The issue of the dumpsters has gone on long enough. The noise of these screeching monsters is unbearable at night and in the very early morning hours. For too long management, our tenants association and our politicians (yes, including Dan Garodnick and his office) have passed the buck on this, explaining why things are the way they are, and that relief is just around the corner, which it never is. Apparently, the big wait now is on a permit which will allow the use of the entrance way to the dumpster garage that was built along Ave C. Why wasn't this permit taken care of when the concept of creating a garage for these dumpsters began to flourish? Who dropped the ball significantly on this--and is still dropping the ball? Why is this horrid noise level allowed to continue when it is AGAINST THE LAW? Why is Tishman Speyer not being fined for every instance of the noise rising above the legal level? There should be no excuses. And no noise. (BTW, I've a feeling that this dumpster garage, if ever used, will be a disaster, like a lot of things Tishman Speyer attempts.)
Complaints to the Department of Environmental Protection (which deals with noise issues) can now be filled out online.
Dan's office number is 212-818-0580, and there's also an online form for city complaints you can fill out.
ST/PCV Management Office's number is 212-420-5000. (Good luck getting through; best times are in the morning.)
I'd also suggest contacting NY's newspapers and local TV stations. It would be great if someone from the local news could check this out, with cameras and open audio. That would be a significant eye-opening (and ear-opening) exposé.
5 comments:
Allow me to start off by showing my ignorance. Why exactly are these things necessary? I just don't get it.
Is there some kind of deficiency in the surrounding buildings' ability to handle trash?
I have to figure this is some kind of TS cheapskate solution that allows them to avoid paying a carting company by packing the trash themselves. Maybe they're even taking in trash from other buildings to make a few bucks.
What will we ever do without them?!?
Apparently the reason TS did this is because The Boy Wonder (Robbie) didn't like seeing trash bags throughout ST.
On this issue the TA and the local politicians have done nothing. I advocate for self-help. A group of tenants who live in the affected buildings should peacefully block the trucks from removing the garbage bins and they should contact the media beforehand to get some coverage.
It's so ironic that Boy Wonder Rob Speyer (a/k/a "The Man Born Without a Brain") would object to garbage bags on the property when soon after his loser company acquired it they transformed it from a bucolic oasis to something reminiscent of a trailer park. To many of us the name Speyer is synonimous with Slumlord.
Self help would be difficult. The pick-up schedule is erratic and seems to be at the whim of the drivers who come and go. Some days the activity goes on at all hours between 1AM and 7AM, and some days they do the pickup and returns in the morning, between 9 and noon.
It would be illegal to block the pickup, since it's not the pickup that is illegal, but the noise that is sometimes generated (and sometimes not) as it seems that some drivers can complete these operations with less disruption than others (driving over the speed bumps slowly, and hoisting and unloading the dumpsters gently). But more often than not, gently gives way to brute force.
The DEP should be the first line of defense here. They need to stake out the location for a few nights. The next best bet is for someone to videotape the disturbances with a decent low light video camera and share them with a local TV station who might do an expose. You should also bring a sound level meter and video record it's readings with another camera as you tape the trucks making the noise. That would be conclusive proof.
It's not just the bins and compactors that produce noise. It's also the slamming of the flatbed trucks over the Avenue C speedbump/pedestrian walkways that really create chaos.
I've asked management if it would be possible to remove the speedbumps. They said "no".
But they can spend a zillion $$$$ on Oval Amenities.
Maybe if the trucks actually STOPPED at the stop signs....?
Post a Comment