Sunday, August 3, 2008

Mail Truck= FIFTH, not FOURTH Trump Incident

But who's counting? Do we really care any more? Or have you given up, like I pretty much have, that anything can be done about Trump Parc and its builder’s apparent lack of regard for our safety?

(I just read this intro to my husband, and he said, “I hate to say it, but aren’t you beating a dead horse?” If you give a poop and/or want to hear what happened to my friend, read on. If you don't, FYI, this a photo of Trump Parc from Friday evening. Despite the impressive netting and kickboards, many items still flew off the building the next day during the storm.)

I'm so over this subject that I don't even feel like summoning the brain power to write about how, just before a mail truck got skewered by a 4 x 4 from 27 stories up, a similar piece of lumber bounced off my friend's Jeep Grand Cherokee. I have no idea why the debris did not do more damage to my friend's car. Maybe roofs of Jeeps are stronger because of rollover potential; maybe the lumber fell from a lower story; maybe it was a different piece of debris that hit his car. He said he saw a lot of stuff lying on the road as he hauled ass out of the area, not just the lumber. In any case, something chipped off paint pretty deeply on the top of his car.

But really, who cares. None of us are surprised. I'm not surprised that despite the fact the entire site got shut down last week, and despite the fact the construction company was told to secure all loose building materials, they DIDN'T secure loose materials, and those materials blew off during the storm.

At this point, I just do not know what else to say about the negligence of the builders and our city's failed overseeing of their negligent behavior, so I’ll just tell you what happened to my friend.

My friend was visiting from Boston and helping us get ready for the party we were throwing for my father-in-law that night. He was cutting through town to get to 95. He said he turned right off of Summer, at the intersection before the bars- that's Broad. He was sitting at the light-
"Are you sure this was by Trump?" I demanded as I listened to the story on the phone that afternoon. (Trump debris hitting my friend's car seemed too ridiculous to be true, so I was really grilling him for details.)
"I have no idea- what’s Trump? I just saw scaffolding and all kinds of trash in the road- wood, and concrete, and garbage bags, then something hit the top of my car."
"Did you see it bounce off your car?"
"No, I looked in the rear view mirror and saw it."

I'd have to guess that all that crap came off Trump. According to the Advocate, when they inspected Trump after the storm, The mayor said the building's upper floors were strewn with not only construction debris but also trash such as soda cans and plastic drinking bottles that were half-full.The messy conditions may explain why Stamford resident Greg Sendly said he saw a plastic bottle of orange juice falling from the sky 11 days ago as he was driving home on Washington Boulevard. "I heard it hit the ground, and I thought to myself, 'That really could have hurt someone.' " Sendly said Tuesday.

So, not only have we been in danger from wood and metal pieces, we've been at risk for being hit by the workers' trash. Great.

I have nothing else to say about this, except I’m vaguely eager to see what sanctions the construction site will get, if any.

10 comments:

Anonymous said...

WTF? This is ridiculous! I will be arranging a meetup for the townsfolk..plycards, touches and pitchforks. Medevial style.

Stamford Talk said...

Excellent! I will bring the 4 x 4s. I'll also be wearing a hard hat and carrying a shield made out of plywood. Just let me know when!

patty said...

I tried my new route to work this morning. What took me so long?

Mae said...

Its beyond ridiculous its ridonkulous!!! I can't believe that nothing is being done about this. It'll take a death for people to take action...

Anonymous said...

The Advocate's article on this stated it was very clear the 4x4 came from a pile of material on the 27th floor. So much for the full-time City Inspector making sure all loose materials were secured before quitting time last Friday. Is the City Inspector idea more lip-service about public safety from the city, or was this the typical half-a$$ed work of a city employee?

Anonymous said...

Speculation on Advocate board that Malloy bought an apartment at the Trump. If this is the case, he needs to disclose the deal.

Anonymous said...

It's not a dead horse! The streets are still open and people's lives are still at risk. This is outrageous. The whole time I was driving by there yesterday I was freaking out about whether a stray screw might fall off the building and pierce my car window and come crashing through my skull.

This needs to be fixed. Period.

Anonymous said...

Have you read today's Advocate article "UConn warns students of Trump perils"? It reads in part, "Tuesday morning, Barnes dismissed the idea of closing streets surrounding Trump Parc to pedestrians. 'I don't see why we should do that at this point,' he said, adding that the recent accidents affected cars not people.

I think human target #1 (the water deliver guy who ended up in the hospital with a torn up shoulder) would disagree, as would human target #4 (Saturday's shaken up mail delivery lady).

Does Barnes think that cars drive themselves or that no one walks through downtown Stamford?

Every day gets more weird in Stamford.

Melina said...

with apartments running in the 2 mil range, or so Ive heard, and with this being the tallest building, not to mention celebrity themed, I can see that the city is not taking this very seriously.
Is this one of those things where the apprentice gets to learn on the job? In that case I hope that we soon hear "you're fired"
I cant drive by there without worry...I cant believe how quickly its going up...and it concerns me that pieces keep falling.
In Manhattan there is constant construction and thousands of people and cars on every street, yet accidents like this are rare.
This has to be a management/inspector problem.
And yeah, if Malloy has bought himself a unit, I would think that he would have to disclose...meantime, if its a done deal, it would be a matter of public record...right?
Bring your iron umbrellas to school kiddies! My alma mater is probably wishing that it didn't sport so much glass right around now!

Anonymous said...

food for thought here

http://www.stamfordadvocate.com/ci_10122662?IADID=Search-www.stamfordadvocate.com-www.stamfordadvocate.com