Year-Long Sunset Park Sinkhole Repair Project Nearing Completion

SUNSET PARK, BROOKLYN — More than one year after a massive sinkhole swallowed a large chunk of the intersection at 64th Street and 5th Avenue in Sunset Park, the city says its just weeks away from finishing its repair work and re-opening the streets.

The cave-in occurred on Aug. 4 of 2015, shutting down traffic and stunning onlookers.

Two months later, photos released by the Department of Environmental Projection showed how far down the street's erosion went, as well as the size of the repair job needed to address it.

Photo courtesy of DEP

On Wednesday, a DEP spokesman told Patch that the job would be done "within the next few weeks," explaining that utilities lines were being installed with street repaving to follow.

According to the DEP, over the past year, the city's work included:

• Digging 60 feet down to inspect the extent of the sinkhole
• Removing a 48-inch-wide water main and replaced it with a new one
• Digging down to a 15-foot-wide sewer line, which was cleaned and reinforced
• And installing a new 15-inch-wide sewer line, as well as eight and 12-inch-wide water pipes

But those labors have provided little comfort to two local workers who spoke to Patch about how disruptive the project has been for their business.

"It's been hell," said one, while the other said the work would have been done much faster if it was in Manhattan, adding that she's lost all of her walk-in business.

The workers also said they had reported the sinking corner for a decade, but the city had only patched it, allowing it to get worse. And they said that the city's communication about the job had been spotty, while estimates of its completion date proved repeatedly inaccurate.

The DEP did not immediately respond to a request for comment about the workers' complaints.

Pictured at top: workers at 64th Street and 5th Avenue on Aug. 17. Photo by John V. Santore