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Council Member Restler criticizes construction process of Brooklyn borough-based jail
2:08:02
·
136 sec
Council Member Lincoln Restler expresses extreme disappointment with the construction process of the Brooklyn borough-based jail. He criticizes various city departments for their lack of consideration for the local community and the disruptive nature of the construction work.
- Restler mentions jackhammering until 5 AM and loud construction until midnight
- He states that the community initially embraced the jail plan but has now lost goodwill due to the construction issues
- Restler accuses the city of ignoring reasonable concerns and requests for accommodations
Lincoln Restler
2:08:02
Both from a substantive standpoint of how do we reduce the population and move the borough based jail plan forward, and how do we work with the communities where the borough based jails are being built.
2:08:10
I have to say, as the council member who represents the Brooklyn Borough based jail site, I have been extremely disappointed by the Department of Design and Construction, Commissioner Foley, Deputy Commissioner, the entire team, by MACJ, by DOC, by every by DOT and DOB, and of course, the incompetent team at City Hall, by the lack of coordination and consideration for my community.
2:08:30
You all are doing jackhammering until 05:00 in the morning every single night.
2:08:35
Your after hours variances and the work that you all do goes until midnight every night for the next five years until this jail is completed.
2:08:42
And when we ask for Siri having a conversation and working on accommodations, because this is a dense urban area, We were the one community out of the four that embraced the jail plan and said we wanted to work with the administration to find good solutions.
2:08:55
You all have ignored me.
2:08:56
For two weeks, I've asked for a damn meeting and haven't gotten a response.
2:08:59
I've gotten the most inadequate and inept response from this administration, from DDC and City Hall.
2:09:04
This is not how you work with communities.
2:09:06
I am so freaking pissed.
2:09:08
When there's jackhammering until 5AM, when there's loud construction going on till midnight, you're not working with us to address reasonable concerns, you're just doing whatever the heck you want.
2:09:17
You're doing a crappy job.
2:09:18
The demolition process was awful.
2:09:21
I heard from city officials they'd never work with the demolition vendor again because they did such an awful job, and it hasn't gotten better.
2:09:28
When is this administration gonna start working with my community to try to make this construction work?
2:09:33
We've had more development, more housing built in my district than any other district in New York City for fifteen years.
2:09:38
We are accustomed to development.
2:09:40
If there was a private developer that act with such disdain for my community, the Department of Buildings would have shut them down.
2:09:47
But of course, because this is a city hall priority, you just do whatever you want.
2:09:51
Whatever you want.
2:09:53
So, the goodwill that existed in my community for this plan to try to make this work, it's gone.
2:09:59
It's been eviscerated.
2:10:00
It is out the door.
2:10:01
People are pissed.
2:10:03
Families can't sleep.
2:10:04
Literally, no one can sleep because there's jackhammering until four and five
Helen Taylor
2:10:07
in the
Lincoln Restler
2:10:07
morning.
2:10:09
Every night.
2:10:11
It's crazy.
2:10:14
So, I care about the closure of Rikers.
2:10:16
I want it to move forward.
2:10:17
But instead of having a real conversation with me about these are the trade offs that we can make if we adjust construction timelines, we don't get any response at all.