"It's Not Going to be More Than Two Weeks, and I Hope to God It's Not Even Two Weeks"

So said one of the building owners at the information meeting tonight. For the sake of simplicity, we'll call him P---. This owner more or less led the meeting tonight, although at least one other owner was there, as well as the building manager and a few other staff members. Also in attendance were:

• City Council Member Alan Gerson
• Glen Guzi, Senior External Affairs Representative, Public and Government Affairs, of the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey
• An unnamed representative of Sheldon Silver, Speaker of the New York Assembly (our representative)
• A NY1 cameraman
• Hundreds of residents

The meeting began with P--- giving a fairly detailed account of what actually happened on Monday. I'll try to give a synopsis, since I was able to take a few notes on a piece of paper given to me by another neighbor.

As part of the rebuilding of the World Trade Center site, the Port Authority (who owns the site) is constructing an underground secure truck facility immediately north of 90 West, beneath Cedar Street. This required redirecting a sewer main that runs beneath the WTC site. The Port Authority decided, with the City's consent, to redirect that sewer main through the sidewalk vault of 90 West. (Many, if not most, buildings in New York have sidewalk vaults.) The "downstream" end of this sewer main was connected to the massive main line that runs under West Street. The "upstream" end of this sewer main had not been connected to anything. While the Port Authority was building this sewer main, they were simultaneously building a wall that would separate permanently the sidewalk vault from the underground garage of 90 West.

Late Sunday night, and into Monday morning, it was raining heavily. The heavy rainfall, combined with a strong incoming Moon tide, overwhelmed the main line under West Street, sending water and sewage up the pipe. It continued up the redirected sewer main, and since the "upstream" end was not connected to anything, it spilled out into the sidewalk vault--and thus into our garage and sub-basement. Cars in the garage were submerged, the sub-basement had anywhere from 7 to 20 feet of standing water, and the enormous custom-made electrical switchboard that distributes electricity to the apartments was "devastated."

Since then, numerous City services have pumped all the water out and assessed the damage to the switchboard. It will have to be completely replaced, and this is the main reason the evacuation was extended to two weeks. Building management contacted the company that built the switchboard, Five Star, who has already began gathering components to rebuild. Meanwhile, ConEd has supplied a generator to heat the building and prevent pipes from freezing, and also to run the emergency lights and one elevator.

From here, the questions began and it quickly deteriorated as people expressed their anger, frustration, and general woe at being forced out of their homes. Lots of questions were answered by P---, with Glen Guzi of the Port Authority and Councilmember Alan Gerson chiming in to answer. Here is the important information:

• By tomorrow, the Port Authority will have an 800 number, and an office at 140 Broadway open to field claims from residents of 90 West. This will include hotel costs, travel costs, and any other incurred costs such as utility bills, etc. So keep your receipts!
• In general, Glen Guzi stated and re-stated that the Port Authority is committed to addressing the residents' needs, and will pay for costs incurred
• Also tomorrow, they are going to announce a maximum rate for hotels
• The Port Authority will finish the wall sealing off the sidewalk vault withing a day or two
• The Department of Buildings has stated that 90 West is structurally sound (Although a resident who happens to be the Deputy Commissioner of Forensics for the Department of Buildings stated that the final report from the engineer has not yet been received)
• The mail room will remain open it's normal hours, 7am to 8pm
• Building management is setting up an email address for them and the Port Authority to be a "one-stop shopping" address for all concerns
• Security will be increased, and better records of repair crews entering apartments will be kept
• People staying with friends or family and not needing reimbursements for hotels will also be compensated on an equal level to those staying in hotels

My impressions were, on the whole, relatively positive. P--- seemed genuinely honest. He clearly has a passion for this building, having been on the team that rebuilt it after September 11th, and it shows. Standing in front of all the residents was a daunting task, but he stayed calm and reaffirmed his intentions to make sure everyone has a place to stay, and is compensated for their losses. He even walked up to apartments with residents on Monday. Glen Guzi from the Port Authority was probably the most attacked person in the room, as representatives of the Port Authority tend to be. But he confidently stated that the PA would help--we'll just have to see. (Their track record is not exactly the best.) Many of the residents were confrontational, and understandably so, but many were also very calm and polite. Ultimately, the meeting didn't really bring out much new information, but it did allow residents to speak their concerns, and building management and City officials to hear them.

Now we wait and see if the promises are kept.