Reconstruction on Houston A Deadly Hazard, Suit Claims

A reconstruction project along Houston Street is a misuse of federal funds and a major safety and health hazard for residents, pedestrians, and bicyclists, community leaders say in a lawsuit filed in state Supreme Court in Manhattan this week.

The suit, which names the city and the Departments of City Planning, Transportation, and Design and Construction as defendants, alleges that the construction project's design and the reconstruction work itself "constitutes a present and future public nuisance and health, safety, and welfare hazard to area and community pedestrians and to bicycle riders." The complaint calls the project, known as the Houston Street Reconstruction Plan and Project, a "definite threat" for health and safety along the street.

The project, which is expected to be completed by June 2009, also may be in default of the Congestion Mitigation and Air Quality Program, a federal stipulation that requires construction sites to find and implement alternative solutions for traffic congestion, such as adding bicycle lanes, and to improve the overall air quality and environment of the site, the suit says.

Council Member Alan Gerson, who represents the Lower Manhattan district that includes the project, filed the suit both individually and as a member of the City Council, along with members of Community Board 2, the director of the SoHo Alliance, and residents from neighboring buildings.

The suit asks the court to rule that the construction is unsafe, environmentally harmful, threatening to health and safety, and a public nuisance that must be fixed immediately. While it seeks compensation for damages and suffering sustained by residents, commercial business owners, and pedestrians and bicyclists from the construction, the amount of money was not immediately known. A spokesman for the city law department, Connie Pankratz, said her office had not received the legal papers and so could not comment further.

Since 2005, three bicyclists have died in truck-related accidents while riding along Houston Street. The most recent occurred last summer, when the front wheel of a Brooklyn filmmaker's bike hit a steel plate covering a construction trench, causing him to fall beneath a truck.