A Case When Jerusalem Could Have Taught New York A Thing or Two

Center-city Jerusalem merchants and owners of commercial enterprises like restaurants and bars have well know the pressure of major construction that limits and injures their economies. The Light Railway project turned into a nightmare and financial catastrophe.

Here's the situation in NY:-

Subway Work on 2nd Avenue Hobbles Stores

The noise, dust, barricades and occasional explosions associated with construction of the long-awaited Second Avenue subway are driving away customers from businesses along the avenue and plunging many shops and restaurants into deep financial trouble, two dozen merchants said.

...In July, the Manhattan Chamber of Commerce counted 29 shuttered storefronts between 63rd and 96th Streets — a once-bustling stretch where the subway’s first three stations and the connecting tunnel are being dug. Since then, at least two other businesses have closed...“Second Avenue has become a place that shoppers avoid,” said Jeffrey Bernstein, the chamber’s chairman. “People don’t want to come. It’s difficult to maneuver.”

...The resulting damage to the local economy is also far worse than they had expected, store owners said. In particular, restaurants and local service stores that depend on sidewalk traffic, like dry cleaners and pet stores, have been hit hard.

...The construction has taken away at least one traffic lane along several long stretches where stations are planned, and chewed off five to seven feet of sidewalk in some spots. The work will not be finished until 2017, and many merchants said they doubted they could hold out.

Many say they were misled at meetings about the damage construction would wreak.

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