NYC Hurricane Update | Infastructure | Building Construction

Infrastructure Update:

• Verizon’s Broad Street Central office is still out of service. Their West Street office is back up and running. They are working to restore wireless and data service in lower Manhattan.
• Con Edison reports that all Manhattan and Brooklyn underground networks should be restored by Friday or Saturday. Above ground networks in Staten Island and Westchester will not be restored for at least a week.

Additional Water Services: DEP is setting up water-on-the-go stations for buildings experiencing a disruption in their water service in the following areas:

• 23^rd and 8^th Ave
• 23^rd and 2^nd Ave
• 14^th and 8^th Ave
• Houston and 6^th Ave
• Canal and Centre St
• Monroe Street (already set-up)
   

Mass Transit Update:

• The Mayor has announced that the East River crossings, including the Midtown Tunnel, will be restricted to three or more passengers and Governor Cuomo has placed the same restrictions on the RFK Bridge, the Lincoln Tunnel, and the Henry Hudson Bridge. This only applies to cars traveling into Manhattan.
• Metro North will be restoring limited service on the Harlem line between North White Plains and Grand Central Terminal.
• The LIRR is running limited service between Jamaica and Atlantic Avenue
• Beginning Thursday morning, there will be limited subway service supplemented by a bus shuttle between Downtown Brooklyn and Midtown. There will be no subway service between 34th Street and Downtown Brooklyn.
• Buses are as close to weekday schedule as possible and are still free.
• Access-a-Ride is up and running.
• The Staten Island Ferry service is still suspended. The Ferry Terminal has significant damage to wiring and they do not expect to be up and running again by Sunday. 

Small Business Disaster Assistance:

• The Mayor has announced a program to help businesses recover. More details are available about the financial assistance that is available can be found here. 
• The Economic Development Corporation also has 40,000 sf of space at the Brooklyn Navy Yard that is available to displaced businesses. To get access to that space, please visit their request page.
• Senator Schumer has been working to make a number of emergency programs from the US Small Business Administration available. For questions, you can contact the SBA Hotline at 1-800-659-2955 or the Senator’s Office at 212-486-7804.
• The application filing deadline for Physical Damage is December 31, 2012 and for Economic Injury is July 31, 2013.
• Below are the types of Disaster Loans that are available:
  • Home Disaster Loans – Loans to homeowners or renters to repair or replace disaster-damaged real estate or personal property owned by the victim. Renters are eligible for their personal property losses, including automobiles.
  • Business Physical Disaster Loans – Loans to businesses to repair or replace disaster-damaged property owned by the business, including real estate, inventories, supplies, machinery and equipment. Businesses of any size are eligible. Private, non-profit organizations such as charities, churches, private universities, etc., are also eligible.
  • Economic Injury Disaster Loans (EIDLs) – Working capital loans to help small businesses, small agricultural cooperatives, small businesses engaged in aquaculture, and most private, non-profit organizations of all sizes meet their ordinary and necessary financial obligations that cannot be met as a direct result of the disaster. These loans are intended to assist through the disaster recovery period.
  • EIDL assistance is available only to entities and their owners who cannot provide for their own recovery from non-government sources, as determined by the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA).

For further updates, please visit:

http://mta.info/

http://www.nyc.gov/html/oem/html/home/home.shtml

Please contact the Real Estate Industry desk at the Mayor’s Office of Emergency Management at the OEM desk (718) 422-8830 if you are experiencing issues.

Department Of Buildings  Update on Exterior Construction and Zone A Re-openings

DOB update us on resuming exterior construction and reopening buildings in Zone A.  For more specific information, attached are the official documents from DOB.
Exterior Work:

• Exterior construction work can resume tomorrow
• Tower and Crawler Cranes:  DOB has a Cease Use for Tower and Crawler Cranes.  Exterior work can resume on these buildings but these pieces of equipment will require a Certification of a Frequent and Periodic Inspection to be submitted into DOB through  cranecertifications@buildings.nyc.gov
• Hoists: Hoists will require the installer to recertify the hoist to cranecertifications@buildings.nyc.gov
• Scaffolds:
• All questions can also be submitted to cranecertifications@buildings.nyc.gov

Department of Building Offices:

• Because there is still no power in Lower Manhattan, the DOB Manhattan office is closed
• Filing, prefiling work, payments, LAAs and other minor filings for Manhattan construction can be completed in other boroughs
• Plan exam appointments that were cancelled Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday will be offered an opportunity for After Hour and Saturday reviews until DO B is caught up on all cancelled appointments.  Manhattan plan exam appointments will be conducted in the Brooklyn Office until the Manhattan Borough office reopens
• The HUB is temporarily relocated to the Brooklyn office.  Thursday or Friday appointments will stand, and the HUB will catch up on the backlog during extended hours next week
• DOB intends to maintain the 10 day inspection levels.  Development inspectors will be deployed over the weekend to catch up on backlog
• Alt2s should be completed online and does not require any DOB review times and permits are issued same day. 

Re-Opening Buildings within Zone A*
*Clarifications on the requirements on reopening buildings in Zone A will be issued by the Department of Building over the next day or so

• DOB inspectors and staff will be focused on 3 priority areas: Staten Island, Rockaways, Lower Manhattan. 
• Therefore, Zone A reopenings will be handled by a self-certification process that will include (for buildings 5 stories or more) a licensed architect or engineer certifying basic safety requirements, including no water damage, no structural issues, life safety systems working, power to operate life safety systems in place (including generators), and at least 1 elevator working where elevators are present. 
• If no water infiltration, then DOB is considering only requiring the structural engineering inspection. 

One57th Street:

• DOB checked the crane again today and is encouraged that there is no movement in the concrete.  DOB’s next steps include securing the mast and rotating the boom , with eventual plans to erect another crane to disassemble the tower crane over time. 
• Once the crane is rotated, then the evacuation zone can be reduced, with a goal to open most of the zone by Sunday. 
• There is currently a police post at West 58 and 7^th ave escorting people in and out of the evacuation zone
• If there is construction work that needs inspection within the evacuation zone, contact the Department of Buildings to get access through FDNY and NYPD.  Any access is going to be very limited until the evacuation zone is lifted. 

source: REBNY