Late-night construction at the Brooklyn Bridge site has been too loud for residents at the Southbridge Towers at 90 Beekman Street in Lower Manhattan, New York Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver told city officials last week. He wrote a letter to Janette Sadik-Khan, Department of Transportation Commissioner, asking her to intervene because the DOT has admitted in the past that the noise exceeds its own codes. He wrote that the worst noise occurs between 11 p.m. and 5 a.m. when residents are trying to sleep.

Silver suggested that the city use noise-dampening devices on the heavy equipment, and also asked that the city look to install sound barriers in the apartments most affected by the construction. … [more]

Prospect Park’s Terrace Bridge may be only a few yards long, but it’s one of the most structurally-deficient in the city, according to the city’s latest ranking of its bridges. That’s why the Department of Transportation is planning a restoration of the 140-year-old stone structure — once it’s finished bringing the Brooklyn Bridge, also on the city’s list of bridges in “poor” condition, up to snuff. A “poor” designation means that a bridge is not consistent with current engineering standards, but the DOT said it doesn’t necessarily mean it is unsafe. Because an average of 127,000 drivers per day cross the Brooklyn Bridge, compared to the Terrace Bridge’s zero (it’s closed to cars, and according to Eugene Patron of the Prospect Park Alliance, “doesn’t get much day-to-day use”), fixing the former is the city’s first priority. A reconstruction timetable for the Terrace Bridge has not yet been set. [Brooklyn Paper]

From left: Empire Stores and the Tobacco Warehouse

In its bid to beautify Empire Fulton Ferry State Park — the park between the Manhattan and Brooklyn bridges in Brooklyn — the city has caught the ire of residents who don’t want to see two Civil War-era buildings disappear. According to the Wall Street Journal, the roofless Tobacco Warehouse and the Empire Stores were dropped from a redrawn state map of the park because parks officials said they weren’t suitable for use in public outdoor recreation. The city courted proposals for the buildings and selected one by the performing-arts group St. Ann’s Warehouse to use the Tobacco warehouse as a theater. But preservation groups filed a lawsuit fearing that the buildings would be open to commercial development…. [more]

Vice President Joe Biden was in town today to kick off the start of a Brooklyn Bridge makeover that’s partly funded with federal economic recovery act money, Gothamist reported. The $500 rehabilitation million project, beginning now, involves repainting the bridge and expanding the approach ramps to improve traffic flow. It is set for completion in 2014. The recovery act provided $30 million for the project, with the rest coming from the city and other federal sources. Biden was scheduled to discuss the bridge project today with Mayor Michael Bloomberg. [Gothamist]

… [more]

The Brooklyn Bridge is about to undergo a $500 million renovation project, including a massive lead paint removal, according to the Broadsheet Daily. The effort, which is being funded in part by stimulus money through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, is set to take about four years. Contractor Skanska is slated to lead the project, which will begin around late May or early June. Overnight traffic on the bridge may be affected the most, according to a representative from the Department of Transportation, who said officials expect about 82 percent of the traffic to be diverted to the Manhattan Bridge.

More than half of the $2.5 billion in stimulus money coming to New York
state is going to housing, highway and bridge projects within New York
City, the New York Post reported. The city will get $23 million to
repair East Houston Street in the East Village, $1 million for
restrooms in Penn Station and another $830,000 for office space
renovations there. Other funds will go toward boardwalks at Coney
Island and Rockaway Beach and repairs at the Brooklyn Bridge, among
other projects. … [more]

• 1. Kensington residents trying to turn Caton on the Park into affordable housing [Arch Paper via Curbed]
• 2. Corcoran takes over sales at 14 Hope Street, lowers prices [Brownstoner]
• 3. Developer John Catsimatidis talks about 202 Myrtle Avenue project [Brownstoner]
• 4. Brooklyn Bridge Park loses $8 million from budget, foot bridge cut from plan [Brownstoner]
• 5. Architect Santiago Calatrava said designing the World Trade Center transit hub was difficult [Crain's]
• 6. Tailor restaurant in Soho goes bankrupt [Crain's]
• 7. Appeals court upholds decision that developer Shaya Boymelgreen improperly assigned lease to Forest City Ratner [AY Report]
• 8. General Growth Properties gets new terms on a $400 million loan [Bloomberg]
• 9. REITs raise $10.6 billion to cut debt [Bloomberg]
• 10. Prices on Long Island still high [LIBN]
• 11. John Jermain Memorial Library in Sag Harbor to be expanded [Sag Harbor Express]
• 12. Reservations rise, helping Bovis Homes [FT]
• 13. First concrete laid for Sept. 11, 2001 memorial [AP via SI Advance]
• 14. History of the collapsed 217 Court Street [Lost City]

… [more]