'Nothing but a nightmare.' CHPE pipeline construction pushes new batch of 9W businesses to the edge
Clever Torres, owner of Hole Shot Bagels & Deli on Route 9W, showed News 12 a full display of freshly made food — pork lechon, chicken, vegetables, steak and rice — that he would be throwing in the garbage.
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Several Haverstraw business owners said Wednesday they have been losing thousands of dollars a day, and throwing out food by the pound, due to heavy-duty pipeline construction that is making it nearly impossible to access the businesses on Route 9W.
Clever Torres, owner of Hole Shot Bagels & Deli on Route 9W, showed News 12 a full display of freshly made food — pork lechon, chicken, vegetables, steak and rice — that he would be throwing in the garbage.
Torres said contractors on the Champlain Hudson Power Express pipeline, which will send hydropower from Canada to New York City beginning in 2026, set up camp on Route 9W several times a week.
Customers do not show up, and the food gets trashed.
"I mean, if they give me the map (schedule), and say 'Clever, they're going to close you on Monday, Wednesday and Thursday. They're going to be working here,' Ok, I would prep less," Torres said. "But you know what? They just come and put cones up and — forget about it. Your food's going to waste."
CHPE project leaders previously agreed to schedule work during evening hours to avoid disruptions to businesses and people's commutes, but hiccups in their plan have caused them to return to daytime work in Haverstraw and Congers.
Day-time work and road closures in Stony Point this past summer and fall caused millions in revenue losses, according to the North Rockland Chamber of Commerce.
Contractors are now focusing on the communities just south of Stony Point along Route 9W.
The pipeline route is mostly at the bottom of the Hudson River.
Due to concerns about wildlife, specifically sturgeon that roam the waters by Rockland County, the pipeline route cuts through Stony Point, Haverstraw and Congers before it reenters the Hudson.
Reached by phone Wednesday morning, Haverstraw Town Supervisor Howard Phillips called the CHPE project a "total fiasco" and "nothing but a nightmare" for local businesses.
Phillips said CHPE leaders told him they found contaminated soil at the site, right in front of Hole Shot, and the facility that disposes of it is only open during the day.
Hence, work on this stretch of 9W is blocking the major state road for several minutes at a time several days a week in the middle of the day.
"It was a poorly designed project," Phillips said. "They don't seem to have any concern about the welfare of these businesses. If it was coming out of their pocket, I guarantee you they'd be concerned."
CHPE leaders have pledged $150,000 to a relief fund to help the affected businesses survive.
Municipal leaders and the North Rockland business community have scoffed at that offering and continue to lobby the contractors for more relief funds.
The North Rockland Chamber reports that at least 100 businesses have lost a combined $10 million dollars in revenue in the last six months.Dawn Squilla owns a salon next to Hole Shot.
She told News 12 Wednesday the construction throws off the entire salon's schedule.
She and Torres both are both angry that contractors give them no prior notice of road work, nor a schedule so they could plan accordingly.
"My clients are late all the time," Squilla said, "and my employees."
In response to a short list of questions, a CHPE spokesperson referred News 12 to a list of frequently asked questions, which clarifies that most work, not all, would happen during the evening hours.
9W business owners said that since mid-November most of the work seems to be happening during their prime hours just feet from their doors.
A North Rockland Chamber representative said Wednesday the Chamber had a Zoom meeting with CHPE contractors and elected officials about the schedule's effect on businesses, and that there will be a follow-up meeting.
