up the hole, she said.
“As long as it’s safe at the end of the day, I’ll be happy,” Pena said. “This is all just a bummer.”
