Tuesday, October 25, 2016
Bioswale blunder in Maspeth
From CBS 2:
A city project intended to help the environment has a Queens resident upset over the destruction it has caused in front of her home.
As CBS2’s Valerie Castro reported, the project has cost the woman thousands of dollars.
“They destroyed the concrete,” said Jeanette Romano of Maspeth. “Destroyed it, destroyed it.”
Romano is not happy about the city’s recent installment of a rain garden in her sidewalk – a sidewalk she said she has paid to repair before.
“We got a notice to fix the sidewalk, which we did,” Romano said. “A year later, they came and broke it up to put a tree in, cracking all the sidewalk.”
Romano said after the tree was installed, she paid more money to repair the damage and spruce up the spot with concrete bricks.
As for the total cost, Romano said, “I can’t even tell you – thousands.”
A year later, the bricks were torn out for the rain garden, which will be made up of stones, soil and plants.
“It’s terrible. It’s absolutely terrible,” Romano said. “Every time I come out, I get very anxious and upset about this.”
The rain garden, or bioswale, on Romano’s block is one of hundreds installed across the city by the Department of Environmental Protection to keep dirty runoff water out of sewers and protect natural waterways.
The DEP said residents are given notice when a bioswale is going in, but it is not something a resident can choose to avoid.
16 comments:
I support the city planting trees but what happened to this woman is terrible. The city should reimburse her.
Why is she paying anything? The city created the problem.
Not in support of this but they did state something in the local free Queens newspaper about these things coming and one was designated for my block. When I read about it I was like what the heck is this? So I looked it up and said oh those things I see on Queens Blvd.
Yes they hold garbage...and another way for the city to give you a ticket.
I told my neighbor how she is getting one and so far nothing yet but I know it's coming.
She too was not told and she does not read those local free papers.
Who told this woman to go ahead and brick over the spot after they planted the tree? Even if they hadn't come back to dig it up for the bioswale, did she not realize the tree would eventually grow and push those bricks up anyway? Soil and grass being bricked/cemented over in the first place is why we need these bioswales.
Bioswales.....a bandaid on a serious wound.
Overdevelopment has caused this major problem....that, with an inadequate sewer system.
Presto! Some city looney has come up,with this quick fix that won't really fix much.
Ooooh....look at the pretty plantings!
LMAO!
Doesn't putting bricks in it defeat the purpose? It needs roots and things that hold the water.
I hope they left her the bricks anyway.
They need to create gardens on the street by cutting out sidewalks.
Just take a look at all of the oversized crap in the north part of Forest Hills. Most of those "houses" have cemented over the front if their properties. This is against city zoning laws. The city should fine them or at least have them pay for a bioswale.
"City workers will clean and maintain it."
Once a day? Once a week? Once a month? Once a year? What's the planned schedule?
The nine most terrifying words in the English language are "I'm from the government, and I'm here to help." - Ronald Wilson Reagan
But fear not, in a few years to come some other indoctrinated, enlightened, and uncountable college graduate will come up with another brilliant idea to fix this boondoggle of "bioswales".
The City Council will all embrace the next cluster of a mess, congratulate themselves for fixing the "unintended" bioswale problem.
And, it will only cost another billion dollars of your hard earned taxes.
Can anyone tell us how much these refuse collection devices cost to install AND maintain?
The answer is lost in HilLIEry's emails...
We all have that neighbor which likes to pour things down the street. You know paint in all.
I have a few who do that and wont that ruin this?
Every weekend I am out there with a stiff long handle brush to clean the paint stains by the curb.
This capture the rain water sounds fine but minus the few who think the curb is their dumping ground.
For bricking up the city's property why spend the money? I have seen neighbors do it only to have it take out it lifted up. Just plant grass. Hey the dogs go on either grass or stone work and lately on the sidewalk.
That bioswale didn't look that effective. It looked backed up.
City workers will maintain it? When?
When a complaint is made to 311 , that's when it will be maintained. Maybe.
>Most of those "houses" have cemented over the front if their properties. This is against city zoning laws.
The zoning laws were changed because of that spate of houses with courtyards instead of lawns. The ones that are there are grandfathered in.
What a waste of tax payers money !
Who's got the contract for this crap?
How much did they contribute to Duh Blaz's campaign?
Bike lanes are bad enough.
Now we have another phony project to eat up taxpayers' money.
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