Long Road to P.S. 234 Pact on Pile Driving

 by Etta Sanders


After months of talks, community leaders and developer Minskoff Equities reached an 11th-hour agreement late last month that will place stringent noise controls on a major construction project across the street from P.S. 234.

Minskoff, which is preparing to build a residential and retail complex on the property known as Site 5B, bordered by Warren, Greenwich, Murray and West Streets, agreed to measures to ensure that construction noise will not rise above 50 decibels in the school's classrooms.

Those measures include using quieter equipment, driving fewer piles, and constructing sound barriers on the north side of Warren Street alongside the school and on the south side of Warren adjacent to the construction site.

Minskoff also agreed to push back the start of pile driving from early next month until after students take crucial state tests in January. And the number of weeks for pile driving was reduced from eight to six.

The agreement by the developer and City Councilman Alan Gerson allowed the pending sale of the city-owned property to go before

the Council, which approved it on Sept. 28, just hours after the deal was signed. Gerson had vowed to block the Council vote if there were no noise agreement.

Community leaders may seek to negotiate a similar agreement for upcoming construction near P.S./I.S. 89 in Battery Park City.

"This is a new precedent for construction in Lower Manhattan," Gerson said. "I believe that it shows the rest of the city that it is technically possible to put in place protections in sensitive locations, specifically for schools and young schoolchildren."

Following the vote, Edward Minskoff, president of Minskoff Equities, told the Trib that he is looking forward to moving ahead with the development.

"We have a good and cooperative understanding with the community and maybe a partnership, which we hope will grow over time," he said.

According to Community Board 1, the developer had said that the noise mitigation will add $2.5 million to the project's cost. Minskoff would not confirm the amount.

The agreement addressed concerns of parents and school administrators that the steady pounding of pile driving would distract students and teachers.

"The stakes are no less than the entire autumn of learning at our school," John Jiler, who heads a parent committee, said at a recent PTA meeting.

Under an agreement between Gerson and the Bloomberg administration last
year, the developer was required to build in a "community friendly" manner as a condition of the land sale. Minskoff made some concessions over the summer, reducing the number of piles that would be used and shortening the duration of pile-driving work from 12 weeks to eight. But even eight weeks of pounding noise up to 100 decibels was unacceptable to the school.

As late as Sept. 19, the community and the developer seemed far apart on acceptable noise levels. That day, P.S. 234 parents, principal Sandy Bridges, members of Community board 1, city representatives and an acoustic consultant hired by the parents met in Gerson's office with Minskoff representatives.

Several people who attended the meeting said they were surprised by how little the developer was offering.

"They didn't come prepared with any solutions," said Kevin Doherty, president of the P.S. 234 PTA. "I think everybody was just shocked."

The developer's position, Doherty said, "was, 'Trust us. It's just eight weeks of a non-recurring event.' But eight weeks is a big deal. Eight weeks of pile driving across 50 feet is a huge deal."

That afternoon, the city council postponed a hearing on the land sale.

"Minskoff was first starting to get the sense they may end up with a real problem," said CB 1 member Paul Hovitz, who attended the Sept. 19 meeting.

In an interview on Sept. 22, Minskoff said the talks had been cooperative.

"We've done everything possible to be good neighbors," he said. "This is a short-term inconvenience for a little bit of time."

Citing P.S. 234's reputation for high test scores, he rejected the school's claims that eight weeks of pile driving leading up to state testing would be harmful to students. "Those kids are going to do well. If they had clowns dancing outside the room, those kids would do well."

Meanwhile, parents at the school mobilized a campaign to enlist the support of elected officials.

On Sept. 23, with the Council vote just five days away, Minskoff Equities submitted a proposal to Gerson that addressed many of the unresolved issues. Details were hashed out during late-night meetings on the eve of the vote. But the final sticking point-the height of one of the sound barriers-was still being negotiated in a side room off the Council chamber just moments before the vote. When the agreement was signed, applause broke in the chamber among a contingent of P.S. 234 parents.

"I'm very happy," Jiler said afterward. "I think Edward Minskoff has stepped up and said, 'I respect the community I'm entering into.' Something we didn't think was going to happen."