Latest New School Construction Update

A Dept. of Health closure for La Maison de Croque Monsieur, but they claim they will reopen within a couple of days.

Next week (September 26 to September 30), contractors will continue to excavate earth and rock, loading out material. Line drilling will continue as well in limited areas. Concrete foundation walls at the South East corner of the site and slab on grade work will continue. Interior core foundation work and underground electrical and plumbing will continue. Removal of the interior earth ramp will be completed. DOT approved street connections to underground utilities on Fifth Avenue will progress. The cherry picker crane on site will be removed upon installation of the Superstructure Contractors Crane which will be stationed inside the Fifth Avenue fence.

The following week (October 3 to October 7 ), we will continue with concrete foundation walls and slabs, line drilling, rock excavation, loading out, interior core foundation work, street utility connections and underground electrical and plumbing. Formwork for superstructure concrete construction will proceed.

DEP has completed the water main repair along 13th Street. As part of this work the DEP will be completing related road repairs.

This weekend in addition to the site being open on Saturday, September 24th for foundation related activities between the work hours of 9AM and 5PM as permitted by the City, there will also be a crane installation crew assembling a crawler crane for use by the concrete superstructure contractor.

Crane installation will involve a partial street closure on Fifth Avenue between E. 14th and E. 13th Streets, as well as a full closure of E. 13th Street between University Place and Fifth Ave. As permitted by the City this activity is to occur between the hours of 6 AM & 9 PM with Sunday, 9/25/11 as a backup date. We don’t plan on needing Sunday for the crane installation unless the weather effects us on Saturday or something else that’s unpredictable prevents the completion of assembly on Saturday. It is anticipated that this work should be completed by end of work day but it could extend until the time allowed.

Metro Drugs on West 14th St., the neighboorhood’s best source of cheap cleaning supplies, has closed. Oh, well!

Serafina is expanding its chain of quick in-and-out shops by being the first retailer to arrive in the new apartment building on University between 12th and 13th. It’s been about five years since those spaces were ready for occupancy. Now we’ll have yet another spot to buy overpriced coffee.

Mystery solved. The New School’s anchor retail tenant, for better or worse, is CVS. Because we all need more pharmacies.

Next week (July 9 to July 13), Mechanical equipment and work will continue at the 17th and 18th floor levels. Curtain wall will continue to be installed on the building. Deliveries for the internal systems of the building have been ongoing and will continue, although they should not greatly affect the flow of pedestrian and road traffic.

The following week (July 16 to July 20), we will be working on the machine room levels on the 17th and 18th floors. Curtain wall will continue to be installed on the building. Deliveries for the internal systems of the building have been ongoing and will continue, although they should not greatly affect the flow of pedestrian and road traffic.

This weekend the site will be open on Saturday, July 7th for superstructure activities as well as the demobilization of the crane from the site. In order to facilitate this effort we will be closing 13th street for the day to pedestrian and automotive traffic. Site work will begin at 6AM as permitted by the City. To control noise levels within the site, work activities will be limited to working on the mechanical systems of the building and using the crane and equipment to support activities. Safety horns are used, and required by law, to coordinate lifting with the crane and to alert the workers of the danger overhead. We have directed the operators to limit the use of horns to one short sounding and to use the crane later in the day so as to avoid any excess noise.