Demolition, Barging And Overview Update Of Roosevelt Island Cornell NYC Tech Project Presented At Community Board 8 Meeting - Residential Design Presentation May 1

During Community Board 8's (CB 8) April 16 meeting, Cornell NYC Tech Director of Community Relations Jane Swanson and Director of Capital Planning Andrew Winters gave a presentation updating the status of the Roosevelt Island project including demolition of Goldwater Hospital

Image From Judy Berdy

the use of barges to remove the demolition debris

Image From Judy Berdy

and an overview of the entire project.

Here's what Mr. Winters and Ms. Swanson had to say including answering questions from the audience.



According to the Cornell Tech's Roosevelt Island Construction Project site:

April 11 - April 25 Look Ahead

Work continues in buildings C, D, F, and H. Interior demolition has moved quickly through many floors and the abatement phase has begun in multiple buildings. There are also smaller, localized interior abatement projects underway in additional buildings at the Goldwater site.

Since the last construction update, the barge returned to remove debris. Given the interior demolition progress, barging trips will occur more frequently in the coming weeks. While Cornell continues to remove all demolition debris via barging, there are times when trucks with containers may be seen outside of the construction fence. Until one connector building is fully demolished, trucks must travel outside of the construction fence in order to get to the other side of the site. This issue will resolve itself as demolition gets further along. In addition, a small number of trucks should be expected because of the delivery and removal of materials, supplies, and small equipment.

The art conservation firms selected to remove and restore the WPA murals have mobilized on site. Testing of removal methodologies is underway on all three murals. We are on track for actual removal of the works of art later this month. After leaving Goldwater, the murals will undergo conservation work in the firms’ respective studios.

Available options for providing safe vehicular access to the South Point and Four Freedoms Parks continue to be studied by the engineering team.


March 28 - April 11 Look Ahead

Work continues on site and is expanding to include more buildings. By the week of March 31st, work will be taking place simultaneously in buildings C, D, F, and H. Within these, various stages of interior demolition and interior abatement will be underway.

As work expands across the site, disposal containers are quickly filling up. Debris is currently being stockpiled, in anticipation of a barge trip the week of April 7th. Barge operations are generally scheduled when approximately 60 containers are full.

Cornell continues to study the design of the west road to determine the best solution to provide safe vehicular access to South Point and Four Freedoms Parks.

Two art conservation firms have been engaged to remove and conserve three murals that are in the day rooms in Building B. All three works of art date from the Works Progress Administration era. Their proposed treatment plans are currently under review by the New York City Public Design Commission and work will begin when the plans are approved.

March 14 - March 28 Look Ahead

Now that the construction fence is fully installed, interior demolition is well underway. The two upper floors of Building C are nearly complete. The barge will return for debris removal once a sufficient number of containers are full.

Staff from the U.S. Geological Survey will be finishing their data collection in the coming weeks.

The exterior air quality baseline has been established. The report prepared by the air monitoring firm will be posted to this site shortly. It includes details on their means and methods, maps showing sampling locations, the actual data readings, and analysis. Air monitoring will be ongoing and shared with the community via the construction website on a regular basis.

We are reviewing the proposed modifications to the west road to confirm that the original idea of restriping the roadway meets the Island’s transportation needs.

There will be a meeting of CB 8's Roosevelt Island Committee on Thursday May 1 at 6:30 pm in 546 Main Street - 12th floor. Cornell NYC Tech will be giving a design presentation of the residential building.