Dear DOT: Boro Park Residents Have Had Enough

By Idy Perl, BoroPark24

Several Boro Park shop owners have expressed frustration towards the City and the DOT regarding the ongoing construction on 13th Avenue.

Over the last few weeks there has been roadwork every day, causing street closures and heavy traffic. Residents and shop owners have also noticed that the biggest projects always take place on Friday, the busiest day for the Jewish community. 

“Since Pesach, there hasn’t been one weekend that customers were able to easily get to my store,” one shop owner told BoroPark 24. “It’s costing me and other businesses thousands of dollars in lost business because customers simply can’t get to us.”

Irate customers told BoroPark 24 that their weekly shopping now takes double the usual amount of time.

“Don’t they know that Friday is the most hectic day for us?” a local resident asks. “You’d think they’d at least try to schedule the biggest roadwork projects on other days, like on Shabbos, to minimize disruption, but that doesn’t seem to be the case.”

The frustration also stems from the fact that there is no prior notice when roadwork will be taking place. Yesterday, for instance, Con Edison closed down 13th Avenue between 39th and 40th Street, causing heavy delays and traffic. No one had been notified, nor the local media, that Con Edison was going to be shutting down the street and therefore, didn’t have a chance to find alternative routes or plan their schedules around the closures. 

As drivers honk their horns and pedestrians step around construction cones, everyone seems to agree on one thing: we’ve all had enough.