Friday, November 2, 2012

Floodwaters don't care if you live in luxury



From DNA Info:

On Wednesday afternoon, a group of residents sat at tables at Foodcellar supermarket in Hunters Point. Some brought laptops, others read books. One family came with two suitcases.

They were the tenants from The PowerHouse nearby, a luxury condo at 2-17 51 Ave., a former steam power station that has been without electricity since Hurricane Sandy roared through the city Monday night.

Some areas of Long Island City were flooded up to 11th Street and pockets of the neighborhood still had no power Wednesday night.

The 11-story building lost its electricity on Monday around 8 p.m. and was still dark Wednesday afternoon.

The Foundry, a nearby condo at 2-40 51 Ave., is also without electricity, and the storm damaged first floor apartments, residents said. The building’s basement remains flooded.

Jennie McCarthy, who works as a director of vendor compliance at Donna Karan, and who lives on the first floor, said there were about six inches of water in her 2-bedroom apartment on Monday night, forcing her and her mother to stay with friends on the third floor.

On Wednesday morning, McCarthy was throwing out bags filled with possessions that had gotten wet, including expensive clothes and shoes. She said the floor and furniture in her apartment also got damaged as well as her brand new Acura RDX. She estimated her damages at about $50,000.

In many other high-rises on the Long Island City waterfront on Wednesday, workers were busy cleaning flooded building lobbies.

20 comments:

Anonymous said...

Its an open question if that water from Newtown Creek and East River has permanently contaminated those buildings and if scrubbing can ever make those buildings healthy again.

Who knows if that is possible?

One thing is certain: does it make sense to accept an opinion from a politician or a developer on these points - unless of course if they live in your building and are willing to take the same risks.

Now go outside. Look around. Every tree, blade of grass, park bench, clod of earth, is saturated from the creek and the decades of industrial activity in LIC.

Its in the dust of the air you breath.

Is this a place to raise your children who bones are being knitted together for a lifetime? Or a place you want to expose your future unborn as your body just soaks up all those wonderful things that have sat for decades in the soil and creek?

Think about it.

Now think some more.

Now document everything and post it on as many places as possible to keep a permanent record. Just might be useful somewhere down the line.

Unless you do it - something tells me that this evidence will disappear as soon as authorities can wish it away.

Anonymous said...

I kind of feel guilty about feeling good about hipster-yuppies getting screwed by Mother Nature.

But if you live in a flood zone...a wall of greenbacks can't protect you.

Anonymous said...

it always amazes me how educated people with high paying jobs are always moving into these former industrial areas that are probably still polluted

Anonymous said...

No sympathy here!

Wasn't this the old Mc Kim Mead & White designed LIRR power station?

Wait until all the insurance rates start climbing for yuppies in the flood zone.

Anonymous said...

Just because people are "educated" doesn't mean that they've got any street smarts.

Maybe it's a case of too many PHD's walking around these days with very little common sense!

Anonymous said...

Uh...you might live high up on the 22nd floor but your utilities are in the basement.

Enjoy the view.

PHEW...5 days without water and a bath, and even a yuppie starts to stink!

To think of all that waterlogged cash and documents in submerged safety deposit boxes downtown.

Anonymous said...

Waterlogged money?
That's one way of laundering cash!

Anonymous said...

Hey wait a minute folks at the end of the day there are plenty of folks everywhere all in different situations that are suffering because of water inundation of their properties. We are all people and I for one don't live in LIC I live in stinky Elmhurst/Middle Village - we have our own issues. So what about the folks in Breezy Point or College Point, Broad Channel, Howard Beach and many places hit bad but not spoken of or visited by any help. We are all the same - humans who are cold, wet and lost much but still kicking even in LIC!

Anonymous said...

this dumb bitch had six whole inches of water, and it ruined her clothes??? I guess luxury apartments these days don't come with hangers???

Anonymous said...

We are all the same - humans who are cold, wet and lost much but still kicking even in LIC!
---

But I think the hipsters on the waterfront deserve special attention here. Our communities were hollowed out to build their future. Our pols lavished attention on them as our services stagnated or sank. Many of them gave a self-indulgent air that they are better than us when their schools and services jumped the line ahead of the rest of us.

So yes, they deserve a little dose of reality. NYC will do it to ya in spades.

Anonymous said...

Most of the new buildings around Hunters Pt on the water don't have basements or cellars. The old buildings often do. However, due to soil contamination and low elevation above sea level, the waterfront structures often have no substructure besides piles and caisson for foundations. The telecom, electrical and water hookups are often on the first flood behind flood doors. The new multistory garages on 47th rd and 5th St is indicative of the flood risk.

That said, they clearly didn't think through the storm surge borne sewage and chemicals that now coats the low lying parks and streets.

Power House said...

They were the tenants from The PowerHouse nearby, a luxury condo at 2-17 51 Ave., a former steam power station that has been without electricity since Hurricane Sandy roared through the city Monday night.

Some areas of Long Island City were flooded up to 11th Street and pockets of the neighborhood still had no power Wednesday night.

The 11-story building lost its electricity on Monday around 8 p.m. and was still dark Wednesday afternoon.

“I’m taking my kids to my mother in the Bronx,” said Torraine Rosemond, the manager at a gymnastics school, who brought her three daughters to the supermarket to get something to eat before the trip.

The lobby of the building filled with five feet of water Monday night, “Everything was floating around,” she noted, adding that she has no idea when the power will be back in the building where apartments run as much as $1,000 a square foot.

The lower level of the building’s parking lot remains submerged.

“Twenty-eight cars got damaged,” said Paul Carmona, a parking attendant at Central Parking System on Wednesday morning, as machines pumped water. “This is salt water, so it’s really bad for cars.”

The Foundry said...

The Foundry, a nearby condo at 2-40 51 Ave., is also without electricity, and the storm damaged first floor apartments, residents said. The building’s basement remains flooded.

Jennie McCarthy, who works as a director of vendor compliance at Donna Karan, and who lives on the first floor, said there were about six inches of water in her 2-bedroom apartment on Monday night, forcing her and her mother to stay with friends on the third floor.

On Wednesday morning, McCarthy was throwing out bags filled with possessions that had gotten wet, including expensive clothes and shoes. She said the floor and furniture in her apartment also got damaged as well as her brand new Acura RDX. She estimated her damages at about $50,000.

In many other high-rises on the Long Island City waterfront on Wednesday, workers were busy cleaning flooded building lobbies.

Avalon Riverview said...

“They’ve been cleaning the lobby since yesterday morning,” said Hughlon Francis, 31, an IT manager who is renting an apartment at Avalon Riverview at 2-01 50th Ave.

The lobby flooded, but the building did not lose electricity.

“They only shut it down on Monday night for safety reasons, and turned it back on the following morning,” Francis said.

City Lights said...

At the CityLights co-op at 4-74 48th Ave., where water also rushed into the building during the storm, residents were relieved Wednesday to find that the lobby had already been cleaned and that four of the building’s five elevators were operating.

“Our blowers are still working non stop,” said Steve, the building’s doorman, who didn’t want to give his last name.

Read more: http://www.dnainfo.com/new-york/20121031/long-island-city/hunters-point-residents-clean-up-after-sandy#ixzz2B7aGSdkW

Anonymous said...

http://www.wyndham.com/hotels/new-york/long-island-city/wyndham-garden-long-island-city-manhattan-view/hotel-overview

"Hotel Closed Due To Hurricane Damage Until Further Notice"

Waterfront Crabhouse said...

OurLIC visited the site the The Waterfront Crabhouse on 10/31 and 11/1. The damage from flooding that literally covered the full height of the bar, is devasting.

Pumping was continuing today to bring water levels down, while the water was continuing to come in to the basement. Anyone with a portable gas powered pump should consider helping.

A location "walking survey" of Long Island City on October 31, 2012. revealed several areas of damage, but, none as completely devastating as The Waterfront Crabhouse. It is yet another tragic event for the restaurant and its owner Tony Mazzarella and family. [ Confirmed ]

Go to Full OurLIC Article, Video and Photos for The Waterfront Crabhouse Needs Help! Dealt a Severe Blow by Flooding.

Anonymous said...

Why, like the suffering in lower Manhattan, this not in the news?!?!?

Note to Russia Today and Al Jazeera: now is your opportunity. Take it.

Anonymous said...

It's always nice to see a yuppie in the same boat as the less fortunate. Quick, turn left...we're headed into a seal of floating effluent (SHIT)!

Anonymous said...

Russia, Al Jazeera?
Is your brain fried fella?
Those sun baked Muslims can't swim...neither can those frozen Russians.
You're daft...man!

We don't need Al Quieda.
We've got Mayor Bloomberg and his ass kissers to destroy us.