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Water Main and Sewer Main Replacement Project

Published December 02, 2025

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32 min read

Water and sewer main replacement project impacts Park Place, Vanderbilt and Underhill Avenues

RECENT UPDATES!
On Wednesday, November 19, 2025, more than 4 1/2 years after the project started, the last remaining item of restoration work was completed, and as of that date, the project is officially over!

As of Friday, October 31, 2025 the project is very near final completion! All of the items on the restoration punch list have been completed except for one, repair of a broken tree guard on the Park Place side of 673 Vanderbilt Avenue. That tree guard was removed and we are awaiting word as to when it will be repaired and re-installed.

September 12, 2025, was the last day of work for Community Construction Liaison Shernell Pemberton. Any communications about the project should now be directed to Resident Engineer Hadi Elhashash, whose contact information can be found below.

Description
From April 2021 until summer 2025, a project to replace the water main and combined sewer main is taking place on Park Place from Carlton Avenue to Underhill Avenue, and on Vanderbilt Avenue from Park Place to Sterling Place, and on Underhill Avenue from Park Place to Sterling Place.

Purpose
The purpose of the project is to improve water distribution, alleviate street flooding and alleviate sewer backups. The project will entail significant street excavation and will disrupt traffic and parking.

Project Schedule
The project was first announced to the community at a Community Board 8 meeting in January 2021. At that time, project construction was anticipated to start in mid-winter 2021 and to complete in summer 2022, a period of approximately 18 months.

Construction actually began in April 2021, and construction was "substantially complete" by the end of June 2025. Restoration items (such as repaving cracked sidewalks, fixing broken tree guards, etc.) continued until November 19, 2025. The project duration was more than 4 1/2 years.

Community Construction Liaison
The NYC Department of Design and Construction assigns a Community Construction Liaison ("CCL"), to projects such as this one which impact the community. The CCL for the past several years had been Shernell Pemberton. However, her last day on the project was September 12, 2025, and there is no longer a CCL assigned on this project. Resident Engineer Hadi Elhashash is now the community's contact point for any remaining issues and concerns.

You can reach Mr. Elhashash using the contact information below.

Hadi Elhashash, Resident Engineer
Project # SEK002386
Mobile: 646-908-2130
Email: sek002386@gmail.com

Photos
Scroll to the bottom of this page for some photos of the construction work.

Project-related documents
Below are links to project-related documents, with the most recent on top.

To see project related documents from 2023, 2022 and 2021, please click here.

Photo gallery
Below is a selection of photos of work in progress on Park Place between Vanderbilt and Underhill Avenues.

The enormous drill, used to dig holes into which steel support beams are then lowered, is on the left. On the right, one of the beams being hoisted into position.
sewer project - drill and hoisting beam

Closeup of the drill in action.
sewer project - drill

The drill and mechanical shovel. Kids (of all ages) from all over the neighborhood love to watch these huge machines at work!
sewer project - drill and shovel

A view down into the trench, where the new concrete sewer main has been installed, 17 feet below the roadway. On the right, a house sewer line (orange terra cotta pipe) which has been connected to the main. On the left, a house sewer line not yet connected to the main.
sewer project - new sewer line 01

Once installed and after the house sewer lines are connected to the sewer main, the sewer main and house connections are covered in concrete.
sewer project - new sewer line 02

A view of a completed section of new sewer line, encased in concrete.
sewer project - new sewer line 03 encased in concrete

Here's another view, taken in front of 301 Park Pl on Dec 11, looking west toward Vanderbilt Avenue (photo credit: Ed Regan).
Photo taken in front of 301 Park 2022-12-11 Ed Regan

Delivery of pipe for the new water main on Park Place between Vanderbilt and Underhill.
delivery of new water main On the day before Thanksgiving 2022, the hard-working crew knocked off work a bit early to enjoy a pre-Thanksgiving meal together, al fresco, using a pallet of lumber as a table.
sewer project - thanksgiving al fresco

After over 4 years of construction, Park Place between Vanderbilt and Underhill was re-paved on May 28, 2025.
aphalt spreader 2025-05-28
newly paved street 2025-05-28

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