On Wednesday, April 17, the Hoboken City Council voted to allow Saturday construction on the Gianforte Family Academic Complex construction site, as requested by Bob Maffia on behalf of Stevens. As stated by the resolution passed by the City Council, all of the work that will be done on Saturdays (between 8 a.m. and 6 p.m., through August 31) will be done to the interior of the building and comply with a noise mitigation plan, which prohibits certain equipment from being used and specifies that deliveries will not be received on Saturdays. According to Maffia, “Saturday hours are required in order to complete the building and equip it in time for the fall semester.” The request for the additional work time is reportedly due to “weather-related construction delays in the last six months.”
Despite these proposed noise mitigation requirements, some Stevens students still have concerns. Matthew Marsh, a student living in the corner on the first floor of River Terrace closest to the construction, states that “[The other River residents and I] are really fed up with the constant disruption. The addition of Saturday to the schedule is inconsiderate and unfair to students living literally feet from the site.” Additionally, “The construction workers also tend to hang around on the sidewalk just below my window and have loud and sometimes obnoxious conversations.” “My biggest concern regarding upcoming construction is finals,” Marsh continues. “It’s already difficult to work with the ongoing noise […] Taking Saturday away from us is just one more thing we have to deal with in our already-stressful lives.”
Councilman Michael DeFusco stated that “Working with Stevens to meet the needs of a growing student population is a priority for me and my council colleagues,” and that “permitting an exception to the city’s prohibition on weekend construction work was a reasonable request to keep the academic project moving forward.” Jason Chlus, President of the SGA, stated, “The overall vibe I got was ‘I don’t care if they work during Saturdays, I just want them to be done.’” Chlus also mentioned that some of the senators live in River themselves, but they believe that the noise reduction plan will sufficiently keep the noise to a minimum.
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