UES Council Candidate unveils 5-point plan for improving quality of life for residents along Second Ave subway construction

New York, N.Y. – City Council Candidate Ben Kallos today released a 5-point plan to improve quality of life for residents living along the construction of the Second Avenue subway slated for construction completion in 2016. The plan includes a website application built by Kallos that allows residents to suggest areas for improved lighting in addition to seeing, voting, and commenting on poorly lit spaces submitted by others. Kallos' plan entails:

 

1.     Improve lighting through community-based website application LightUp2ndAve.com, built by Ben Kallos, that will allow constituents to suggest areas for better lighting along a map of the area.

2.     Improve community outreach by expanding the information available at the Community Outreach Center on Second Ave to include information on and locations of open local businesses as well as quality-of-life information and policies.

3.     Improve blasting notifications by offering regular text message notifications and upping the number of emails to send out as far in advance as possible.

4.     Require an environmental study of construction’s impact on air quality, noise, traffic, transit, and ways that damage can be minimized for families in surrounding areas. This will complement the original Environmental Impact Statement drafted prior to construction, when the completion date was slated for 2014.

5.     Help promote local businesses by sponsoring legislation to provide grants to those whose businesses have declined due to construction.

 

 

“Everyone is excited for the Second Avenue subway, but while it is under construction, we must ensure that we are all doing all we can to make the quality of life of residents in the area better,” said Kallos. “These measures have the potential to make a real difference in the lives of those who deal with the construction every single day.”

 

Though the subway line will lead to revitalization of the area, continuous blasting, lack of safety and a poor business climate has made life difficult for residents in the construction corridor. NYPD’s 19th precinct, which patrols the Upper East Side from 59th street to 96th street, recorded a nearly 20% increase in crime within the past two years. Dozens of businesses have shuttered since the start of construction, and the remaining businesses have seen their traffic greatly reduced. Overwhelming noise and dust have become part of daily life.

 

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