4
COURIER LIFE, SEPTEMBER 22, 2019
FLOODED
WITH MAIL
Electeds seek answers to Park Slope fl ooding
Local pols are demanding answers to an investigation into rampant fl ooding that appears to stem
from a massive construction project in Park Slope. Photo by Derrick Watterson
BY AIDAN GRAHAM
Local leaders fi red off
a strongly worded letter to
city offi cials demanding answers
after a massive construction
project resulted in
rampant fl ooding throughout
dozens of Park Slope
brownstones.
The project — which calls
for construction crews to
dig up large swaths of Sixth
Avenue — has caused row
houses located on, or near
the thoroughfare between
Union Street and Park Place
to fl ood each time it rains.
On Sept. 12 — two weeks
following Brooklyn Paper’s
exclusive report on the fl ooding
— Councilman Brad
Lander, Assemblywoman Jo
Anne Simon, and State Sen.
Zellnor Myrie fi red off a letter
to city construction honchos
to demand transparency
and an investigation
into the fl ooding.
“Our offi ces request that
Department of Design and
Construction look further
into this matter and provide
any additional support they
can for the residents,” reads
the letter. “We also request...
an update about the project
to the North Slope neighborhood.”
The project — which is
designed to replace underground
water mains and
install sewers, catch basins,
and manholes — is not
slated for completion until
sometime in 2021.
When this paper fi rst
reported the fl ooding issue,
a spokesman with the
Department of Design and
Construction — which oversees
the project — said that
they were “investigating
the fl ooding reports,” but
seemed to deny the connection
between the construction
effort and the fl ooding.
“This is an area that historically
has drainage issues,”
said Ian Michaels.
However, multiple area
residents claim that their
homes were nice and dry
until the construction project
began — a point which
the three elected leaders
alluded to in their letter.
“The vast majority of
the neighbors who reached
out reported that they had
never experienced basement
fl ooding, even during
Super Storm Sandy,” read
the letter.
Park Slope resident Michael
Saunders, who lives
near Sixth Avenue and St.
John’s Place, claimed that
the issue had cost him “thousands
of dollars to deal with
the damage.”
Michaels declined to
comment regarding the
overlap between construction
and the fl ood — both at
the end of August, and again
this week.
As of deadline, the department
had not responded
to the elected offi cials’ request
for information.
The St. John’s Place
Community Association
has organized a meeting to
discuss the fl ooding issue
on Wednesday, Sept. 18 at
7 p.m. at St. John’s Church,
located at 139 St. Johns Pl.
between Sixth and Seventh
avenues.
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