Neighbors Fight 'Horrible' Midnight UES School Construction Work

UPPER EAST SIDE, NY — A neighbor has lost so much sleep over the late night noise and massive lights shining into his apartment from a nearby school construction project that he said it's hard to even remember when it started.

"When you lose so much sleep," said Upper East Sider Marty Bell, "your memory fades."

But thanks to the work of the neighbors and the fast efforts of a local elected official, Bell says he's actually caught some much-needed shut eye the past few days.

Since at least the start of the school year, an $18 million dollar roof replacement and facade repair project at the Julia Richman Education Complex on Second Avenue in Lenox Hill shifted from daytime hours to an all-night construction party.

That was good news for school kids, allowing them to learn without disruption during the day.

But at night, the noisy work — sometimes permitted until 2 a.m. — kept an entire building up all night and desperate to find a restful night's sleep.

"It's horrible," said Bell.

The noise was only one side of the problem.

Huge floodlights seemingly pointed straight into the East 68th Street building are so powerful that even blackout curtains stand little chance of creating darkness.

Bell said it was "like you're on the stage of the Hollywood Bowl or something."

As a board member of his coop, his inbox was quickly inundated with complaints. Neighbors were stopping him and other board members in the elevators and hallways, desperate for anything that could be done.

He and his neighbors looked into the work permits and saw that the late-night work was officially allowed until midnight — as late as 2 a.m. on some nights —and could be expected to last at least two years.

"People were wringing their hands, just saying: 'when will this end?'" Bell said. "People just felt helpless after a while."

But then, things took a "180-degree turn," Bell recounted.

After learning that construction company had planned all-day work on Yom Kippur, to take advantage of the empty school, Bell reached out to Upper East Side Council Member Julie Menin's office for help.

After a back and forth with the School Construction Authority, Menin "got them to agree to only do quiet work, hand tools only," Bell said. "All within an hour or two of me alerting her."

Menin then suggested that if things were as bad as described, the board should set up a town hall for the building.

On Oct. 3 — with notice sent out only days earlier — about half of the 250-unit building showed up on a Zoom call with the local pol, Bell said.

The next day, Menin's office sent a letter to the SCA describing the "increased constituent concerns," and requested contractors to try and schedule noisy work for earlier in the evenings.

By the end of the week, an agreement has been hashed out with the SCA and the contractor: the floodlights would be now face away from the building and that starting immediately, all noisy demolition work would end at 10 p.m.

"I am delighted to report that the SCA has been attentive to our concerns and has taken steps to cease heavy demolition construction at an earlier hour, adjust the positioning of floodlights, and reduce noise levels," Menin said. "We remain committed to vigilant monitoring of this site and will promptly address any further concerns with the SCA."

On Friday, Bell said there was already a noticeable difference.

"It was quiet," he said. "I didn't hear any noise."

Joking, Bell said "this whole episode should be called the Marvelous Mrs. Menin," in a reference to the Amazon Prime comedy show.

But Bell was careful not to be too overly effusive.

"It's only been a couple of days," he said. "I don't want to jinx it."