OPEN: Surf Avenue has reopened after an eight-month construction project. Photo by Steve Solomonson
BY AIDAN GRAHAM
Coney Island’s Surf Avenue
has reopened after an eightmonth
construction project
which forced closure of the
densely traveled roadway,
causing painful traffi c delays
across the peninsula.
The three-phase project,
which shuttered the avenue
between W. 16th and W. 21st
streets, was designed to raise
Surf Avenue by three-anda
half feet in an effort to improve
storm drainage in the
fl ood-prone neighborhood,
as well as support a massive
real estate development in the
area.
While locals celebrated the
reopening, the area’s councilman
chastised the government
offi cials tasked with
overseeing the project, who he
said failed to properly manage
the construction effort.
“This was a bureaucratic
mess,” said Mark Treyger
(D–Coney Island). “It called
into question the oversight,
and accountability. Who is in
charge?”
Treyger said he understood
the inherent complications of
the large-scale project, which
was done in concert with other
ventures on the cramped peninsula,
and which involved
multiple government agencies,
but felt that offi cials
botched basic traffi c-mitigation
efforts.
“You need traffi c agents
stationed at problematic intersections,”
said Treyger.
“There have been a number
of times that I had to call the
NYPD and City Hall to make
sure the traffi c agents were
there, because often times,
they were not.”
Treyger pointed to a recent
incident where a construction
vehicle fatally struck a 58-
year-old man in the crosswalk
of W. 21st Street on May 11 as
evidence of lacking safety precautions.
The construction vehicle
operator, who had been working
through the weekend to
meet the project’s May 15
deadline, was issued multiple
safety equipment violations
in response to the tragedy, according
to police.
Treyger also blasted the
lack of communication between
agencies and other entities
throughout the project,
even attempting to centralize
information fl ow through
monthly coordination meetings.
“There were times when
the contractors were doing
work beyond the agreement,”
Surf’s up!
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Inside
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Police Blotter ..........................8
Stars Under 40 ....................45
Standing O ............................52
Letters ....................................54
Op-Ed ......................................56
Brownstoner ........................ 59
HOW TO REACH US
2 COURIER LIFE, MAY 24–30, 2019 G
he said. “For example, you
can’t close off Neptune Avenue
while Surf is closed.”
Still, Treyger stood by
the decision to fully close the
roadway for eight months,
rather than the alternative
option presented by the Economic
Development Corporation
— a quasi-governmental
agency tasked with growing
the city’s economy — to partially
close it for three-and-ahalf
years.
“Knowing what I know
now, they would’ve probably
take more than three-and-ahalf
years,” he said. “The last
eight months have not been
easy, but if they had gone with
option two, I think there would
have been more egregious violations
of the agreement, and
it probably would’ve lead to
full street closures. This was
the lesser of two evils.”
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‘A BUREAUCRATIC MESS’
Coney Island’s Surf Avenue reopens after eight-month project
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