Hundreds Endure Banging, Vibrating Construction of Luxury Condo Skyscraper

LOWER EAST SIDE, NY — A luxury condo tower on the Manhattan Bridge esplanade is driving hundreds of Lower East Siders crazy. Construction on One Manhattan Square, a future 72-story building, has disrupted the lives of the hundreds of Lower East Siders who live in the area surrounding it. The Extell-developed building that will change the Lower East Side skyline forever is drowning the area in the clanking of drills and machines and making life unbearable, residents told Patch.

"It's been like this for years," Francisco Frias, 29, told Patch. Frias lives in 82 Rutgers St. which neighbors One Manhattan Square. "It's noisy and annoying, and it took away our grocery store. Now we have to walk a lot farther to get our groceries."

Frias is talking about the Pathmark grocery store that was demolished for the One Manhattan Square site. Now he gets his groceries at Fine Fare supermarket on Clinton Avenue, which is a 10-minute walk, he said.

Recently, vibrations from the construction on One Manhattan Square caused the entrance door to 82 Rutgers St. to become unhinged, he said.

"Oh yeah, it's really, really banging and annoying," said Yoon Kok, 56, who also lives at 82 Rutgers St.

On Thursday, Oct. 13 a few residents of 82 Rutgers St. said at a Lower East Side community board parks committee meeting that the construction surrounding their apartment had lasted for years, and it was wreaking havoc on their quality of life. They said it seemed like no progress had been made.

Four water mains have broken since One Manhattan Square began construction last year, according to residents.

"Our streets have also been flooded several times," Frias said.

After a woman living at 286 South St. said her walls had cracked from the construction in January, the city issued an injunction forcing Extell to halt construction. Extell ignored the violation and continued work, and in February, the city issued another violation and a partial stop work order that lasted until March.

Photo credit: Sarah Kaufman/Patch