North Bronx residents not amused by ConEd 'surprise'
Sedgwick Avenue residents got an unwelcome holiday surprise on a recent morning when they discovered their neighborhood had become a construction site.
"One day we came out and all of a sudden there are signs saying 'tow away zone,'" said Danalyn Velez, who lives near the winding stretch of road between Giles Place and Stevenson Place.
Consolidated Edison has opened the street to get at underground power lines. Work is scheduled to continue until the end of the year.
The utility company has had a permit for the work since Nov. 2, but residents say they weren't notified of the plans until work started on Nov. 17.
The most common complaint aired by residents is the effect on parking, already a major problem in the area, where residents of private homes and large co-ops vastly outnumber the available parking spaces.
The street was at first completely closed to parking.
In response to complaints from residents and the local community board, the utility company has modified their plans to allow people to park along the street on evenings and weekends. On Sunday evening, approximately 35 cars were parked along the affected stretch of road.
"We apologize to the community for any inconvenience," said Chris Olert, a Con Ed representative. "We know we had a rocky start but we're trying to do better."
The street has been excavated in order to check a 620-foot length of power line for potential leaks in the cooling system, Mr. Olert said. The cable connects the West Side of Manhattan with a substation in Westchester.
Community Board 8 district manager Nicole Stent said that she met with Con Ed representatives on Nov. 20 to discuss the parking issue. Workers removed their equipment before they left the site that evening, but had neglected to remove the no parking signs. Ms. Stent said that she had been under the impression that people would be able to park on the street that weekend, but some residents got parking tickets.
Ms. Stent said that people should know that they can contest their tickets. But local resident Hector Valoy said he's already paid the ticket he got for parking in his neighborhood that weekend.
"The thing is, the signs were there," he said. "I'm not going to stress myself over it."
This is part of the December 3, 2009 online edition of The Riverdale Press.
tagged with: Bronx district 8, Consolidated Edison, parking, Riverdale Press, Sedgwick Ave
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