After creating a mess less than a year ago, a building owner is enraged that the concrete work is being done again in front of her property.
The sidewalk, ocated at 2350 Eastchester Road, was broken up, was repaved and extended last summer. The property is owned by Annette Rapp, who not only lives inside the home, but has run her Primerica Insurance business from the building’s ground level for over a decade.
On Thursday, March 31, the New York City Department of Transportation began tearing up the sidewalk of the Eastchester Road and Waring Avenue corner property, and Rapp is still trying to figure out why the concrete is being redone.
According to an unnamed worker, the top layer of concrete has been scaling after the harsh winter, raising safety concerns for passersby, and that ‘bad cement’ was used wby the city’s contractor.
“After I heard that, my immediate response was, ‘well, will good cement be used this time?’ Rapp said. “The sidewalk here is practically brand new and it hasn’t even been a year yet since they fixed it. We have all of these school teachers being laid off but the city somehow finds the money to fix a sidewalk that doesn’t need to be fixed.”
Rapp said that when the concrete broke up last summer, cement was splashed all over her recently installed PVC fence surrounding her property, and although most of it has washed off from the rain and extra cleaning efforts on her part, some of it is still very visible.
The DOT’s Sidewalk Program’s goal is to consistently make sure that New York City’s 12,750 miles worth of sidewalk is safe for pedestrians and help prevent injuries that could be caused by defective sidewalks.
According to DOT spokesperson Nicole Garcia, the DOT is trying their best to ensure that the sidewalk at 2350 Eastchester Road is not a risk for pedestrians.
“Safety is DOT’s top priority and the agency is replacing what appears to be defective concrete provided by a concrete vendor,” Garcia said. “DOT is reviewing the contract and will pursue all appropriate remedies.”
Rapp said that one of the workers asked if they could use her home’s water hose on the morning of Friday, April 1, and after she declined because the hose could not be accessed, the workers apparently left for the day and did not return until Monday, April 4, with a handful of workers only working for a few hours.
“I could understand if the sidewalk was in serious need of repair, but I can honestly say I didn’t see anything wrong with it,” Rapp said. “These workers are here talking and taking long breaks, but if this work really needs to get done, at least get it done quickly.”
