Wantagh neighborhood urges local leaders to help put an end to overnight construction lasting several days

The project by the Department of Conservation is to improve water quality and storm resiliency by upgrading wastewater management infrastructure. Residents say they support the project, but not the construction in the middle of the night.

News 12 Staff

Mar 16, 2023, 2:39 AM

Updated 547 days ago

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People in a Wantagh neighborhood are urging for local leaders to step in after they have dealt with overnight construction for several days.
Robert Ladevaio showed News 12 video of a busy construction project that has been going on outside his house on Brookside Avenue.
The project by the Department of Conservation is to improve water quality and storm resiliency by upgrading wastewater management infrastructure. Residents say they support the project, but not the construction in the middle of the night.
“There's no recourse, there's nobody to go to…we reached out to numerous officials,” Ladevaio says.
He says besides receiving a courtesy email thanking him for reaching out, he and his neighbors have received no help.
Ladevaio says before the project started, the neighborhood was told the work would not be going on at night.
When Ladevaio brought this up at a virtual public information session on Wednesday night, he was told, “That answer was specific to the work being done in May and not necessarily now.”
Ladevaio says this means things have changed without notification of him or the rest of his neighbors.
Residents Luke Stancyk says the way this is being handled is unacceptable. He lives about 20 yards from the project, and at night he says it's even worse because of the spotlight.
“Our bedroom is right there, right in front of the street. We have blackout blinds, and it still leaks through the side it's hard to sleep,” he says.
Ladevaio adds that since the work started, a rodent problem also began.
“I got chewed garbage cans, I have poison out,” he says.
Ladevaio has gone all the way to the top to try to get help, including contacting the governor's office, since this is a state issue.
News 12 reached out to the Bay Park Convenience Project, which is in partnership with the state.
Ladevaio says the construction near his home should be done in about a week but says it’s likely to move on to bother another section of the neighborhood.