An historic building on North Avenue is being demolished today, more than three years after it was damaged in a fire that resulted in the block being closed for weeks. A
special City Council meeting on Monday to authorize an emergency demolition was announced Friday.
A restaurant owner on the block said debris fell on another restaurant, at the right of the damaged building. The buckled front window can be seen above. The demolition may have to extend to the entire row of businesses in the one-story building, a fire official said. (Click to enlarge images.)
A worker uses a blowtorch to take apart a steel girder. The portion of North Avenue between Gavett Place and Park Avenue is closed to traffic due to the demolition.
Plaintalker will be posting more images later. Read
more about the building's history here.
--Bernice
again........ the city is forced to do the job they won't make an owner do... Simply stunning... and now there is collateral damage as well. If I were the owners of the other building, I'd sue the city and the owner of the building that was ALLOWED BY THE CITY OF PLAINFIELD to sit there in neglect for all these years.
ReplyDeleteLet us try to understand what ha happened. The application to award a demolition contract to Yates Realty in an amount not to exceed $250,000, is being presented to the City Council next week. The presentation seems a bit tardy since the work is substantially complete. There are a number of questions that seem appropriate.
ReplyDelete1. Who declared the EMERGENCY and what was the nature of the EMERGENCY? 2. When was the EMERGENCY declared? 3. What qualifications does a small Real Estate firm, located in South Plainfield that posts 2 employees and an annual sales of $160,000, have to perform a specialized high risk demolition project?
3. Who are the principals and officers in Yates? 4. The work was performed by B & B Demolition with offices in Newark. If Yates acted as the Prime Contractor why was the work given to Yates ( whoever they are ), and subcontracted by Yates to B & B rather than having
given it to B & B directly thereby saving the margin placed on the work by Yates? 5. When was the demolition permit issued? Considerable preliminary work is required prior to the commencement of demolition. Utilities must and marked out and secured. The Fire and Police department notified so that they can schedule and provide jobsite protection. The Utility companies must be notified. Certificates attesting to customary insurance coverage and indemnification of the City must be submitted and reviewed. The point is all this takes time. So why wasn't the application for EMERGENCY appropriation submitted concurrently rather than now?
City Council, demand to examine the Yates/B & B Agreement. Demand to see the books, i.e., obtain permission to follow the money in both companies as a condition of approving the contract...assuming you agree to approve the contract. I don't think you are compelled to approve anything. The Public is entitled to answers regarding the above questions Bill Kruse
Mapp administration is caught up in a potential scandal, remember the line from all the presidents men ' follow the money .
ReplyDeleteThe real estate firm might change its name from Yates to yikes after this sham demolation job!!!
ReplyDelete