A portion of the new public promenade behind Ichabod’s Landing in Sleepy Hollow is .
A one-by-four foot sinkhole has formed and pavers have been displaced on a section of the quarter-mile walkway, just north of . The damage is due to rust holes in the steel bulkhead which may cost tens or even hundreds of thousands of dollars to repair.
An engineer’s inspection, commissioned by the Village of Sleepy Hollow, which owns the property, revealed “significant deficiencies,” including “one to three inch diameter holes” in the vertical steel plates at the low water line seven to nine feet below the walkway.
The inspection was done on Jan. 17 by a three-person team, including an underwater diver, from McLaren Engineering Group of West Nyack, New York.
“This is going to be an expensive repair,” said Village Administrator Anthony Giaccio.
Emergency repair of sinkhole and a collapsed sewer on Division Street in 2008 cost the village $400,000.
But it is unclear who is responsible for paying for the repair. Ichabod’s Landing and the promenade were built by Ginsberg Development Company and completed in 2006. Five hundred feet of the promenade were then given to the village for public use.
Prior to construction, village records indicate Ginsberg’s engineer estimated the existing bulkhead had a serviceable life of approximately 20 years. But Sleepy Hollow’s consulting engineer disagreed, so the Planning Board required the developer to make repairs that would extend the life of the bulkhead to 28 years, according to Village Architect Sean McCarthy.
A press release issued in 2006 by Ginsberg said the public promenade and bulk heading cost the developer around $3.5 million, with the county contributing $800,000.
But only six years later, the bulkhead is failing. The village paid $5,200 for the underwater inspection of the bulkhead, but has not yet contacted Ginsberg.
“We are waiting to contact him until we get our facts straight and determine if we have a legitimate claim,” said Giaccio.
For now, a steel plate covers the sinkhole for safety, but the promenade will likely be closed at some point as the situation worsens.
