The short (but very fruitful) history of the West 12th Road Block Association!

For those of you who have lived on West 12th Road forever the issue of tidal flooding is not a new one. 

For those of W12th road's newer neighbors I am sure that after the first couple of very high floodings there have been times when you have scratched your head and wondered "why did I move onto this block?"

The West 12th Road Block Association was established March of 2010 by several of your neighbors as a result of the years of inaction on the part of the city in responding to our requests for assistance in dealing with the serious tidal flooding issue experienced on our block. Each year, 3 or 4 individuals from the block would meet with city officials with each meeting resulting in nothing more than lost time, wasted paper and empty promises.

On April 16th of this year, less than a month after the association was formed, approximately 30 W12th Road home owners packed the Borough President’s conference room at a meeting at Queens Borough Hall and made it clear to our elected officials and involved city agencies that this issue had been ignored for far too long and that we fully expected a definitive response from the city now!

Prior to the meeting on April 16th we researched the history of our previous actions in this regard and we also reached out and involved the media, specifically NY1 And the WAVE.


At the meeting we were armed with presentation boards depicting serious tidal flooding; DVD’s of recent media coverage of storm flooding; specific instances of dangerous conditions resulting from such flooding as well as individual statements by each resident attending the meeting of the hardships routinely endured because of this flooding.


Immediately after the meeting many W12th Road residents provided interviews to the media which were carried on NY1. Letters were sent out the day after the meeting to all involved city officials and agencies advising each of them we fully expected a prompt follow up on all promises made and assurances given us at the meeting.


It was obvious that, unlike our previous dealings with city officials in this matter, this time they actually sat up and took notice of us. Suddenly , representatives from D.O.T., D.E.C., D.E.P. and the D.D.C. were present on W12th Road on an almost daily basis. And each time they were present on W12th Road, they were greeted by residents who documented each of their visits.


Block Association newsletters and accompanying monthly “high tide” charts were delivered to all W12th Road residents to keep them informed of what was happening and copies of each newsletter are delivered to our elected officials.

On Friday, May 14, 2010, less than a month after our meeting at Borough Hall, Queens Borough President Helen Marshall personally came to West 12th Road to announce that $24 million dollars has been set aside to “scope, design and complete construction of end of street sea barriers for those low lying Broad Channel streets which sustain routine, serious, tidal flooding” and that, more importantly, this project will start with West 12th Road!


Prior to Borough President Marshall’s visit we reached out again to the media and her announcement was covered by NY1, the WAVE and the Queens Forum South.

A battle has been won but the “war” is most assuredly not over. In order to ensure a close and continuing liaison with the city in this regard we have established a W12thRoad Flood Mitigation Advisory Committee consisting of your neighbors below.

Grace Arnemann

John Heaphy

Sophia Vailakis-DeVirgilio

Robert McCarthy

Peter Mahon

Scott Valentine

It will be the committee’s job to stay on top of this issue, keeping all W12th Road residents informed of any and all progress and to see this project through to completion.


Within the space of 3 short months, you have managed to spark a true “Neighbor 2 Neighbor” spirit of community involvement that will serve to promote the well being of all of us here on West 12th Road in Broad Channel by “breathing new life” into this issue of tidal flooding which had been ignored by the city for far too long!


The Broad Channel Civic Association’s newsletter of May 27, 2010, acknowledged your efforts in this regard when Dan Mundy, Jr., wrote that “One of the reasons that it is critical to have a good Civic Meeting attendance is the impact that this has on the elected officials to whom we often turn in an effort to address our town’s issues. A perfect example of this is the recent meeting at the Borough President’s office to address the flooding on 12th Road. This meeting was very well attended and this fact, and the convincing arguments presented by those residents, has led to an agreement that this issue must be addressed.”

I would also like to take this opportunity to express my sincere appreciation to all W12th Road residents for your enthusiastic support and assistance you have all provided in this endeavor to date.  We have accompished a lot in a short period of time and now it is up to us to follow through on this issue until one day we can speak to our grabdchildren about the "old days on West 12th Road when the tides ran all the way up the block to the boulevard!"

We have provided links to the media coverage that has been afforded this issue on the right hand side of this page for your information.

In addition to our monthly newsletters, this blog will serve as yet another source of keeping all residents of West 12th Road up to date on this and other issues pertaining to all of us as neighbors here on West 12th Road..

For the W12th Road Block Association, your neighbor,

Peter Mahon