Press Release Archives - 587-96 Bay Parkway Construction Project

Archives of the Mayor's Press Office

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Date: November 15, 1996

Release #587-96

Contact: Colleen Roche (212) 788-2958 or Brice Peyre (212) 442-7033

BAY PARKWAY CONSTRUCTION PROJECT COMPLETED FIVE MONTHS AHEAD OF SCHEDULE MAYOR JOINED BY OWNERS OF LOCAL BUSINESSES TO CUT RIBBON

Mayor Rudolph W. Giuliani and Department of Transportation Commissioner Christopher R. Lynn today presided over a ribbon-cutting ceremony to reopen Bay Parkway in Brooklyn at 65th Street, marking the completion of a construction project that was finished more than five months ahead of schedule.

"I am pleased to announce that Bay Parkway is open for business today," said Mayor Giuliani. "Coupled with successes like the reopening of the upper roadway of the Manhattan Bridge and the early completion of the Columbus Avenue reconstruction project, DOT is demonstrating that good management techniques and hard work can regularly achieve tangible results. This project should serve as a model and reminder that working together, New Yorkers can get the job done."

"As soon as I heard about the plight of small business owners like Salvatore Vicenzino whose deli business was failing as a result of this construction, I asked for -- and got -- an immediate response from Commissioner Lynn," continued the Mayor. "This Administration fully understands that small businesses are the backbone of our City's economy. And that is why we have done more to help small businesses -- and are more attuned to their needs -- than prior administrations. We have eliminated the Commercial Rent Tax in four-fifths of the City, and earlier today I announced that in an effort to help stimulate local neighborhood shopping, expired parking meter fines in the area north of the center of 96th Street in Manhattan and in the Bronx, Brooklyn Queens and Staten Island will be reduced from $45 to $25, effective Monday November 25, 1996."

"Under the Giuliani administration, the Department of Transportation will not tolerate the kind of delays that have all too often plagued construction projects in the past," said Commissioner Lynn, who assumed the helm at DOT just over 100 days ago. "With this project, as with many others, DOT is proving wrong those who said it couldn't be done, and those who doubted it could be done on time."

The project, which entailed extensive repairs to a portion of Bay Parkway between 65th and 67th Streets over the "N" subway line, was originally scheduled for completion in March of 1997. Further delays had actually pushed the completion date back to December 1997. After visiting the site last month and learning of both the added delay and the harmful impact the delays caused local businesses, Mayor Giuliani ordered the private contractor, Cal Tran Associates of New Jersey to complete the project by Thanksgiving.

Work completed includes:
( repair of the concrete arch joint;
( installation of the waterproofing on top of the arch;
( completion of the backfill, concrete deck, and approach slab;
( completion of the sidewalk and reinstallation of utility lines;
( replacement of parking meters on the sidewalk.

The project's overall cost is $4.3 million.