On Monday, a concerned reader sent us a note detailing what seemed to be major road work taking place around the Upper West Side, especially in the upper 60s and lower 70s. The reader asked if we could “report on what seems to be a gigantic repaving project” which began in the middle of the night on Friday, causing a lot of noise while people were trying to sleep.
ILoveTheUpperWestSide reached out to the Department of Transportation, though they were somewhat tight-lipped about why this was happening now.
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In regards to scheduling, they shared this link with us. It details road work plans through Saturday, September 11. It appears that today and tomorrow (Sept. 8 – Sept. 9) the DOT will be ‘paving’ on West 68th Street from Central Park West to Amsterdam Ave. The site indicates that this work will be done at ‘night.’
Street signs posted on West 68th Street state that cars will be towed if they’re not removed. No other UWS work is scheduled to take place this week but the above link will keep you abreast of future work in your area. The site notes that schedules are subject to change due to inclement weather or emergencies. All road milling has been scheduled for the nighttime.
A resident of West 69th told us that more than twenty cars were towed on her street during road milling last week. But she emphasized that at the time, she saw no “Tow Away Zone” signs posted, leading to the high number of tows.
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For those curious about what ‘road milling’ is, the DOT directed us to this video. If you don’t have time for a 3-and-a-half-minute video, their website describes road milling as “the process of grinding off the top layer of asphalt or surface of a roadway,” something which is “usually done in preparation for paving, although there are exceptions where no milling or only partial milling is needed. The website goes on to say that “the milling process is noisy and may cause discomfort in the affected neighborhood for several days. Much of the work is done at night in order to minimize disruptions to traffic. Although DOT takes steps to minimize the inconvenience, milling requires trucks, special machinery and portable lights. To minimize disruption, machinery is fitted with noise reduction equipment and crews attempt to keep noise to a minimum.”
Maybe someone can figure out why the ramps off the West Side Highway haven’t been paved for over 25 years. This is not an exaggeration, west 79th and 95 on and off ramps haven’t been touched. It’s ridiculous. NYS says the city needs to do it and the City says it’s the States responsibility.
Yep, I saw the signs, but posted the morning of. if you parked early in the week, and ignored it, you likely got towed. I’m not sure WHY everyone is up in arms. They repave the streets every 5-7 years and it is always at night for two reasons. One, to not disrupt traffic. Two, because other projects are reserved for the daytime. Or emergency repairs. Yes, it’s noisy, but honestly, it lasts about 35 minutes for the milling, and 45 minutes for the repave (plus a rollover compression).. But after 24 years in my apartment, I only wonder ‘when’ will it happen again, not IF. Or…. Would you rather have cobblestones, where EVERY night is noisy because of traffic bumping along the road? Guess you all need SOMETHING to complain about. If it wasn’t repaving, then it would be unrepaired potholes.
We had a rental car parked on West 74th between Columbus and CPW that we thought was towed during the night between Thursday and Friday. There were no “No Parking” signs and we couldn’t find it through the impound process. Called the 20th Precinct. They had “relocated it” to 75th between Columbus and CPW. Amazing.
Loud drilling started at 2-2:30 last night. Very loud…I live near the AMNH. LASTED FOR A SHORT TIME, BUT WHY DID THEY DO THAT..?
They did this wok at night on West 81st street…over many nights. I live on this street Hard to sleep. What I heard last night was loud…like just down the block. So, here we go again!
This work has been done on West 81st Street. Off of CPW. Over many nights. It wasn’t easy to put up with it. Looks nice, and am happy it is over.
I live on 73rd St and now the roads are left “milled” and no clue when they will be paved. It’s close to impossible to bike on them, super uncomfortable and can’t see any dips. Do you know when they will be paving them?
Better of in the West Side of milwaukee Wisconsin . Affordable Semi -Surburban neighborhood , and you can park your car. Naomi
In typical NYC fashion my car was towed with no notice. I parked on the south side of 73rd Street on Saturday evening, August 28th and there were NO SIGNS posted. I expected that I didn’t need to move my car until Friday Sept 3rd. I returned back in the city on Wednesday morning to find my car ‘relocated’ with a $115 ticket. And, of course, there were signs posted on the block AFTER THE FACT. The agency responsible for this is incompetent. Street closures must be posted BEFORE Thursday and Friday so people know in advance when they need to move their cars. The idiocy of these people is mind- boggling. I would love to be able to speak to the person in charge of this but no one is accountable. This incompetence trickles down from Mayor “I couldn’t give a sh*t” de Blasio.
Yep, I saw the signs, but posted the morning of. if you parked early in the week, and ignored it, you likely got towed. I’m not sure WHY everyone is up in arms. They repave the streets every 5-7 years and it is always at night for two reasons. One, to not disrupt traffic. Two, because other projects are reserved for the daytime. Or emergency repairs. Yes, it’s noisy, but honestly, it lasts about 35 minutes for the milling, and 45 minutes for the repave (plus a rollover compression).. But after 24 years in my apartment, I only wonder ‘when’ will it happen again, not IF. Or…. Would you rather have cobblestones, where EVERY night is noisy because of traffic bumping along the road? Guess you all need SOMETHING to complain about. If it wasn’t repaving, then it would be unrepaired potholes.
The Upper West Side of Manhattan , is still my Favorite New York City Neighborhood since 1964 , when the neighborhood was a cool liveable communety with Mom and Pop Stores , Beautiful Pre WWW@ Buildings and brownstones add in a diverse population with the intelllectual and the creative class mixed in to give the neighborhood character , that impressed a cool smart inquisitive 13 year old . 9-5-2021 , a Completely different Upper West Side with Potholed streets and CONSTRUCTION OVERLOAD . The Residents look sullen , not like the cool residents of 1964 . The Developers completely destroyed the character of this once great Charming Neighborhood . To sum it Up . in Sept 2021 , the Upper West Side is not the same neighborhood from my YOUTH .
Signs were posted covering last Wednesday and Thursday on W74 Street. Late on Thursday night they towed all cars but did no work on street. By morning parking resumed. Late Friday new signs were posted just two hours before towing resumed. There were some very angry people looking for their cars at 1am. de Blasio’s New York!
Was kept awake by at least 2 dueling jackhammers near Amsterdam/W 93rd starting Sept 4 and 5 at 1am and 2am respectively and lasting through at least 4am. Starting Sept 6 at 1am jackhammers dueled again for roughly 20 mins. I’m an adult and plenty angry at successive nights of several hours’ sleep loss.
But I really feel for households with infants and school-age children within earshot of those dueling jackhammers. That’s an enraging and disruptive nightmare too far.
I too was surprised to arrive on Thursday morning to find my car gone (along with about 10-12 other neighbors). A quick read of the sign revealed that we just needed to call the precinct with our license plate number to find the location of the car. Mine had been safely relocated to a metered spot on Columbus about a block and a half away. The pamphlet left on my windshield also provided a number to call if a citation had been issued, which it hadn’t. For those who wish to make this a partisan matter, I can assure you that my car has been relocated in the manner three times under three mayors…so I don’t really get the gripe. But with the 5-7 year interval, it is always a little amusing when it happens. My bigger concern was that I had to go to Chelsea to find a new parking spot.
No pamphlet or phone # provided to me, just an expensive ticket. No advance notice of parking changes— the basics that we should expect. I have no complaints about the noise, dirt, etc— the work needs to get done. But proper notice and management of the project is the minimum we should expect. Is that too much to ask?
There is a number to call to have the citation removed — I’ll see if I can find it for you. Maybe one of the other neighbors here has it handy. You can also call the 20th precinct and I’m sure they can tell you the process (I was surprised to easily get someone knowledgable about the situation on the phone). On the block in which I was parked, there were yellow paper signs taped to several trees.
The yellow signs that were posted on the block where I was parked state: “You will not be penalized for this temporary parking restriction.” It advises to call your local precinct to locate your car (mine was parked in the 20th). I called the precinct and was immediately connected with a person who quickly provided me with the new location of my car upon providing my license plate number. On my windshield was a Vehicle Relocation Slip that stated to call 212-839-9864 if a summons was received.
Milling (scraping the asphalt off) and then repaving side streets on the Upper West Side is a once every approximately 10 years event.
So what’s all this getting bent out of shape, in these comments, about normal maintenance?
At least on my street and several other streets, the signs went up well in advance.
(Now, when I’ve owned car in Manhattan, I’ve parked it off the street in a garage–especially if you only use it a few times a month saves of damage + wear and tear. Saves massively on insurance rates too, assuming you own it and have a good driving record.)
Several nights last week they were working on 73rd & 74th streets very loudly till 2:00am. Not “35 minutes,” but hours and hours of continuous extremely loud noise ending way past midnight.
Phil:
Street repaving overnight is a regular approximately every 10 year event on the UWS.
Welcome to the neighborhood.
These same whiners would be complaining if their street wasn’t fixed. I live on one the of the streets that was stripped of asphalt in the night – on a low floor with windows that face the street. It wasn’t that big of a deal. Buck up, people.
Betcha wouldn’t say that if it were your infant/child/invalid being jolted out of a dead sleep at 1, 2, or 3 am by clanking, smoke belching paving machines.
Before dismissing neighbors as “whiners” or exhorting them to “buck up,” please consider that some of your neighbors’ circumstances may differ from yours in ways that actually legitimize their objections to dead-of-night roadwork.
Some here note roadwork scheduled overnight avoids disrupting daytime traffic. But UWS pandemic traffic strikes me as more like 24/7 eerie quiet compared to pre-pandemic traffic. Here in the 90s, we used to have the smoggy rush-hour bustle of twice daily traffic jams and, in the darkest hours, a truck or 3 screaming highway fast up Amsterdam.
L. Vee:
“But UWS pandemic traffic strikes me as more like 24/7 eerie quiet compared to pre-pandemic traffic. ”
I see plenty of traffic late at night on Amsterdam, the closest avenue to my apartment. And day time traffic, on avenues, The boulevard, and streets is real close to normal for September 2019.
Scraping and repaving (overnight) occurs approximately every 10 years on Upper West Side Side streets. This blog is remiss for not having prominently pointed this out.
It’s still not right. Not THAT much traffic to disrupt much-needed sleep. Nothing that couldn’t be done 9 to 5. That it’s done once a decade is simply irrelevant. It’s hard enough to make a living here. For heaven’s sake, allow us a decent night’s sleep!