Catching Zzzz’s could get a lot easier if the City Council passes a bill limiting the hours construction workers can operate.
The proposal, now being pushed by council members Dan Garodnick, Rosie Mendez and Gale Brewer, would make it harder for construction companies to get permission to work late nights and early mornings.
“After-hours construction work, while sometimes necessary for emergency work, is the bane of many New Yorkers’ existence,” Brewer said. “We need to ensure that after-hours work only takes place when absolutely necessary.”
The bill’s authors are unsure of how many after- hours variances are granted annually, but Mendez’s office said it received 686 complaints about them in the past six years alone.
As it is now, crews can work around the clock if they secure a variance from the Department of Buildings. It isn’t hard to get one because companies abuse an “undue hardship” dispensation, Garodnick said.
“The rules need to be clearly laid out and they need to be followed,” he added.
Under the proposed law, the hardship category would be eliminated altogether, and contractors would be forbidden from working before 7 a.m. and after 8 p.m. on weekdays, or before 11 a.m. and after 4 p.m. on Saturdays — except in emergencies and when public safety is at risk.