Editor's Note: Philipse Manor resident Catherine Golub sent the following letter regarding the gas line replacement work in the Manors already underway, with much more to come, to the Mayor, Trustees, and others. I am posting it in full here. Have an issue you want to write a Letter to the Editor about? Send it to krista.madsen@patch.com.
I am very frustrated with how Con Edison (and especially their outsourced company) is conducting themselves while replacing the high pressure gas lines in Philipse Manor.
Con Ed came three years ago, unannounced on Halloween (trick or treat evening) to replace our gas lines. They dug a 5' x 6' hole in my front yard, another in the lower yard and dug up the street and left a hazardous squared pot hole in the pavement for months. They never returned to replace the pachysandra they destroyed, nor the grass.
We also discovered just today, that at that time, they forced the pipe into our house, creating a kink and subsequent rupture to the line causing a slow, chronic gas leak. (Thankfully, nothing ever happened). Now they have returned and destroyed a 5’ x 5’ foot flower bed adjacent to my stoop, dug another 5’ x 6’ hole (again destroying the pachysandra) and placed an ugly meter on the outside (where my two prized rose bushes used to climb the wall).
They also dug a giant hole on our front lower lawn which is covered with a steel plate. They dumped a load of asphalt on my neighbors lawn and parked their giant payloader on his grass. He was not home at the time. The foreman interacting with our household and our neighbors has been very abrupt. If we suggest ways to work around their plans, he simply states he will cut us off gas.
I do want to emphasize that the man who has been very rude and aggressive does not work for Con Ed. He works for this company that they outsourced the work to. The workers from Con Ed themselves have been very polite. I am very frustrated with the lack of coordination, communication and general disregard to our community and properties shown by those overseeing these projects.
They will be completing this work throughout the Manor and I can’t begin to tell you how disruptive and upsetting it is. I have attempted to call Con Edison on numerous occasions only to be put on hold for endless amounts of time.
We have worked for years to turn this once neglected property into a lovely home, and in a matter of two weeks, they have come, torn up the street and again disrupted our lives.
- Catherine Golub
Devries Avenue, Sleepy Hollow
