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Are any other board members dealing with the mass evacuations caused by the collapse of the Extell / Lend Lease crane at One57 (157 W 57)? We were evacuated by the FDNY on Monday evening right around the peak of Hurricane Sandy and have not yet been allowed to return. Because of the continuing winds, it's not at all clear when the mangled crane can be tied down so we can return to our homes. The whole area is surrounded by police barricades.
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Ellen, thanks for the reply -- and yes, I've been in touch with the board president at the Osborne, who was extremely helpful. (He and a resident of my building are both on Community Board 5.) After considerable work by everyone involved, the displaced residents of my building who had no place to go are now in a hotel in the Times Square area. If the crane work on Saturday and Sunday is successful, we're supposed to able to return to our homes on Monday. Let's hope that's the case!
The police and other agencies finally allowed our residents to make emergency visits into the building to pick up medication and similar items. After the initial frostiness and rebuffs of the early days, the police were actually quite friendly and understanding when my family made our short return visit.
Lots of interesting stories to tell when this is over. It has been quite an experience.
Dear Carl, thanks for the note. My experience is exactly how u described, although I think it was too kind to call the initial police attitude frosty. They actually tried to arrest me when I tried to get by to go upstairs for my medication and such. I am in a times sq hotel now with my 2 dogs. I thought we were going to b allowed home today but apparently not. Oh well. Hotel life is not too bad! All the best, Ellen
Ellen, I'm sorry to hear that the police actually tried to arrest you for getting your medicine! That's awful. We had one couple in our building who needed their passports for an international trip and couldn't get to them. Luckily, the absolute lockout was lifted with just hours to spare.
It has been a stressful period for all of us. I spent many hours on the phone and on the computer with Extell and our residents on Wed/Thurs/Fri ensuring that everyone had a place to stay. Our contact at Extell has been working very hard to find hotel rooms and portion them out fairly. And our residents have been cooperative and responsive.
By the way, I can't stress enough how valuable it was to have an e-mail list for the whole building. I sent 173 e-mails in a 48-hour period and was able to keep everyone informed. Residents were able to let me know their own situation and also pass along news items. (We have both a 1010 WINS reporter and a CB5 member in our building.) I send all e-mails using bcc: so the e-mail addresses remain private.
Dear Carl,
Nice chatting with u. Just wanted to report that I am as snug as a bug in a rug this morning! I want to give thanks to our board members and Pres Joe Ferrara and especially our fearless building manager all who worked tirelessly to get us secured and then home.
Ellen
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Hi, Have you been in touch with the Board at the Osborne (205)? If not I will give you their info. Now I understand we are all in our hotels until Sunday or Monday. Good luck,
ellen
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