Big changes are coming to the Public Place site between Smith Street and the Gowanus Canal as a prelude to a clean up of severe contamination and eventual development. Yesterday, we got an email from Community Board 6 District Manager Craig Hammerman noting that work is about to start on concrete removal at the site, which was once the home of a Manufactured Gas Plant. Here’s part of the email:
Beginning this week Bovis Lend Lease under contract with the City’s Economic Development Corporation will begin a surface concrete removal project at the Public Place site at the southeast corner of Smith/5th Streets. EDC has awarded this job to Bovis Lend Lease, which will serve as the construction manager. Bovis has hired Kelco Construction as its subcontractor to conduct the site cleanup…
Neighbors should expect to see the mobilization of earth-moving equipment at the site imminently. Signs at the site should be posted and the actual work should begin within the next few days. The contractor will be clearing brush, trees, and then removing surface concrete and debris from the site.
Trucks will enter through the Smith Street gate (across from Luquer Street), be loaded with material at the staging area in the southwest corner of the site and then exit through the 5th Street gate (nearest to Smith Street). The second gate onto Smith Street (near Ferrara Brothers) will be an alternative exit for this job but is not expected to be used except in an emergency. Hours of operation will be 7am to 4pm, weekdays. The job is expected to take 3 months.
Public Place is beginning to happen.
(GL Note: Yes, that is a gap in the fence wide enough for a small person or child to fit through and, yes, that is a sled leaning against the inside of the fence in this photo taken a couple of week ago.)
4 responses so far ↓
1 Anonymous // Mar 19, 2008 at 6:08 am
Are they going to skip ULURP?
2 Anonymous // Mar 19, 2008 at 4:42 pm
ULURP shmoolurp
i say we build as many condos there ASAP and skip the cleanup and save $$$$
it wont do any good anyhow to remove a coupla inches of top soil so let’s just skip it
severe contamination means the clean up would be costly and need a lot of thought and planning etc
lets get some people living there!
they might push the pollution down a bit with their weight
3 Anonymous // Mar 20, 2008 at 7:30 am
Hey, 7:42, that sounds like real Buddy Scotto thinking. Keep it up and you’ll probably get paid from his pot of shake-down money. Plenty to schmear around.
4 Anonymous // Mar 20, 2008 at 6:05 pm
i agree, lets skip that cleanup i say we skip all those condos too and go right to building a highend gated community for Bloomberg, Dan, and Mr Toll to retire in.
now that would be some kind of senior residence to make the community proud!