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]

The WTC Memorial and One World Trade Center are underway, but the fate of other Ground Zero projects remains unclear.

From the January issue: Development in Lower Manhattan, perhaps more than anywhere else in the
city, is characterized by big ideas. The biggest and most obvious
developments are related to Ground Zero, a site that at present is more
notable for its building delays than its progress. Still, prominent
World Trade Center-related projects, including the September 11th
Memorial, are expected to be finished within the next few years. Beyond the World Trade Center, big Lower Manhattan projects
underway include the construction of the tallest residential tower in
the city and work on the East River Waterfront. Other developments,
such as towers near the Battery Tunnel and the redevelopment of the
South Street Seaport, have fallen victim to the down market. Here are some of the plans floating around that, if brought to fruition, would fundamentally alter Lower Manhattan.

The long debate over privatization at Southbridge Towers near South Street Seaport, which contains 1,651 Mitchell-Lama co-op apartments, is heating up after a new 605-page “red herring” report was released on the issue. The report details the financial repercussions of exiting the affordable housing program and allowing the apartments to be sold at market rate. The units could go for anywhere from $260,000 for a studio apartment to $920,000 for a three-bedroom, and many residents say they would welcome the opportunity to own a valuable New York real estate asset and to be able to pass it on to family members. Others are worried about taxes under privatization, of which the government currently covers 90 percent. State Attorney General Andrew Cuomo’s office is accepting public comment on the red herring until Oct. 23, after which he will make recommendations or amendments and approve a final plan. The vote on the final plan, called the “black book,” is slated to take place next year, and would need approval from two thirds of the apartments in order to pass.

The refurbishing of downtown’s DeLury Square Park, scheduled to be completed in spring 2010, is underway. The city obtained 5,800 square feet of land from the Southbridge Towers in a $5.5 million sale in order to form the expanded park space. When completed the park will be 8,800 square feet, total. The Lower Manhattan Development Corporation is covering the $2.6 million in construction costs. When completed, the park will convey an arboreal theme, according to parks commissioner Adrian Benepe. [more]