CITY ISLAND BRIDGE: SIGNED, SEALED...

Submitted by ub on

The City Island Bridge is located in NYC and connects City Island to Rodman's Neck in The Bronx. The bridge is made of stone and steel. It currently spans 950 ft. The original construction began in 1899 and was completed at a cost of $200,000. It consists of five fixed spans and a central swing section, but that feature was converted to a fixed span back in 1963.

NYC plans to demolish the bridge, due to its deteriorated condition, and replace it with a cable-stayed bridge. The current design calls for a 150 ft high tower, 13 ft wide at the top, with a base of 26 ft. Vertical clearance above high water would be 12 ft. The new bridge would be located in the same footprint as the existing bridge, although it will be 17 ft wider to accommodate three standard-width traffic lanes, a pedestrian walkway and bike lane.

The city chose Tutor Perini as the general contractor in February 2013. Tutor Perini has also been awarded a contract to build the new George Washington Bridge Bus Station Redevelopment Project in New York City for George Washington Bridge Development Venture

TP has also been awarded the contract to build the South Tower at Hudson Yards, a 26-acre mixed-use development in midtown Manhattan. The 1.7 million-square-foot, 47-story South Tower, located at the northeast corner of 10th Avenue and 30th Street, will be the future home of Coach, Inc.’s world headquarters.

TP has started its preliminary work on the City Island Bridge and expects be finished as early as 2016. Their NYC accepted bid came in at $102.7 million, but some City Island residents, including Chamber of Commerce president Gerard Skip Giacco, oppose the design because they say the tower would be out of character with the low-rise homes on City Island.
They claim the bridge will be too high and for that reason DOT has scheduled a meeting on the City Island Bridge. The procedural event will be held at PS 175 on Monday, September 23rd, from 7:00 PM to 9:00 PM.

DOT says the meeting is being held by Bronx Community Board 10. The NYC DOT Bronx Borough Commissioner and representatives from the Division of Bridges, the Commissioner's Executive Staff will all be present.

The DOT says that in keeping with policy, this is a meeting with the Community Board held prior to the start of construction, and the agency will present the expected construction schedule as well as construction mitigation and planned community outreach.

DOT tells City Island Images they've worked tirelessly over many years to maintain the existing structure while also working closely with the community on a replacement plan. Outreach with local elected officials, civic associations and community members has included a dozen public meetings and presentations and countless conversations. DOT presented the design plan to the Borough President, Councilmember Vacca, Congressman Crowley, and Community Board 10 and the agency has made substantial changes to the design, including significantly shorter towers at the request of the community. The existing City Island Bridge is now far past its intended life span and shows significant deterioration; the project for the new bridge has to move ahead.

Meanwhile, the NYC Department of Transportation has hired multimedia artist Stephen Mallon to produce media to support The City Island Bridge project.

Mallon tells City Island Images that he has delivered the content he and his crew shot, while visiting City Island, but does not have permission to release it.

His company, Stephen Mallon Images, which is is located at 122 Washington Avenue in Brooklyn, NY. was asked to produce media for their City Island Bridge presentation which will be used on.

This same award winning firm previously produced another NYC bridge media presentation. Then it was also in The Bronx and it was on the replacement of the Willis Avenue Bridge. They have also produced a few others. Mallon Images has delivered multimedia projects for Flatiron, Pershing Square, and our favorite one, which is Behind the Scenes at The Metropolitan Opera.

http://stephenmallon.com/#/Videos/A%20Bridge%20Delivered/

https://vimeo.com/69632513

https://vimeo.com/63366135

If you, or anyone you know wishes to contact DOT:

Commissioner Janette Sadik-Khan
Department of Transportation
55 Water Street, 9th Floor
New York, NY 10041

http://www.nyc.gov