Dear New Yorkers,
In late September, Dinu Ahmed was getting ready in the bathroom on the ground floor of her East Elmhurst, Queens home when she heard a sound she hasn’t forgotten since: glurg glurg.
A feeling of dread washed over her as she watched a slow stream of clear water trickle from the toilet. Eventually, water sloshed out from under the toilet lid — and then a funnel of black water emerged.
It was a sewer backup. Ahmed, a 37-year-old public defender, hadn’t even realized it was raining, but outside, rain was accumulating quickly, overwhelming the drainage system and pushing the water the wrong way.
It wasn’t the first time this had happened in her house, and she was not alone.
From July 1 through October 2023, New Yorkers logged almost 5,400 complaints to 311 of sewer backups, a nearly 14% increase compared to the same period in the previous year, according to data from the preliminary Mayor’s Management Report.
The Department of Environmental Protection chalked up the increase in sewer backups to the historic levels of rain.
With as much as 10% more rain expected each year by the 2030s as a result of climate change, the problem of backups likely won’t subside without individual and government action.
But that could take a very long time.
Read more about the growing problem of sewage backups in the city’s low-lying neighborhoods here.
Weather scoop by New York Metro Weather
Thursday’s Weather Rating: 7/10. The parade of pleasant weather days continues. Sunny again, with high temperatures close to 50° F and a light breeze. Still need a jacket at times, but this is really nice weather for February. The vibes are pretty good out there!
Our Other Top Stories
- The Bronx is seeking a boost from Mayor Eric Adams’ ambitious Metro-North Development scheme. The borough — and the city as a whole — needs more housing, as virtually everyone agrees, and a new proposal from the city planners for the Parkchester/Van Ness and Morris Park neighborhoods would aim to add 7,500 new housing units over the next 10 years, about 2,000 of which would be “affordable.” But the plan goes even further, estimating that 10,000 jobs can be added in Morris Park, which has a concentration of hospitals. Unlike some past rezoning proposals from city planners, this one has won early praise from local City Council and the borough president.
- The Newswomen’s Club of New York mismanagement, waste and abuse of authority.” Accepting her award on Tuesday night, Hogan said: “I couldn’t have done any of the reporting I did over the past year without the trust and freedom I was afforded at THE CITY. It allowed me to tell the stories that focused on the human realities of the migration crisis, which feels so important right now in this moment of rising xenophobia.”
- Also at the Newswomen’s Club of New York awards, THE CITY’s Abigail Kramer took home the prize for specialized reporting on the education beat for the following stories: “Success Academy Calls 911 on Students in Mental Health Crisis, Writing Its Own Rules.”
Reporter’s Notebook
‘Pain Compliance’
Guardian Angels founder Curtis Sliwa took the supposed migrant crime wave dominating Fox News coverage into his own hands Tuesday evening during a live broadcast on that network.
Sliwa was speaking from Times Square with host Sean Hannity when a gaggle of red-beret-sporting vigilantes standing behind him abruptly walked away to violently take down a man who Sliwa claimed on air was a shoplifting migrant.
“We gave him a little pain compliance. His mother in Venezuela felt the vibrations. He’s sucking concrete,” Sliwa, the 2021 Republican mayoral candidate, boasted.
But as details seeped out about the incident Wednesday, it became clear the man wasn’t a migrant — and there was no evidence he was shoplifting.
Police said on Wednesday that the man had received a summons for disorderly conduct for trying to disrupt the news broadcast, not for shoplifting. Hours later they confirmed he was not a migrant. No Guardian Angel has been charged for the takedown.
An attack on police officers by a group of migrants in Times Square on Jan. 27 sparked a nationwide outcry.
A week later, Mayor Eric Adams ed a police sting operation targeting migrants while wearing a bulletproof vest and Fendi scarf combination.
— Gwynne Hogan
Transit Bucks on the Line
Lawsuits aimed at derailing congestion pricing are delaying $15 billion in long-planned improvements to the transit system, MTA officials warned this week.
Subway signal upgrades on multiple lines, accessibility upgrades at 20 stations and the expansion of the MTA’s capital program that are imperiled by legal challenges to the first-in-the-nation vehicle-tolling plan.
Those projects would be funded by money raised by the congestion plan, which would put $15 tolls on motorists driving into the densest parts of Manhattan. The state legislature approved congestion pricing in 2019, but its rollout has been repeatedly delayed.
“The future of these projects is on the line — $15 billion worth of our work is not able to get done or implemented or started up,” said Jamie Torres-Springer, president of MTA Construction and Development, at a public hearing Tuesday on the toll plan.
The long-delayed effort to toll motorists driving south of 60th Street in Manhattan is facing several lawsuits that have been filed by politicians that include New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy and Staten Island Borough President Vito Fosella.
— Jose Martinez
Royal Flush-ing
Queens could hit the jackpot with a promised $1 billion in community investments — but only if billionaire Mets owner Steve Cohen gets a casino license, his company says.
The team behind Metropolitan Park, one of many vying for a downstate casino license, unveiled details before a town hall last night on how it plans to hand out money across Queens.
The 25-acre park is expected to cost $320 million, and they also plan to invest $480 into transportation, including improving the Mets-Willets Point subway station. A new food hall called “Taste of Queens” will cost $150 million.
They also plan to give $163 million to a “community impact trust” that plans to annually dole out cash to housing advocacy non-profits, legal help for immigrants, and upkeep of Flushing Meadows-Corona Park.
The team also promises to spend $10 million for a health clinic in East Elmhurst, $10 million for a youth and senior center in Corona, and $5 million for addiction and mental health services in Flushing.
The lofty plans come with a big catch — nothing will be done if Cohen and his crew do not get a coveted license, an official told THE CITY late last year. The team also still needs the state to sign off on building on the Citi Field parking lot.
— Katie Honan
Things To Do
Here’s what’s going on around the city this week.
- Friday, Feb. 9: Cartooning for Kids, a place to learn the basic shapes to shore up cartooning skills. Free from 4 to 5 p.m. at the Poe Park Visitor Center in The Bronx.
- Saturday, Feb. 10: A St. Valentines event where you can “mingle with other creators and crafters” while creating intricate valentines. There is a suggested $5 donation, and the event runs from 12 to 4 p.m. at the Alice Austen House Museum in Staten Island.
- Sunday, Feb. 11: A Lunar New Year celebration to celebrate the Year of the Dragon, featuring folk dances, Peking opera and traditional arts-and-crafts. Free with museum ission from 1 to 4 p.m. at the Queens Museum.
THE KICKER: In time for Valentine’s Day, the New York Public Library has released a list of best new romance novels.
Thanks, as always, for reading. Make it a great Thursday.
Love,
THE CITY
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