Brooklyn, NY —
Construction in the city is at a peak with a huge number of developments around town. Whether you like it or not, if you live near one of the big projects dust, noise and traffic are more part of your life than ever. WNYC's Elaine Rivera takes a look at the cost of the new Yankee Stadium for Bronx residents living nearby.
REPORTER: Since August, hundreds of apartment residents along Jerome Avenue have had an unwelcome alarm clock. Inaldo Chavarria lives in one of the pre-war buildings on the street. About a hundred yards from his front door will eventually be the new stadium for the world-renowned Yankees franchise.
CHAVARRIA: At seven o'clock in the morning on the dot or 7:05 you actually start hearing this noise which you can kind of hear behind me um without a doubt it's basically like that since Day One After the ceremony they just come here they have trucks idling all up this block.
REPORTER: Those trucks, he says, start idling around 4 in the morning. The nine-hour daily excavation has also literally stirred up plenty of dust.
CHAVARRIA: The actual digging of the construction it just creates more dust now to the point where it is just ridiculous.
REPORTER: In his apartment, Chavarria points to a window sill and a stand that has a layer of dust. He also points to one of the apartment walls which he painted two months ago that appears to be off-color.
CHAVARRIA: You see and I painted it white really white it's one of those things that you can see it's - it's dust.
REPORTER: Resident Anita Antonetty serves on the local community board and voted against the stadium project because she's worried about losing 22 acres of parkland.
ANTONETTY: We lost are biggest part in the neighborhood We were promised replacement parks and interim parks of course that didn't happen before the construction began so we are with very limited park space.
REPORTER: She's also concerned about the health effect of construction in a community with the one of the highest rates of asthma in the country.
ANTONETTY: There are days walking through here because this is where all the transportation hub is and you're coughing and there is grit in your eyes and none of this is being monitored to what the effects are.
REPORTER: Not true, says Randy Levine, president of the Yankees organization. He says they have been complying with all city, state and federal regulations.
LEVINE: As to dust and all other environmental issues, we've kept our word we're maintaining our highest standards...we're sensitive to all of these issues - the department of environmental protection is testing and monitoring to make sure we are in compliance and we continue to do so.
REPORTER: Levine also says the Yankees are erecting 15 to 18 foot noise barriers along Jerome Avenue and other nearby streets.
LEVINE: This a construction project - there is some level of noise but we work very, very hard to mitigate it. The department of buildings is constantly on the scene monitoring it.
REPORTER: Levine argues that the project is good for the local economy, stating that 37 percent of the contracts have gone to Bronx-based companies. He says that translates into $70 million for Bronx businesses and the hiring of hundreds of local residents.
But urban planner and resident Lukas Herbert says it's not necessarily a boon. Not only is there the dust, noise, and lack of parkland, but he says the new stadium could hurt the current real estate near the site.
HERBERT: We have beautiful art deco buildings on Jerome Avenue that once looked out over the park and now they're going to have a 14-story wall with lights on top of it right in front of their windows that is probably going to have a negative effect on those buildings; it could serve to blight them.
REPORTER: Like Antonetty and Herbert, Chavarria, also has been involved with the community board. The 30-year-old MTA compliance manager has lived in the neighborhood his whole life…he thinks the neighborhood in the long run will improve because of the new stadium.
CHAVARRIA: I believe in economic development. I like the fact that this borough I mean the area is starting to revitalize, it's starting to pick up after so long but there is a cost to it and this is the cost to it right now. DISC 1 (Track 17/2:34-2:48)
REPORTER: The new Yankee stadium is expected to open in 2009 right about when the community will see another construction project begin - the demolition of the shell of the iconic old stadium. For WNYC, I'm Elaine Rivera.