Results tagged “flooding”

While building tenants were allowed back to their apartments and stores after a water main broke in Tribeca yesterday morning, the clean-up will take a while. Sean Hershkowitz, an owner of the terrific Balloon Saloon, said, "Everything has been totally destroyed. All of our inventory was in the basement," while A Uno clothing store owner Ann Benedetto lamented about computer equipment and clothing in her basement, "I have product here for fall that’s soaking." The main that broke at Duane and West Broadway was from 1870; the DEP told the Tribeca Tribune that it was just old. DEP Commissioner Steven Lawitts said, "Cast iron, after many years of freezes and thaws and street vibrations will break if not replaced." He added that even hough the city spend $200-300 million to replace old water pipes, "Unfortunately we can’t be everywhere with programmed replacement, so we still have these random occurrences, which we have to treat just as quickly as we can.”

Downtown residents and building owners got an unpleasant surprise early this morning when a water main broke at West Broadway and Duane Street at around 2:15 a.m. A number of buildings were evacuated and currently, the Office of Emergency Management reports, "Emergency personnel are on scene of a water main break affecting the area of West Broadway and Duane St. Duane St. from Hudson St. to Church St. and West Broadway from Reade St. to Worth St. are closed to vehicular traffic. The M20 Bus is being rerouted. There are no current impacts to subways." However, the MTA says, "In addition, due to a water main break in the area of the Chambers Street Station, please expect delays in service on 1, 2 and 3 trains and M20, M22 and X25 buses in both directions this time."

Over 100,000 gallons of water flooded a four-block area in the Kingsbridge section of the Bronx yesterday morning. A 20-inch water main broke around 3:30 a.m.; though it was contained by 6:30 a.m., NY1 reports the "sidewalk started to crumble, creating a huge gaping hole that stretched along half the street in one of the Bronx's busiest intersections"—231st Street and Broadway. Businesses, including a parking garage, Chase bank, and an African artifacts store, were flooded, leaving business owners worried about damages (the city is accepting damage claims). City Councilman Oliver Koppell added, "This is just about the worst place in the community where this could happen because all the buses converge on this corner, as well as a lot of traffic going from Kingsbridge to Riverdale." MyFoxNY says that while the DEP is restoring water pressure, residents "may see some brown water coming through their taps." The brown water is safe, just let it run.

Yesterday's storm made for messes all over the region. Highways and roads were flooded (there are still some issues this morning—be careful, there may be downed power lines) and Fox 5 adds, "The wintry mix of sleet and freezing rain sent tree limbs crashing and left more than 120,000 customers without power in eastern New York... More than 1,500 customers were without power on Long Island and several hundred in New York City." And, naturally, there were plenty of delays at JFK and LaGuardia airports last night. Newsday, which reports that an urban flood warning is still in effect—not to mention a coastal flood advisory after the "astronomically high tides"—tries to look on the bright side: "It could have been worse. It could have been snow."

While we previously mentioned it was be rainy today, the National Weather Service has issued flood and wind advisories for all boroughs except Staten Island, which has a wind advisory until 11:15 a.m. Also: "EXCESSIVE RUNOFF FROM THESE STORMS WILL CAUSE FLOODING OF URBAN AREAS... HIGHWAYS... STREETS AND UNDERPASSES AS WELL AS OTHER DRAINAGE AREAS AND LOW LYING SPOTS. FALLING LEAVES MAY ALSO RESULT IN BLOCKED SEWERS AND STORM DRAINS...RESULTING IN ADDITIONAL AREAS OF STANDING WATER." Guess the prototype flood-fighting furniture will get a work out today!

What a freakin' mess! A one-two punch of storms will bring heavy rain to the city through tomorrow and likely into Sunday. The rain will make it difficult to play a game tonight at Shea. Conditions are looking only slightly better for tomorrow night. Triple-header Sunday!

September is National Preparedness Month. Are you ready for tropical storm Hanna? While today is an enjoyably warm and sunny September day, tomorrow will be anything but. Today's high should be in the breezy, humid mid-80s. Clouds should arrive this evening and rain should follow, perhaps as early as midnight tonight.

The flood advisory and severe thunderstorm warning have both expired. Nearly an inch of rain fell in Central Park, while 1.64 inches soaked LaGuardia this morning. The rain is quickly moving out of the city, but there's a possibility for more storms later this afternoon. This morning's rain, and yesterday afternoon's half-hearted attempt at a storm, are being flung at the city by an upper level low pressure system that has been swirling its way across Ontario and New England. The low will be close enough that there is a chance of heavy showers at least through midnight tonight.

Some West Village restaurants can’t catch a break this week; first an old water main broke and flooded them out during Memorial Day weekend, now the city has been stone cold shutting them down. Eater has it that the Department of Health ordered Diablo Royale on West 10th Street to close yesterday for “unsanitary conditions” – a tipster says the inspectors faulted the restaurant’s flooded basement. Now the swank bar/restaurant Employees Only has gotten the hammer. The DOB’s sign on the door reads:

The Department of Buildings has determined that conditions in this premises are imminently perilous to life. This premises has been vacated and reentry is prohibited until such conditions have been eliminated to the satisfaction of the department.

Apparently, the city is thoroughly inspecting every establishment in and around the flood zone for sanitation issues and structural damage. A necessary step, but full closure is a bitter pill for restaurants trying to get back on their feet after the costly incident, which the DEP admits was caused by an old water main they had not yet gotten around to replacing.

The late Saturday night water main break in the West Village has left residents with water-damaged apartments and businesses in the lurch. A restaurant owner lamented about throwing away food and needing to be closed over the holiday weekend to the Daily News, "New Yorkers love to brunch and when there is a holiday weekend there is an extra day of brunch. We got hit really hard."

If it were happening in March today's nor'easter would be shutting the city down. Alas it is May and twenty degrees too warm. Instead of a snow day lazily spent at home we have to contend with wind, rain and flooding. Drat!

NYC has agreed to lower the water levels in some of its reservoirs that supply the city with its drinking water. The move came after pressure from Ed Rendell, the Gov. of Pennsylvania, who argued for reduced reservoir capacity to spare citizens of his state from the regular spring flooding along the Delaware River that results from New York keeping its reservoirs filled to the brim. When spring storms exceed the already-full reservoirs' ability to retain water, the Delaware River floods and Pennsylvanians suffer.

At West End Avenue and West 59th Street, a water main broke, flooding the Amtrak tracks. The FDNY is pumping out the water and a number of other city agencies, including the Office of Emergency Management and Department of Environmental Protection are on the scene. According to other reports, a new building (an expansion of John Jay Collage) at the intersection is also flooded.

MTA officials have an original idea to deal with subway flooding during heavy rain. Rather than run off untreated water into the harbor that surrounds the city, the MTA is thinking of building giant underground reservoirs to store excess water at places like Parsons Blvd. in Queens, which has a spillover effect, so to speak, on the rest of the subway system. Hours after a downpour, huge puddles of rainwater remain near the Parsons Blvd....