Yonkers Contracting Company has petitioned Westchester Supreme Court to compel three neighbors to allow access to their properties to fix a retaining wall that has become increasingly precarious following a partial collapse last year.
Yonkers Contracting Company (YCC) has negotiated with the neighbors for 14 months, according to a petition filed on Oct. 18 in Westchester Supreme Court, “only to be thwarted by [their] lack of response, unreasonable demands, and failure to negotiate in good faith.”
A 30-foot high rock retaining wall from a former quarry separates the properties, along Midland Avenue near Central Park Avenue in the Dunwoodie section of Yonkers. YCC – a major civic transportation infrastructure contractor – operates a large storage and equipment yard and headquarters on its side of the wall.
Properties on the other side, where Midland Avenue curls around and ascends to a higher elevation, are essentially at the top of the retaining wall. YCC is singling out Francesco Trolio and Trolio Landscaping at 903 Midland; an office building owned by 909 Midland Realty; and a house at 107 Tocco Place owned by Joseph Cerbone Jr.
Last year, YCC says, it notified Trolio Landscaping about concerns that heavy trucks and an estimated 54 tons of concrete blocks are parked and stored near the edge of the wall. Trolio moved the concrete blocks away from the wall’s edge, according to the petition, but denied that the wall had been damaged.
On Aug. 6, 2024, a portion of the wall collapsed and damaged a parking deck on YCC’s side and an unoccupied building on Cerbone’s property.
Time is of the essence, YCC says. It wants to fix the wall before winter weather makes the work more difficult and before another freeze-thaw cycle causes more damages.
What’s more, the city has issued code violations and demanded that the wall be repaired. Who is at fault for the collapse is immaterial now, YCC argues. It needs access to the neighbors’ properties now.
But Trolio has allegedly refused access to his property until a court determines who is responsible for the damages.
“The Trolio defendants have acted responsibly at all times,” attorney John W. McGowan stated in an email to Westfair Communications, “continue to cooperate with the City of Yonkers, and are confident that a full review of the facts will confirm they bear no liability for the incident.”
Cerbone wants everyone’s financial and maintenance responsibilities resolved before any repairs are made, the petition states, whereas YCC wants to fix first, make it safe, and sort out responsibilities later.
Cerbone declined to comment for this story.
Midland Realty has not responded at all, YCC says.
YCC is asking the court to issue a judicial license, granting access to the neighbors’ properties for six to nine months to repair the wall.
This a collective problem, YCC says, and any inconvenience to the neighbors would be temporary and outweighed by the benefit of repairing a hazardous condition.
