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TARRYTOWN, N.Y. Homeowners at the Quay Condominiums are the Tarrytown residents who will be most affected by the construction of a new Tappan Zee Bridge, but they say state officials have not been very responsive to their concerns.
We just want somebody to sit down and say 'OK we hear you' or 'What do you need and we'll try to work with you,' but we're not getting that, said Alice Goldberg, the president of the complex's Homeowners' Association who lives with her husband Sherwood Chorost in a condo directly facing the existing bridge.
The 89 residences in the Quay sit north of the bridge landing along the Hudson River, and the homes facing the river have a close view of the existing bridge. Proposed plans for the new bridge would move it further north by approximately 300 feet, taking a tiny sliver of land from the complex that's not being used.
The state is also proposing a construction staging area set where the bridge maintenance building and state police barracks are located, as well as another staging area built on the river itself. A road would be built below the condominium complex to help vehicles access the staging areas.
Quay homeowners will have a direct view onto construction efforts and the new bridge.
It's right here. We can collect the tolls at our doorway, Goldberg said.
Homeowners will try to reach out to local politicians during a meeting at the complex on March 22. Goldberg said that they've invited about 20 people to try to rally them to the cause and that Greenburgh Town Supervisor Paul Feiner is helping the complex. Feiner has called on the state to create a resident advisory committee to help address issues of those living closest to the bridge.
Goldberg said she's presented a list of mitigation solutions to the state for consideration, such as installing noise-proof windows and doors on homes in the complex, but hasn't gotten any response. She noted that state officials are estimating five years for construction.
Besides noise, residents are also concerned with the health effects of living so close to the construction, a potential rodent problem and a decrease in property values. Goldberg and Chorost said that even now, people are not buying homes in the complex, which makes it difficult for people who may not want to live near the construction.
Chorost said they'll be presenting a plan to the state to ask them to buy out the homes of people who feel it's too dangerous or too troublesome to live so close to the construction.
I don't think until you're in this situation and you're presented with near-financial disaster and health disaster that you can really appreciate that the grounds are really shaky for us now, Chorost said.
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