Contractor left uneven asphalt on sidewalk in front of my building - legal?

A contractor recently repaired the sewer main going from my home (a brownstone in Harlem) out to the street, and had to dig up the concrete sidewalk in front of the building in the process. After the work was done, they filled the hole back up and covered it with messy, uneven asphalt, instead of nicely paving it back over with concrete for some reason. I’m not clear on what they intend to do – I want to gather some information before I talk to them about it – but my understanding is that once set, asphalt can’t be smoothed out, so I don’t see how they can pour concrete on top of it to make the sidewalk look normal again. If they do in fact just leave it that way, is that legal? And if not, as the owner of the building, could the city consider me liable? Who would be the right people in the city govt to ask about this – DoB? HPD?

christophe.maso

in General Discussion 8 years and 2 months ago

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christophe.maso | 8 years ago

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Following up for posterity – yes, the contractor did just that – they informed me that the asphalt was temporary and in compliance with DoT. They’ve since removed it and replaced with smoothed concrete.

EJR | 8 years and 2 months ago

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> @BobMarvin
> Talk to your contractor, but I think they’ll take up the asphalt, which is temporary, and put in concrete

Agreed. I think this is just a temporary measure. My guess is that one particular sub filled it with asphalt b/c it was easy to do, while a mason is required to pour a proper concrete sidewalk. Whenever the mason gets around to it, they will probably come, dig up the asphalt and pour a proper sidewalk. Calling 311 to complain might expedite things, but the nice thing to do would be to first speak with the contractor.

BobMarvin | 8 years and 2 months ago

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Talk to your contractor, but I think they’ll take up the asphalt, which is temporary, and put in concrete