By Jill Colvin
DNAinfo Reporter/Producer
MIDTOWN — One of Midtown's busiest corners has returned to being a safe walkway after a botched construction job turned it into a danger zone for pedestrians.
"Thank God!" said Dagmar Nunez, 33, who works at Tannery House clothing store near the corner of West 34th Street and Seventh Avenue, which had been reduced to a narrow crossing marred with potholes, sunken pavement and haphazardly placed wooden planks for more than a month.
The poor sidewalk conditions had tripped dozens of people, neighbors said — some landing with serious injuries.
But those returning to work Monday morning were met with smooth concrete along the stretch.
"I was like, 'Wow!' It looks nice," Nunez said. "It’s about time!"
As DNAinfo first reported, the problems began more than a month ago when a crew was hired by the 34th Street Partnership to fix the sidewalk on the corner, which was in serious disrepair.
But the work was stalled when crews accidentally punched a hole through the ceiling of the subway entrance stairwell at 34th Street and Seventh Avenue, causing serious water damage.
As the partnership and MTA worked to coordinate a fix, much of the corner stood blocked off by orange and white plastic traffic barriers, forcing the crowd along the badly damaged narrow stretch.
Crews finally returned to work repairing the damage on May 26. Today, the barriers are gone and the corner is smooth, gray concrete with not a crack in sight.
"It’s much better than before," said James, 35, who only gave his first name and who works at the Golden Mall Jewelry store one door down from the site.
"I don’t know how many people broke their teeth," he said.
"It’s better!" agreed MD Murad, 29, who works at a newsstand in the midst of the mess and had complained the construction was killing his business because so many people thought he was closed
He said that profits aren't back to where there were before the closure just yet, but hopes that people will return to shop at his newsstand soon.
In addition to injuring passersby, Nunez said the narrow sidewalk by the newstand had also created other discomfort.
"It was crazy. I would go to get water and I would get rubbed because people were so close," she said.
But now that the corner has been repaired, some are hoping the city or partnership might consider repaving the rest of the block, too.
"We have to see if they’ll be able to fix the other side because a lot of people were falling there as well," said a 42-year-old woman who also works at Golden Mall.
The subway entrance on the corner is expected to re-open next week.
