CUNY Interactive Journalism

The City of New York is working to update its water system and is undergoing serious construction in certain areas of Manhattan. One area that’s being torn apart is on Hudson Street in Tribeca. The project began in August 2010 is not expected to be complete until Winter 2015.

As a result, pedestrian access is limited, business owners are losing street visibility, parking garages are being blocked, parking is limited, an M20 bus stop was lost and traffic to and from the Holland Tunnel is perpetually congested.

The project is currently in phase 2 and construction is running from Laight Street to Hubert Street. In a recent CB1 meeting, residents and business owners joined to raise awareness of the project and it’s effects. The DDC’s (Department of Design and Construction) urges CB1 residents to reach out to Karen Butler (hudsonstprojectccl@gmail.com), the project community liaison, if you have any questions or concerns. You can also check here for updates.

View Tribeca Water Main Construction in a larger map

By Tuan Nguyen

An international conference held late last month at The New York Academy found that, in many parts of Manhattan, people were exposed to decibel levels of over 70 decibels, which would create hearing damages over time. Besides hearing loss, daily exposure to these types of levels can lead to stress, heart disease and sleep disruption.

I put up a survey among friends of J-school, Facebook and other work contacts that I know here in New York to find out about their awareness of the issue as well as their solutions to the problems. After three days from Nov 4-7, the survey received 32 responses. Follows are what I’ve found so far:

• Just as indicated by the report at the conference, the majority of the respondents (56,25%) are unaware of the risk.
• In terms of irritation level (from 1-5), inclination towards the higher end of irritation is much higher (graph attached).

• Irritated as they are, most of the respondents (26 out of 32) said they would prefer to stay in Manhattan rather than to move out or change working place. The glamorous, jewel-like traits of the borough still bite.
• Of the four noisiest places (Times Square, First Avenue above 14^th Street, Broadway in Inwood and the Upper East Side), Times Square stands out as the noisiest. With regards to sources of noise, subway and car honking trump.

• To deal with the problem, most of the respondents prefer either noise-cancelling headphones or staying away from the public spaces. Many of “Others” respondents include both of the choices.

You can have a look at the detailed report here.