Friday, February 27, 2009

Pols: Feds should fix flooding

From the Times Ledger:

Residents in northeast and central Queens have been putting up with flooding on their roads and in their homes for decades and it is time for Mayor Michael Bloomberg and Gov. David Paterson to do something about it, lawmakers said Friday.

State Assemblyman Rory Lancman (D−Fresh Meadows), U.S. Rep. Anthony Weiner (D−Forest Hills), state Sen. Toby Stavisky (D−Whitestone) and City Councilman James Gennaro (D−Fresh Meadows) gathered at the Utopia Jewish Center in Fresh Meadows Friday to call on the mayor and the governor to use federal stimulus package funds to mitigate flooding in northeast and central Queens.

“Come to this area in a summer rain — and I don’t mean a rainstorm you’d expect once every 10 or once every 100 years — any heavy summer rain, and you’ll see Utopia Parkway under water,” Lancman said. “It’s a lake. Homes will have their basements flooded with 1, 2, 3, 4 feet of water. Homes will be flooded with raw sewage. Utopia Jewish Center had to repair its ballroom because it was flooded with raw sewage in 2008.”

The federal stimulus plan sets aside approximately $18 billion for flood control projects nationwide, and the city is slated to receive about $265 million for such efforts, Weiner said.

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

It also wouldn't hurt if people stop cementing every square inch of ground. Water has to go somewhere. The upcoming Philadelphia Flower Show has excellent demonstrations on how storm water can be re-channeled and put to good use to avoid flooding, droughts and pollution.

Anonymous said...

they should go see willets point after it rains and then they wont complain , in willets point you need a boat when it rains the city just takes tax money from the people for over 30 years and gave them nothing when you go to thr gov make sure you tell him about willets point floods pleas you havent seen anything

Anonymous said...

And again, I ask, what about southeastern Queens? They have had flooding issues for decades. I guess repeated reports about it have desensitized the pols to the issue. Or is it because the residents aren't the proper political lobby?