April 25, 2016 Staff Report
Councilman Jimmy Van Bramer and members of Community Board 2 will hold a press conference Tuesday to call on the MTA to follow through with its promise of putting up noise barriers next to the LIRR tracks on Barnett Avenue.
CB 2 and the MTA first discussed putting up sound barriers along Barnett Avenue as part of the East Side Access Project nearly 10 years ago. The MTA came back to the Board and said it would put up plants to act as a barrier.
The MTA, however, told a stunned CB 2 Land Use Committee last November that the plant sound barrier was a non-starter. The agency said that there was no soil to grow plants, nor a budget to maintain them.
Lisa Deller, chair of the Land Use Committee, told MTA officials at that meeting that there are constant complaints about noise stemming from the railway line and that it was promised when the MTA took on the task to build East Side Access many years ago.
The press conference is scheduled to take place on the corner of Barnett and 45th Street at 3:30 p.m. Tuesday.
Van Bramer, when announcing the press conference, took a shot at the MTA about the project.
“East Side Access [is] a classic example of MTA mismanagement,” he said. “The project is expected to cost $10.8 billion, $6.5 billion over the initial budget, and is now scheduled to open in 2023, 14 years later than planned.”
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16 Comments
In the state where bureaucratic corruption triumphs: Another case of David vs. Goliath and Goliath wins 99% of the time.
You like quiet go live in a town in upstate ny. This is the city, overcrowded
Plants provide a visual/psychological barrier, not a sound barrier. “30 meters of dense vegetation can reduce sound by 5 decibels” – Up By Roots, James Urban, FASLA
And a physical wall would be hideous.
the LIRR was there first, you bought there knowing this, deal with it you crybaby SSG owners!! WHAHHHHHH!!!!!
They are in the process of putting in a new track to serve people on Long Island and Manhattan, so their commutes can be a few minutes shorter. The new track is 30 feet closer to the homes and they estimate it will carry 500 more trains a day. Homes in the area are developing cracks in their walls. The pounding goes on night and day. Most who live there now bought their homes long before these conditions developed.
How’s that pay raise Jimmy?!
I agree. I live right next to the track and it is not that bad. If I could magically insert noise barriers, I would put them on the 7 train tracks where the subway passes a few schools on Roosevelt Ave. Unfortunately, our elected officials don’t seem to care much about Woodside.
The 7 train was there long before the schools were built, typical board of ed.
Put a sound barrier around jvb
LIRR is already very quiet. Van Bramer, tell MTA to put noise barriers around the 7. The screeching and clunking is maddening.
yes! it’s funny to stand under the tracks at woodside, when the 7 goes by you can’t even hear yourself think, when the LIRR goes by it’s like a leaf wafting in the breeze…
he wants to get it ready for the new Phipps development.
So, I guess we know who he works for.
This is a total waste of money. You just get used to the sound and sight of the trains. It would be heinious to have to look at an ugly wall — which would probably be quickly covered in graffiti.
I really want this to succeed, but am not optimistic. If folks have any suggestions as to how to help put a little pressure on the MTA (someone I should write to, etc.) please share.
MTA is mismanaged because its a quasi gov’t/business entity. Businesses can be mismanaged but they will eventually go bankrupt (unless you’re the Federal Reserve Central Bank and its agents, Goldman, JP, Morgan Stanley etc.. who will destroy the $USD currency). But govt’s run on reelections and the power to tax (increase subway fares) so they don’t have an immediate incentive to serve the people. They’re like irresponsible teenagers.
Get the MTA out of the hands of Albany and into the hands of the NYC people; people that actually use it!