By Gabriela Resto-Montero
DNAinfo Reporter/Producer
UPPER EAST SIDE — Residents and businesses on E.95th Street will have to put up with traffic restrictions, parking problems and construction barriers for another month after a project connected to the Second Avenue Subway fell behind schedule.
The stretch between First and Second avenues was closed in December so EE Cruz and Tully Construction Company could do sewer work associated with the new subway tunnel. The project was supposed to be completed in January, but now the work contract has been extended through March 26, said Remo Enea, a company spokesman.
Cars headed to specific businesses will be allowed through during construction times — 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday through Friday. Pedestrians also can get through, but they have to leave the sidewalk and walk in the street to get around the construction.
That has caused headaches for locals.
Louis Letizia, manager at Manhattan Auto Repair Shop on 95th Street, said he has had to send departing customers out against the traffic to avoid the roadblock.
"The bad side of it is that it's a nuisance," said Letizia. "It's actually kind of dangerous."
Jesus Sierra, a superintendent at three buildings on the street, said the project is also perilous for residents. He pointed to an elderly woman trying to make her way around the project, stepping off the curb into the street.
"See the problem trying to get down in a place where there's no ramp for the elderly," Sierra said. "When it gets icy, people fall. Nevermind when the street's closed and the cars can't see."
The MTA set up an independent community liaison, Claudia Wilson, to deal with local project concerns.
"Every day I'm looking for people to tell me what the problem is," Wilson said.
She works for Sam Schwartz Engineering, an company that mediates community issues for the MTA and EE Cruz and Tully.
"There is someone here to answer their call" about complaints and issues, Wilson said — she's reachable at 212-792-9716 or by e-mail at claudia.wilson@2avesubway.com. "There is someone here to intercede with the contractor to deal with the day-to-day nuisances."
