West 12th Road Flooding covered by N.Y. Daily News

Ms. Kate Nocera, a reporter from the N.Y. Daily News was present on West 12th Road during the tidal flooding of Friday, September 10, 2010.  Ms. Nocera's article was published in the "Queens Section" of the N.Y. Daily News this morning. 

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Inundated residents flood officials with ire

BY KATE NOCERA

N.Y. Daily News

Tuesday, September 14th 2010, 10:32 AM

BROAD CHANNEL residents who were promised a speedy fix to their chronic flooding problems in May are being asked to wait a little longer.

Especially high tides from Jamaica Bay sweep in twice a month and plague a number of blocks west of Cross Bay Blvd. On W. 12th Road, the water can reach a depth of 5 feet at high tide.


Every person on the block owns thigh-high waders to trudge through the street. Garbage gets swept away into the road. Emergency vehicles, cars and mail delivery cannot get through during the flooding.


"This is an emergency," said W. 12th Road resident John Heaphy, 67. "It's been an emergency for 30 years. We are constantly having to think about the flooding and what it's going to ruin this time. God forbid if someone needs an ambulance when the water is up."


A project that includes elevating the roads and building a seawall had been slated for 2015. In May, city officials said that $24million had been allocated to the project, allowing it to begin earlier than expected.


Borough President Helen Marshall said at the time that W. 12th Road - which endures the worst of the flooding - would be granted an "emergency status" so the project could begin immediately.


Then in August, the city Department of Transportation told residents the street would not be granted a "declaration of emergency," so the project would be pushed back again.


"Even just a temporary [seawall] at the end of the road would do so much," said Pete Mahon, 60. "But now even that won't happen until summer of 2012."


A spokesman for Marshall said the project is still moving forward and will be completed well before the original 2015 deadline.


"These people deal with great fear and hardship every time the tide comes in. The borough president is not giving up on getting this done as quickly as possible," Marshall's spokesman Dan Andrews said.


That is not good enough for Sophia DeVirgilio, 45, who fears for the safety of her daughter Louise, 7.


"She thinks it's fun to play in the water, but I won't let her," DeVirgilio said. "Several houses down the block have sewage going into the bay and it floods back into the street. Nothing about that is okay."


Louise showed off a self-portrait she drew for school. She depicted herself in rain boots, standing knee high in water.


"This is just a way of life for us," her mom said. "And it shouldn't have to be."

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