Businesses along an once attractive Bronx block are suffering a slow death thanks to a chaotic MTA construction project that is following customers and invites homeless, costing thousands of dollars lost, owners and workers say.
The Metropolitan Transport Agency essentially interrupted the row of stores from the neighborhood to autumn when it set up a massive mesh fence away from their front doors as part of the Van Cortland Park-242nd road station in Fieldston.
Angry business owners say they have lost up to 50% of their business in the last six months due to falling into foot traffic and cars-cleaning the way for a homeless without everyone in the already unclear corridor created by fencing.
“This is killing us,” said Lou Porco, the owner of Broadway Joe’s Pizza, who has been in the area since 1969, in the post last week.
“Many people think we are closed because they can’t even see us. People can’t stop, they can’t withdraw because there is no parking,” he said.
Gary Singh, owner of local food Shah Halal, said the situation is increasingly disappointing due to the lack of progress he has testified by MTA – which has now extended the problem project for another two years.
“MTA said they need money. They got the number of blocking prices to help them, and here they start working, and then they stopped,” he said. “They’re looking for money. But they’re losing money. No one is working there.”
At the time, MTA claimed that it would take six months to build a two-stop elevator from the road to the platform level, as part of the plans to make the station number 1 more accessible, but the crews operated only about two weeks before they left the project, business owners said.
As Mars approached, MTA officials broke the news that the construction would be delayed two years, as the crews were supposed to discover that a sewer was under the proposed elevator.
Instead of moving the project, MTA decided to restructure its existing plans – that is, the abrasive green fence will remain firm.
“Two years? Who will rent these empty stores? For now we don’t know what we will do, “Porco said.” We don’t know if we will be here. Hope we will be, but we cannot predict the future. “
Porco said he was forced to cut his employees’ hours to accommodate the estimated loss of 35% of sales after a massive green fence was raised in September.
Business owners told the post that they have remained mainly in the dark in the status of the project, with MTA workers recently warning them to wait for their water to close for several hours on Friday.
The City Department of Environmental Protection refused to respond to mail requests for comment on water closure, instead of asking questions at MTA. The State Transit Agency did not respond to electronic posts sent by the post.
Singh worries that prolonged construction can mean kissing death for his business, which he opened only eight months before the fence was raised.
“I bought this business in 2023. I used my life savings and borrowed before. Eight months later, they raised that thing,” Singh said. “I’m so desperate that I feel like crying. What can I do for that? Nothing. They don’t care about us small businesses. We are fighting. ”
The shop owner said the business was booming until September, when the patronage fell 50%. Many of his clients stopped when they left the nearby metrius or were throwing the bus. The bus stop has been moved from the bottom of the block to accommodate the monster siege.
Local business owners and workers said that while fencing is removing clients, it is attracting a homeless population that is taking advantage of the blocked points of advantage the fence offers.
The lack of car traffic, including NYPD cruisers, has given the vagrants an incentive to dance, said one worker.
“They tease us, they steal things and when we try to stop them, they try to break the doors,” said a man who only gave his first name, Danny, and worked at the Shamrock Wines and Liquors store for more than two years.
“If we continue to lose business like this, we will have to close,” Danny said. “There is no other option, there is no solution. We’re powerless … We’re praying for help. “
Michael Walker, 60, was one of the few customers who rubbed beyond the giant fence last week to get dinner from Broadway
“I’ve come to this block a lot, but not so much more. I’m hungry today, so I stopped,” said Walker, who works as a moving.
Walker said he has noticed a shift in patronage across the block, with residents choosing to avoid it completely after the fence grew.
“Either they start doing the job or remove the fence. You are hurting business and community. That’s funny. MTA can do better, ”he said.
“They are cheating these people and it’s not right.”
Financial loss is vulnerable to Abuekr Algazali, who said they drew more than $ 1,000 last week because there were no clients to buy it.
Both Algiazali businesses, a Deli and a Mexican restaurant, have been prevented from the nearby fence, borrowed money from friends to make meetings meet after falling a few months behind for rent and services, raising more than a $ 43,957 in unpaid bills before interest.
“It saddens me. I’m angry. I am the only baker. My wife has MS, she can’t work, ”Algazali said.
Algiazali has begged MTA to create small openings on the fence so that pedestrians can reach businesses, but says his prayers have gone unanswered.