When it rains, it pours in Queens Village — and feces spews out of tubs and toilets, covering some basements with repulsive sewage, fuming homeowners told the Daily News.
Torrential downpours have deluged homes along 206th St. at least three times since April when the city’s Department of Environmental Protection wrapped up a project apparently meant to ease sidewalk flooding, longtime residents said.
“My nerves are shook!” said Nicole Johnson, 43. “Every time it rains, sewer water comes out the tub. It shoots up out of the toilet. Feces and everything comes in. It rushes in like a fire hydrant opening up. You can’t stop it!”
Johnson, a Long Island Rail Road employee, has spent $5,000 so far on insurance deductibles to fix the waterlogged basement her family sleeps in and on a new water heater after her old one was “knocked out” by the flood.
She lost furniture and clothes and still needs to repair walls damaged by the foot of water her basement took on during the first surprise surge on April 30, which was the tenth-wettest day in New York City history, officials said.
It is unclear why homes in Queens Village without chronic flood problems were suddenly taking on water.
A DEP spokeswoman said the agency is aware of the complaints and is investigating the cause.
6 comments:
A sewer backflow preventer valve may be a temporary fix for these homeowners, but the city has to
1) put an end to people paving their yards and overtaxing the storm drain system
2) stop allowing overdevelopment without upgrades to the infrastructure
Has there been a rezoning recently in this area? If not, how would downzoning be anything other than a government taking off private property?
Tax the communities that need upgrades to sewer and other infrastructure if they want something new.
Yeah, we don't tax individual communities in NYC. Maybe the mayor could put some of his millions toward fixing the sewer system instead of toward help for illegal aliens.
Anon 1 is correct: this constant paving over of everything green is a big culprit and even when reported, DOB, does absolutely nothing. I reported last year over 30 homes near me that paved over everything and created illegal curb cuts and illegal driveways and to this day, not a damn thing has been done by DOB, they have not even got out and looked at these properties. DOB needs to force property owners to remedy that situation. This also goes hand in hand with the over development of neighborhoods that do not have the infrastructure to deal with this increase.
Throwing of cooking grease down sinks and toilets helps add to this issue as well. And in South Queens this is a common practice.
Just more of a broke system that no one gives a shit about.
I wonder how much more of this we'll see moving forward with Cuomo taking clean water funds that pay for drinking water and sewer projects to build a bridge for the people upstate.
They days with the city falling apart a check valve and pump installed in the basement is a must
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