It was a massive undertaking, requiring a 7-story dam below the water level of the adjacent Hudson River.

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The level of the maintenance track adjacent to the busway has been raised to reduce the risk of flooding.

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Kluge, then 80, got a town council that usually cares about architectural treasures and tries to limit vast compounds and giant mansions, to approve his purchase of an entire street leading to five adjacent properties, then allowed him to level an Addison Mizner -designed house to make way for 20, 000-square-foot digs.

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Certainly it would make sense to plan infrastructure projects at a higher level, to avoid building hospitals with the same specialisation in adjacent regencies, say, or having new roads end abruptly at the city limits.

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Patrons who cannot use the stairs are directed out of the restaurant and around the corner to an adjacent building on 62nd Street the Harmony Atrium, through which there is a route to the upper level of the restaurant.

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