City Comptroller Scott Stringer’s office is doling out initial offers to Lindenwood residents who fell victim to the vicious April 30 flood, but residents argue the money is barely enough to make a dent in their repairs. File Photo
Lindenwood is looking for flood recovery money to flow as rapidly as the water did into their homes earlier this year.
City Comptroller Scott Stringer’s office doled out initial offers to victims of the April 30 flood in Lindenwood this week, but residents said the returns were minimal. Joann Ariola, president of the Howard Beach Lindenwood Civic, said neighbors have been reporting insulting and miniscule reimbursement figures in the neighborhood of $500 to $750 when they sustained damages beyond thousands of dollars.
“The people of Lindenwood are getting pint-sized offers,” she said. “The offer amounts are not even worth the time it took for the residents to accumulate all the documentation needed to receive a reimbursement. If this is the kind of money they’re looking to give us, then this is just further scamming.”
A spokeswoman for Stringer said the comptroller sent engineers out to the scene of the flooding and initiated the procurement process to hire private contractors to help in the investigation of the flooding. Stringer has already examined more than 140 homes where owners alleged flood-related damages and sent out various settlement offers, his spokeswoman said.
No specifics on those offers were provided. But what each offer did include, Stringer’s office said, was a means for residents to appeal the initial offer if they feel they should receive more than originally mapped out.
“Comptroller Stringer has made it a priority to expeditiously address all claims resulting from flooding in Lindenwood, Howard Beach and other affected areas,” the spokeswoman said. “The comptroller’s office is expanding its resources dedicated to this effort and will be deploying additional on-site claims adjusters to the area to expedite the claims process for those affected homes.”
James Noto of 153rd Avenue filed a claim with Stringer’s office back in May asking for $1,000,000 in compensatory damages and an additional $5,000,000 in punitive damages after his house flooded, which the DEP admitted was the result of a faulty sewer system. He also submitted a complaint and summons against the DEP in state Supreme Court earlier this month with hopes of getting that reimbursement money sooner than later.
“As owners of the sewers located in the Lindenwood section of Howard Beach, Queens, [the DEP] owed a duty and responsibility to protect [Noto] and his home from the type of flooding that occurred after the rainstorm,” the complaint said.
DEP Deputy Commissioner Vincent Sapienza spoke at a Howard Beach Lindenwood Civic meeting earlier this summer along with Mario Bruno, assistant commissioner for intergovernmental affairs, looking into how the city planned on handling water damage claims. The two reps admitted that a malfunctioning sewer facility was to blame but offered little else to the residents that evening.
The DEP released a statement soon after the April 30 storm finding its Spring Creek Combined Sewer Overflow Retention Facility on Flatlands Avenue “did not function as intended” and reached capacity the night of the rainfall. The Spring Creek facility, which started service in the mid ‘70s, stores up to 20 million gallons of rainfall and wastewater and reached its limit April 30, along with the Ward and Jamaica Wastewater Treatment Plants on the same evening, the DEP said.
Stringer’s office was still waiting for a finite and official DEP report on the flood in order to expedite the claims process and the DEP did not provide an estimate as to when the report would be finalized.
By Phil Corso
