Good Samaritan will do sidewalk repair for free

From the Queens Courier:

A good Samaritan — and complete stranger — has stepped up to aid an embattled, elderly Whitestone couple burdened with the charge of sidewalk repairs they say should not have been on their hands to begin with.

Judith Smith, 68, and her husband Everett, 71, were told by the city’s Department of Transportation in June to fix two concrete slabs, totaling 70 square feet of sidewalk, deemed broken and improperly sloped, according to a notice of violation issued by the agency.

But the furious pair said the defective squares are not their legal responsibility, pointing to their house deed as proof. The slabs, instead, are connected to an adjacent community driveway, jointly owned by the 22 homeowners on the street, they said.

...after The Courier first reported the couple’s grievance in a detailed August 30 cover story, the Smiths were then reached out to by a major television network. Their troubles were broadcast at 8 a.m. on Tuesday, September 4, and within 30 minutes, the Smiths said they received a phone call from a private cement company contractor who wanted to help them out for free.