Upper East Siders living a work from home nightmare due to a noisy construction site next door are finally getting some much-needed relief. After months of jackhammering , disturbing neighbors, City Council Member Julie Menin has finally gotten the developer to install more noise mitigation measures.
The noise problems at the construction site, located on First Avenue between East 79th and 80th Streets, began last fall when Extell — the developer behind luxury buildings like the Lucida at 86th Street and Lexington Avenue, the Kent on East 95th Street — began jackhammering through forty feet of bedrock to erect a 30-story, 400,000 square foot medical tower, set to be anchored by the Hospital for Special Surgery.
Last October, neighbor Michael Savage told Upper East Site that the non-stop noise starts at 7:00 am and makes it impossible for him to work from home.
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“They have two different jackhammers. The bigger one is the problematic one,” explained Savage, “[It’s] just insane how long they’ve been at it, with no end in sight.”
“I can’t imagine being a mom home with a baby and this noise it must be so bad,” another neighbor added.
Despite more than 15 visits by the NYC Department of Environmental Protection and several more by the department of buildings, inspections found no violations of the city’s noise regulations, according to Menin’s office, which continued to press Extell to do more.
“In an era where many people work from home, lowering decibel levels from construction sites is critical to enhance New Yorkers quality of life,” said Council Member Julie Menin, announcing that the developer Extell had imported sound-dampening blankets from Australia.
“I am pleased that Extell has engaged with my office and procured sound mitigation equipment that is not readily available in the United States,” Menin added.
The so-called ‘hammer blankets’ arrived late last month and will be used during the rest of the rock chipping phase, which Extell tells Menin will last for roughly one more month.
Noise levels at the site are then expected to drop as the project proceeds.
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