C RY D E R
P O I N T
AUGUST 8
Whitestone resident calling for DOT and DEP
to permanently fix huge recurring sinkhole
BY CARLOTTA MOHAMED
cmohamed@schnepsmedia.com@QNS
The caved in sinkhole at at the corner of
17th Road and Murray Street.
Courtesy of Joe Angenbroich
8 CRYDER POINT COURIER | AUGUST 2019 | WWW.QUEENSCOURIER.COM
Courtesy of AngenBroich
A crew arrived at the site Tuesday afternoon to fill the sinkhole.
Courtesy of AngenBroich
When Whitestone resident Joe AngenBroich
opens his front door every
morning, the first thing he sees is a huge
sinkhole on the street, that has been a recurring
problem for the past 10 years or so
on the block, he says.
The sinkhole, located at the corner of
17th Road and Murray Street, is formed
every year during the summer, and AngenBroich
says it’s time for the caved-in
hole to be permanently fixed.
This past Thursday, the sinkhole was
filled by a private company that was working
down the block, AngenBroich said.
“The other day, a woman hit it and she
blew out her tire and her front bumper
fell off,” AngenBroich said. “I had a cone
on the side of it and by the time I got
home at 3 o’clock, more of it caved in so
the cone was now inside the hole. Every
single summer, they come, they patch it,
people run over it. It sinks back in, they
come again and fill it. It’s good for the
winter, then summer comes and the hole
opens back again because of the asphalt
and heat.”
AngenBroich posted a video of the sinkhole
on the We Love Whitestone Facebook
group page, where residents agreed,
saying, “It’s time for the repairs to be done
the right way.”
Alfredo Centola, president of the We
Love Whitestone Civic Association, said
it’s the same issue residents have continuously
dealt with every year, due to the
possibility of a water leak beneath the
sinkhole.
“Sad that after a year the problem continues
and it apparently is a borough-wide
problem. Do we have to wait for an accident?
Or worse?” Centola said.
Other residents are calling out the Department
of Environmental Protection
(DEP), who they say surveyed the area
last year for a water leak in the sewer. So
far, they haven’t heard back from DEP
about the results of the test.
In a statement to QNS, a DEP spokesman
said, “Crews made a temporary
repair to the roadway this afternoon to
ensure the area is safe and engineers are
reviewing the findings of their investigation
and will formulate a plan for a permanent
repair.”
According to AngenBroich, they have
also filed complaints every year about the
size and depth of the sinkhole to the Department
of Transportation (DOT).
“We call to file a complaint because
DOT wants to hear what our complaint
numbers are, but when we complain
about the size of the hole they automatically
forward us to 911, then it becomes
an issue,” AngenBroich said. “This year,
I’ve called at least four times, my parents
have called maybe five to six times.”
A crew arrived at the site Tuesday afternoon
to fill the sinkhole. (Courtesy of
AngenBroich)
AngenBroich has been in touch with
Councilman Paul Vallone’s office about
the issue and was recently told that they’re
communicating with DOT and DEP to
have the sinkhole fixed the correct way,
he said.
“I won’t really believe them because I’ve
been arguing this every year,” AngenBroich
said. “If that hole isn’t fixed you can
literally get hurt bad. I can guarantee by
the end of next week that hole will start
caving in again. Throughout the years,
people haven’t gotten hurt but their tires
have been blown.”
A spokeswoman from Vallone’s office
told QNS that “after being alerted to the
street condition at Murray Street and 17th
Road, Councilman Vallone asked the DEP
to expedite needed repairs at the location.”
“On Monday, DEP confirmed a work
order to repair the sewer was submitted to
DEP Emergency Construction. Our office
will continue to monitor the issue to see
that the appropriate repairs are made,” the
spokeswoman said.
AngenBroich said he hopes that everything
gets fixed the right way.
“I feel like this is my responsibility because
I’m the closest one to it. I just hope
that they finally realize what the problem
is and fix it the correct way, so we don’t
have to deal with this anymore,” Angenbroich
said.
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