Cuomo Halts Non-Essential Construction Over Coronavirus Fear

CROWN HEIGHTS, BROOKLYN — All non-essential construction must stop in order to slow the new coronavirus' spread, Gov. Andrew Cuomo announced Friday.

The halt comes amid growing concerns that construction sites could become potential hotbeds for the coronavirus. It's impossible to maintain proper social distancing and hygiene necessary to prevent the coronavirus' spread, worried construction workers and others.

Cuomo said during a Friday news conference that he ordered a stop for all but "essential" construction. He didn't elaborate what is considered essential, but THE CITY reportedit would include hospital building, infrastructure and transportation projects.

"We're closing down non-essential construction sites," he said during a Friday news conference.

The stoppage adds construction to the long list of industries affected by coronavirus-related shutdowns and a sweeping "stay-at-home" order. It also came as a relief to renters like Melinda Jones.

To keep up to date with coronavirus developments in Crown Heights, sign up for Patch's news alerts and newsletter.

Jones and many of her fellow tenants at 921 Washington Ave., an apartment building in Crown Heights, have for weeks been cooped up in their apartments amid the outbreak while unmasked construction workers in the lobby clattered away on a project in the lobby.

"There’s really no distance," Jones said. "I'm really just afraid coming out and having contact with someone who has it."

Jones, a teacher, has been working from home. Beyond her concerns about crowded construction workers right outside her lobby-level apartment, she said the noise — metal clanging, sparks flying — has been a major distraction as she tries to reach students.

"It was very difficult for me to focus" she said. "Wherever I was the noise was overwhelming."

Felice Robertson, who has the same landlords at the neighboring 941 Washington Ave., has similar complaints. She outlined long-standing issues with the building's owners, culminating in construction going forward despite tenants' fears over the coronavirus.

The landlords didn't respond to a request for comment.

"This is an extremely bad situation that is putting light on the construction going on around us," Robertson said.

It's a racket in more ways than one, said Gregory Louis, general counsel for Communities Resist, a housing legal services organization.

Louis for weeks raised concerns about continued construction with the city's Department of Building. He said "clearly non-essential" construction at places like the Washington Avenue apartment buildings should have stopped, but the city let it go forward.

"It just sort of strikes me as pretty absurd and just a terrible idea from a health and safety standpoint," he said.

And it seems the Department of Buildings chugged along with business as usual as city workers and others across the state were ordered to stay home.

A building department employee who wanted to be unnamed said last week that workers still were packed in those offices despite coronavirus concerns.

"It’s a clear disregard for their employees and human life in general," the employee said

Many construction workers shared the fears expressed by tenants and city employees. One called WNYC's Brian Lehrer Show on Friday to ask Mayor Bill de Blasio why he had to work on luxury Manhattan high rises without protective equipment for weeks.

We are not essential workers, he said.

"I'm afraid I'm going to get sick and bring it home," he said.

De Blasio agreed and said the governor's office rightly halted any work that doesn't benefit the public good. Luxury condos are not necessary, he said.

"As of this morning, that non-essential construction is canceled," he said.

Lehrer asked what took so long, given the concerns swirling for at least a week. De Blasio said officials didn't know a federal stimulus bill would pass and they hesitated to take away outdoor work.

Coronavirus In NYC: What's Happened And What You Need To Know