••• Rosa thought my posting this might help the situation: “I am very frustrated at the mail boxes being removed from various locations due to the ongoing construction. It seems like the NYC Department of Transportation has authorized the removal of these boxes and they will not be replaced anytime soon until the construction is completed (which is about a year from now). This is upsetting…. How far is a disabled person able to walk in order to mail a letter? I have spoken to the supervisor of our post office and he was nice enough to give me an explanation; however, I still don’t comprehend why they can’t place additional mail boxes on corners that aren’t affected by the construction?” (She’s talking specifically about the one that had been at W. Broadway and Warren, removed a while back, and now the one at Chambers and Broadway.)

••• Carol Adams at Torly Kid asked whether other businesses are doing anything for Small Business Saturday, the Saturday after Thanksgiving. (“We are running a promo for that day of 15% off purchases over $100.”)

••• From Dan Alterman: “You had an article on a lawsuit challenging the over policing of the World Trade Center campus site brought by downtown residents who has formed a group called the WTC Neighbors Alliance of people who live on Cedar, Liberty and Washington Streets next to or in the perimeter of the WTC. Lawyers for the suit include Tribeca resident Daniel L. Alterman and his firm Alterman & Boop LLP who have practised and lived in Tribeca for over 30 years along with legendary environmental lawyer Albert Butzel. The suit is scheduled to be heard on December 18, 2013 at 11:15am in the Supreme Court building located at 80 Centre Street, Room 279. All neighborhood people and others interested in the suit can show their support by attending the hearing before Honorable Margaret Chan, a justice of the Supreme Court.”

••• Luis commented that the Stella space on Front Street aims to reopen in March as a seafood restaurant.

••• From NotifyNYC: “NYPD reports there will be a black helicopter flying at low altitude while filming in the Lower Manhattan area today.”

••• You may recall that I had caught wind of a flood at the Hudson Street reconstruction project damaging 100 Hudson. A resident wrote in with details:

On the morning of November 10, there was a leak in the water main, which broke through the retaining wall of our basement at 100 Hudson. The leak was in the area where the Hudson Water Project has ripped the street open in front of our building. This leak resulted in the total inundation of our basement. Four feet of water filled the basement where all the residents (10 floors, 5 apartments each floor) store personal belongings. Our elevators stopped working for a week. This is most definitely a result of the construction, yet no one is talking about it. Most of our homeowners insurance will not cover flooding from outside the building; so besides the loss of valuable personal property, time, and inconvenience, there is cost to the individual residents that the building insurance will not cover. The city is responsible.

Our Superintendent heard a terrifically loud sound at 5 a.m. while he was cleaning our lobby. He went outside to see the construction hole filling with water, and he ran down to our basement and saw a small amount of water leaking from the flange on our newly replaced water supply pipe. He called the construction manager who did not respond; he called the fire department who did respond. Once the FDNY arrived, the basement was already flooding. If our super had stayed downstairs he would surely have been drowned by the force and volume of water that came in. Entire file cabinets were thrown around, and a hunk of cement was broken through. The fire department was able to finally shut down the water supply to the block and brought pumps to pump out the water. The construction manager arrived on site at 9:15 a.m., when most of the event was somewhat under control. The pumping of water took 24 hours and left 7 inches of mud and sediment. I can’t even imagine what would have resulted had the fire department not been able to turn off the water. The cleaning operation has gone on for over a week and will continue for another several weeks.

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