Neighbors say Downtown Brooklyn jail construction site dust and debris are entering their homes
A partial stop-work order went into effect at the site last Wednesday. Just two days after, the order was lifted.
Residents living near the Downtown Brooklyn jail construction site say they’re fed up — claiming dust, debris and other unknown substances have been making their way into their living spaces.
With a lot of time left on the borough-based jail project, they want to see something change immediately.
Whether it’s the dust, spray materials, other unknown substances or even piles of trash, residents who live next to the site say the ongoing issue has become rampant since April.
"There's this gray kind of crushed fireproofing material," said Lori Richmond, who lives across the street from the construction site. "We've seen polyurethane foam.”
With no current air monitoring at the worksite, concerns about what they could be exposed to grow every day, while the work being done shows no end.
“Last week we had actual debris,” said Richmond, “trash, all kinds of stuff that flew off of the site into our residential property, into the courtyard where children are playing on people's private patios.”
Neighbors say they’ve been forced to clean it all up, and talks with the construction company in charge, Tutor Perini Construction, don’t offer much help.
“They keep telling us, ‘Well, we can't determine that it's from our site,’” said Richmond. “‘We don't know. No, that's not us.’ It's very frustrating because we know what we're seeing. We're not making it up.”
Residents also say they were promised ongoing air monitoring of the site throughout the entire process, in addition to an on-site safety manager. Yet neither of those promises appears to be in place.
For now, they’ll keep advocating as long as the construction continues.
