Construction resumes at B4 and B15 sites; developers cite "enhanced safety measures" (though social distancing is difficult)

Some four weeks after construction began to shut down out of caution at the B4 (18 Sixth Avenue) and B15 (37 Sixth Avenue, 662-4 Pacific Street) sites, workers were back yesterday, part of a general wave--see below--of construction sites reopening.

As indicated by the blue circles on the excerpt at right from the city's list of essential construction sites, the justification is affordable housing, as each building will contain 30% below-market units (level of affordability not yet established).

After all, the developers of the sites--for B4, a partnership between Greenland Forest City Partners (GFCP) and The Brodsky Organization, and for B15, Brodsky alone, after leasing the site from GFCP--could have continued construction all through the current coronavirus crisis, given the affordable housing exception.

I asked if there were any changes, in terms of number of workers or new workplace precautions, and got some affirmation of the latter from a spokesperson for Greenland Forest City Partners and The Brodsky Organization:

To ensure the wellbeing of our workers we have taken a very cautious approach to construction at Pacific Park, voluntarily pausing work earlier this month to ensure we had a proper safety plan in place for continuing essential affordable housing construction in this period. As we restart construction on 18 Sixth Avenue and 662 Pacific Street, we are implementing a suite of enhanced safety measures and will continue to follow the guidance of state and city officials.

On video

The video below was sent by a neighbor yesterday.


From the Times

The New York Times, in an article posted yesterday headlined N.Y. Building Sites Reopen, Carefully, in Sign of Life Gearing Back Up, cited 5,200 construction projects as having reopened in New York City, with new procedures to space workers out or take their temperature, as well as new hand-washing stations and mask protocols.

Still, as one worker in Manhattan said, “There is no social distancing on a construction site,” and the Times observed "a project next to Barclays Center"--surely B4 or possibly B15--"a cluster of workers wearing masks huddled together to install a scaffolding base."

There's also a proposal pending to permit allow 24-hour construction, thus spreading the workforce out both on the job and over time. Of course that could be noisy and disruptive, so it will require city approval. That said, the city has already regularly approved noise and disruptive weekend work for projects like Atlantic Yards/Pacific Park.