Change in Subway Blasting Rattles East Siders

Residents along Second Avenue have been accustomed to blasting during subway construction. But while the noise was minimal and kept to a low rumble during the day, blasts have been getting louder and happening during the evening, according to residents of the East 90s. â??Before it was like a firecracker, said a local resident who declined to give his name. â??Now it"s a whole box of firecrackers in one shot. Chris Henry, who lives on the corner of East 92nd Street and Second Avenue, also used the word â??firecracker to describe the blasting, adding, â??It"s almost like a truck plowing through the street. The superintendent in Henry"s building told him that he should not worry about the blasting. Though Henry has yet to dial 311, he said the change is hard to ignore. â??I live on the second floor and my pets get freaked out, he said. â??But it sounds a lot worse [than it did before]. The regular subway construction updates that Claudia Wilson, a community liaison for Sam Schwartz Engineering, sent out Feb. 16 made note of controlled blasting and excavation for two starter tunnels. But there was no mention of a change in timing, volume or type of blasting. The blasting is likely to continue through mid April. Wilson said that there was no change in the blasting technique. When told of residents" description of the blasts, she directed further questions to the MTA. Kevin Ortiz, spokesperson for the MTA, acknowledged that there was a new kind of blasting, which is needed for the excavation of the starter tunnels. â??This new blast does take longer to prepare and prep for and, in essence, pushes back the blasting later on into the day. But nothing has gone on past 8 p.m., Ortiz said. Erika Schibrat, a resident in a Second Avenue building between East 91st and 92nd streets, complained of blasting during the week of March 8 around 8 p.m. She is worried about such construction work being done in the dark. â??I don"t feel very safe. There are so many construction accidents, Schibrat said. â??It would be better in the daylight. The change in blasting caught residents and business owners off guard, said Joe Pecora, who owns the restaurant Delizia and heads the Second Avenue Business Association. â??They should let the residents know and keep us informed. Everything is in the dark, Pecora said. â??There"s been a lack of communication between all entities involved.