DEP interior cleaning background memo, 114 Liberty Street, February 2003

NYC 9/11 Public Portal Document

February 19, 2003 to: Greg Brooks Department of Deputy Comptroller Policy, Audit, contracts and Accountancy Environmental Protection FROM: Christopher o/wa^^^^'V^ 59-17 Junction Boulevard Flushing, New York RE: Interior Cleaning - 114 Liberty street 11373-5108

Christopher O. Ward Pursuant to our recent conversation, I am writing to Commissioner provide some background information regarding DEP’s proposed cleaning of the interior of 114 Liberty Street, Manhattan. 114 Liberty Street is directly across Liberty Street from the site of the former World Trade center. It is a 12-story residential building. Each floor is a separate condominium apartment except for the third floor, which is occupied by one apartment and two commercial spaces, and the eleventh and twelfth floors, which constitute a single duplex apartment. When the WTC towers collapsed, 114 Liberty suffered severe external damage from falling structural steel which pierced the roof and north facade. The building’s occupants abandoned their apartments, and the building was used by the Fire Department and other agencies as a lookout post during the cleanup at Ground zero. Control of the building was only relinquished back to the occupants in the summer of 2002. After the Ground Zero operations ended, the buildinq required significant work to repair the damage to the roof and facade. After this was completed, the building hired a contractor to clean WTC-related debris from the facades, and the roof was cleaned as part of DEP’s exterior cleaning program. A contractor was then retained by the condo board to replace all of the building’s windows. Since early 2002, DEP has been in contact with the condominium board and unit owners at 114 Liberty. They have been anxious to have the building cleaned and are ready to sign agreements affording the necessary access. FEMA, which will be funding the project, has also expressed its eagerness to have this work go forward. This work could not even be considered until the building was secured and sealed (repairs to roof and facade; replacement of windows). The last of these tasks, the window replacement, is scheduled to be completed within the next few days. ( www.Hyc.gev/flep J

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