The city’s construction of a new jail in posh Boerum Hill has devolved into a potentially deadly “clown show” — raining rooftop concrete, buckets and sheet metal onto the street, according to records and locals.
The problem-plagued project, one of several jails being built around the Big Apple to replace decrepit Rikers Island, was recently slapped with its fourth stop-work order in two years for such violations as allegedly letting “dangerous” debris repeatedly fly off its 300-foot-tall roof.
“It could have killed somebody falling from that distance,” said Lori Richmond, a member of the condo board of managers at the tony hi-rise 53 Boerum Place across the street, to The Post.
“There were buckets, falling drill bits, cardboard cans, all kinds of things. We’ve seen stuff that’s related to actual construction materials, but we’ve also seen trash that’s generated by the workers,” Richmond said. “Whatever they’re having for lunch, and it’s flying off onto to us.”
Richmond and her neighbors said they have been sounding the alarm for months, even shutting down the block’s outdoor patio area because of falling debris, but that the contractor and city claimed many times the site was in compliance.
It wasn’t until a massive sheet-metal duct landed on the lux condo’s shut-down patio last month that the latest official stop-order was put on the job.
“It’s a clown show … If the construction now is an example, I would be very concerned about what they’re actually going to be cutting on the inside as well,” Richmond said.
Another neighbor claimed, “Building construction is causing insulated debris to be floated in the air, and this is burning eyes and throat.”
Local city Councilman Lincoln Restler told his constituents in a newsletter this week that the construction has caused “unacceptable impacts on local neighbors.”
More than two dozen complaints about the site have been logged since the 15-story project broke ground in November 2024, according to a review of city data.
“You can taste cement if you walk on State Street, even through [a] mask,” area resident Eli, 34, said of the Atlantic Avenue site. “It’s got to be dangerous. … Rip open a bag of cement mix and stick your head in — that’s what it tastes like, the air.”
A female resident of 53 Boerum said, “The noise is kind of neck and neck with the dust.
“You can see [the dust] on all the cars.”
The site has been issued four stop-work orders by city inspectors in the past two years – including a pair handed down in the past two months – over safety fears, according to publicly available data.
A partial stop-work order was issued May 6 when the Department of Buildings found “inadequate house keeping” and safety netting, resulting in debris falling on the roof and patio at 53 Boerum.
The order was lifted, and work resumed May 8 — just weeks before the agency dinged the site again on May 21 with another stop-work order.
During that visit, inspectors found “unsecured debris at [the] perimeter edge” falling on a nearby property during severe weather.
Work resumed after May 26 when the Department of Buildings was provided with a plan “detailing how the site will secure debris from falling,” records show.
A Post request for comment from the DOB, which issues the stop-work orders, was referred to the city’sDepartment of Design and Construction.
“DDC takes safety concerns very seriously and is working closely with DOB to ensure that any issues arising from the Brooklyn … facility are properly addressed,” a rep for the department told The Post.
“Prior to the Stop Work Order from two weeks ago, the contractor had already begun to install environmental remediation measures to better protect the community – we will continue to work with DOB moving forward.”
The department added that other “corrective” actions have been put into place in coordination with DOB officials, including full-height orange safety netting along all four sides of the new building perimeter on several floors, as well as a 5-foot-high net on additional floors; more “housekeeping” manpower, improved debris removal and the securing of all loose construction materials.
A visit from DOB inspectors earlier this week to inspect safety compliance and cranes found “no issues,” the department noted.
But some nearby residents said they are not too optimistic after construction debris, including plastic buckets and foot-long metal-duct-work materials, landed around 53 Boerum after “new operational protocol” were implemented following the May 6 stop-work order.
“My team and I are continuing to monitor conditions extremely closely,” Restler said of the site, which is slated to be completed by spring 2029.
“I have long supported the urgent plan to close Rikers,” he said. ” But the city needs to ensure this project follows all construction regulations and doesn’t endanger the neighborhood.”