I Don't Even Know What It Means To Be Called a "PUNK"! Do You?

I have come across some screwed up nonsense in this city, but this might take the cake.  At least for now.

Sometime around the 20th of July, I noticed that the last house on the even side of Prospect Street, 542 Prospect, was gone for good, right down to the stone foundation.  Just like that, it had been demolished and removed, which seemed kind of a shame as the house appeared decent enough from the outside and people had been living in it until fairly recently (we are getting accustomed to that scenario around here).  This is Hudson, after all, where things come and go -- and rise and fall -- in the blink of an eye -- especially of late in the neighborhood of State & 6th - 7th. 

According to tax records, the house was bought by two people from Manhattan just over a year ago for $290,000.  (For that price, it was probably in poor condition.)  I guess they bought the 2-family with the intention of completely replacing it, although seeing as it was the house closest (adjacent!) to the Pocketbook Factory courtyard -- where live music might soon be played some days and nights to the delight of the neighborhood -- perhaps the owners realized that they needed to completely soundproof and build a cocoon around their new home after they bought it.  It's difficult to say.

So lovely, isn't it?  Will it be around for at least 
one year, I hope?

Anyway, about five days later as I was biking by the houseless lot, I noticed that an ugly, rickety and almost laughable 9-foot-high particle board so-called fence had been "erected" in front of the lot to keep people off of the property. One thing was certain, a professional fence company had nothing to do with that barrier. It was an eyesore and obviously dangerous, seemingly slapped together with spare parts and maybe a few used nails. Covering about thirty feet right along the sidewalk, it looked like a decent wind would blow it over in a second or two.

Well, wouldn't you know it, minutes after a short storm blew through town on August 1st, I noticed that the tall and heavy "fence" was flat on the sidewalk, all 9 feet by 30 feet of it. Yeah, it was a bit windy for a minute or two, but it certainly wasn't a hurricane. If you put a fence or barrier up in a residential neighborhood along a sidewalk, whether it is temporary or permanent, you had better be damned sure it can't fall over in a wind.  You may be forgiven if a hurricane knocks it over, but not a rainstorm with hardly a bit of strong wind. And someone from Code Enforcement had better approve of the fence BEFORE it goes up by making sure it meets the minimum standards for safety and aesthetics. The last thing Hudson and this neighborhood need is a long-term construction site with a "fence" made of particle board that makes the contractor and our Code Enforcement officers look like a) they don't know what the hell they are doing; b) they don't care if someone on the sidewalk, perhaps a child, is killed or injured by the fence; and c) they don't care about what the neighborhood looks like.

It turns out that the fallen "fence" did not crush anyone.
Time to put the "fence" back up where it belongs.

Assuming that head Code Enforcement Officer Craig Haigh issued a demolition permit to the contractor at 542 Prospect, one of a few things happened allowing that "fence" to be put up and for it to so easily come crashing down on the sidewalk in a rainstorm.

First, Craig (or one of his part-time inspectors) never asked the contractor if they planned to put up a fence along the sidewalk.  No one asked, and the contractor never offered their intention to do so.  They probably figured that anything would be okay to slap together and call a fence since Code Enforcement didn't ask about one and they/Craig probably didn't care what went up or if it resembled a decent, respectable fence. 

Second, Craig or one of his two part-time inspectors never stopped by the site (just a few hundred feet or so from the Code office) to see how things were looking after the house was demolished.  Because if any code enforcement inspector paying attention and worth his salt had seen the new "fence" on the site right along the sidewalk, they would have ordered it removed immediately and fined the contractor for stupidity, creating a blight and creating a hazardous situation.

The third possibility is the one I'm sticking with.  It is likely that an unsecured, hastily built, ugly, very temporary fence made of particle board on a demolition site and next to a sidewalk is perfectly acceptable to Code Enforcement because it would never constitute a code violation anyway.  No big deal, demolition permit issued!  Go ahead and erect whatever you feel is adequate and call it a fence, men! 

When I took the picture of the two Spanish-speaking workers lifting their "fence" back "into place" about a half hour after it fell to the sidewalk, I asked them if anyone had been killed.  They both shook their heads and one of them said "No."  Neither one of them laughed. 

I immediately went to the Code Enforcement Office located a block away and informed one of Craig's part-time assistants, James Schermerhorn, about the situation, suggesting someone go have a look at the so-called fence. 

Two hours later, I noticed that the "fence" was back up and "in place."  It's not very common to see children playing on or around sidewalks anymore, but the one and only street that I do see children regularly running, playing and bicycling is on just that section and side of Prospect Street.

The following day, a Friday, I spoke with Mr. Schermerhorn about the "fence."  He told me that the "fence" was fine, that there were NO STANDARDS OR REQUIREMENTS FOR TEMPORARY FENCES, EVEN ALONG SIDEWALKS, and that the "fence" had not fallen over but had been placed on the sidewalk by the contractors.

"How do you know it didn't fall over on its own?" I asked.

"Because they told me they did it.  They needed to take it down to access the site.  Do you have a problem with that?" he barked at me.  Then things got ugly, with Mr. Schermerhorn accusing me of being, among other things, "nothing but a punk."  He followed me outside, continuing to harangue me as I got on my bicycle.  I wonder if the Code Enforcement office were located in City Hall if I would have been treated so aggressively and rudely, both inside and outside the building, as I often am.  Out on quiet Washington Street, no one hears or sees anything that go ones at Code Enforcement besides the officers and the occasional fireman.  And me. 

Craig was not working that day; just two part-time officers were, but not all day.  By 2:00, the outside door was locked and there was no note on the outside door indicating why the office was no longer open nor when it would reopen.

This past Friday afternoon, as the well predicted violent storm was quickly approaching and wind had already begun to pick up, I walked to a friend's house on Prospect Street to walk their dog.  Barnaby and I hurried past 542 Prospect on the grass, unable to use the sidewalk and forced to walk on one sheet of particle board "fencing" that had already fallen over.  Neither of us stepped on any nails sticking up from the fallen board, nor did we notice any.  I took two pictures at 2:23.

2:23 pm

By the time Barnaby and I returned to Prospect Street, exactly 20 minutes later and as the storm was about to let loose, all but one of the sheets of "fence" material were strewn on the sidewalk and grass area.  There were still no workers to be seen or heard anywhere at the site.  A human being and a dog had just walked by 20 minutes prior where the fallen "fence" now spread out flat on and well beyond the sidewalk.  Who knows, maybe others had done the same within that 20-minute span.  Who knows, maybe the fucking "fence" fell over as soon as Barnaby and I turned the corner onto 6th Street.  It's certainly possible.

2:43 pm

How did this city become so fucking dysfunctional?
Has it always been so fucking dysfunctional and dangerous?

Would Code Enforcment have been okay 
with this "fence" had it been put up or flat on
 a Warren Street sidewalk?

I immediately walked over to the Code Enforcement office in a light rain.  The outside doors were unlocked, but no one from Code Enforcement was inside and the doors to the two offices were locked.  There was no note anywhere indicating when anyone might return to the office, which is supposedly open Monday thru Friday until 4:30 during July and August.  Craig's white city-issued vehicle was not in the parking lot.  I returned one hour later with a pen and paper.  The outside doors were still open, Craig's vehicle was still gone, and there was still no one, absolutely no one, in the Code Enforcment Office nor any note providing some guidance.  "Hello?  Why the hell are the doors open and still no one is here?" I shouted.  A faint echo was the only response I got.

"C'mon on in, we're not here!"  Notice how 
the paper sign does not indicate what time 
the office is open.

How long would you like me to wait, Craig? 
Is anyone planning on returning today?  Or 
are you done for the day and week, which
is what it seems like?

I left a note on the window counter, urging someone to have another look at the so-called fence down the street before work was done.  24 hours later, on Saturday afternoon, this was the view from in front of 542 Prospect Street: