GRAMERCY — A developer criticized for bringing a Third Avenue construction site to a standstill has avoided paying to move a bus shelter affected by it for months, according to a Department of Transportation official.
The city has been trying to move the shelter, which sits next to 133 Third Ave., near East 14th Street, since May, according to an email exchange between DOT Community Coordinator Colleen Chatergoon and an aide to Councilwoman Rosie Mendez.
But invoices sent to the site's contractor to cover the cost of the move have been sent without response, the DOT said.
"DOT received a work order from the MTA regarding moving a bus stop at this location. As a result, we sent an invoice to B Genco Contracting Corp., which we are still waiting to hear back from," a DOT spokeswoman said Friday.
That version of events is disputed by the contractor.
The move is needed to clear the way for construction vehicles and because of complaints from neighbors who say the worksite makes it difficult to catch the bus there.
Its existing location abuts a construction fence that takes up much of the sidewalk and funnels foot traffic into people waiting for the bus.
The work site also has broken pavement, causing safety concerns, according to Harry Weiner, who lives around the corner from the bus stop.
“Two thirds of the sidewalk is taken up by the fence and, with the broken cement, it’s hard to line up for the bus,” he told DNAinfo New York in December.
“It really poses an obstacle to anyone walking with a cane or a walker and, between the obstruction of the construction site and the broken sidewalk, it really creates a hazard.”
The construction site, where developer John Pappas has plans for a 16-story, mixed-use building, has been stalled since 2012 when a construction accident resulted in concrete bursting through the wall of an NYU dorm next door.
Years of litigation between the owner of the neighboring building and Pappas have resulted in work at construction site, which takes up much of the sidewalk in front of it, coming to a halt.
The work order for the bus stop move, which the MTA drew up and sent to DOT on May 4, would relocate the shelter to the southeast corner of East 15th Street and Third Avenue, Chattergoon said.
But despite the complaints, requests from Mendez's office and Community Board 6 and the approved work order, the shelter remains in place because of the developer’s lack of reply to the invoice, Chattergoon wrote.
The contractor, Michael Brempos of B Genco Contracting Corp, disputed the city’s version of events when reached by phone on Friday.
He said the relocation had more to do with access for construction vehicles than complaints from bus riders.
According to Brempos, he received the invoice in May, but he said he can’t pay for the relocation until his issues with the litigation and with the Department of Buildings are resolved and a stop-work order at the site is lifted.
“We have to relocate the bus stop because of cranes and stuff, that’s why we plan on paying for it,” he said.
“Of course we replied to DOT about the invoice, but first I have to have the new building permits. As soon as we reinstate the building permits, it can move forward.”
