Sadness At Flood Losses Equaled By Board 2 Wrath
BY THOMAS COGAN

The story of George Tomov, one of the speakers at this month's Community Board 2 meeting, did not diminish the other accounts of last month's flood damage in Woodside, but it was unusual and poignant. When a severe rainstorm occurred on the morning of Wednesday, August 8, the resultant flooding of Tomov's house at 66-12 48th Ave. caused the ruin of his collection of Balkan dance costumes, some of which were more than a century old and many of which were used by his company of folk dancers. Tomov said that the clamor for compensation growing out of the August disaster is largely irrelevant to him, because his principal loss, rare clothing items that he had assembled over many years, is irreplaceable.

The worst of the flood damage occurred in the area south of Queens Boulevard, between it and 52nd Road, bounded west and east by 61st and 69th Streets. The Brooklyn-Queens Expressway cuts through this territory. According to the angry area residents gathered at the meeting, the August 8 rainfall would have caused only minor flooding in the neighborhoods on either side of the BQE if the decision had not been made to pump the water that was flooding the highway and send it into the sewer system. The system was strained beyond its capacity and water and sewage ultimately overflowed into many homes, Tomov's among them. Angel Nieves, who several blocks away at 48-27 64th St., described standing in chest-high water in his house at 8 a.m., watching sewage floating by. Another man remembered being told that all measures were being taken to keep the BQE clear of floodwater, the welfare of the adjacent community being of little or no concern. His house was badly damaged, and though he has lived there with his family for 17 years, he believes they'll have to move. A woman declared she'd been in her house 32 years and had never seen flooding of this magnitude. She said that there was damage in the streets too, with several cars being flooded so badly they were, in her word, "totaled".

Though one man praised the work of the Department of Sanitation in addressing the postdisaster situation in the neighborhood, other city agencies such as the Fire Department and the Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) were described with contempt. One woman and property damage victim put it passionately: "The city can take all your money in taxes, but when you ask for help you get nothing." Another neighborhood resident, who had also suffered damage, said that when he and other victims approached the agencies in the wake of the disaster, they "turned their backs on us". As a result, "we lost all our faith in the DEP", the agency that had originally made the decision to pump rainwater from the BQE into the local sewer system. Though the DEP has proposed in the aftermath to send its engineers to look at the situation, the man demanded that an independent engineering body do the job. Board 2 Chairman Joseph Conley agreed. Another local woman recalled suffering flood damage in 1995 and receiving nothing in compensation in the years since, despite a good deal of application for it by herself and her neighbors.

This mood of dissatisfaction, or distrust, was directed also at the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), which announced at the end of August that funds would be available for the disaster victims. Dennis Meehan, representing Congressmember Joseph Crowley, who had campaigned for FEMA funds, told the meeting that concerned persons must apply for them, and he had an abundant supply of application forms in the back of the room at the Sunnyside Community Center. Apparently there were rumors that the funds would be in the form of loans, and that was unacceptable to the attendees. The disaster was mainly the city's fault, they contended, and they are demanding grants. Conley said a loan would amount to another mortgage- a particularly sensitive word these days- so compensation must be granted outright.

Present once again to catch the flak (she had borne complaints two nights earlier at the Community Board 4 meeting in Corona) was Jennifer Manley of the mayor's Community Assistance Unit. Repeating Meehan's message, she urged her listeners to apply for funds. When asked about funding caps, she said she knew of none, and that payments would be based on the quality of the applications. Carol Terrano, a board member and resident of the stricken neighborhood, said the infrastructure of a widespread area around the neighborhood needs to be improved immediately, and certainly before plans for more high-rise buildings along Queens Boulevard are carried out. She brought up old business too, demanding sound barriers, promised but not delivered, for the south side of the BQE bordering the neighborhood. There are times in the day, she reminded the meeting, when conversation at a civil level of volume is impossible there, because of the roaring noise made by passing traffic on the highway.

Mandy Ikert delivered a report from the Department of City Planning, speaking about the amendment made to the text concerning zoning of Sunnyside Gardens, which City Planning had designated a Special Planned Community Preservation District in 1974. Now that the Landmarks Preservation Commission has voted to designate Sunnyside Gardens a historic district, City Planning wants to align its language with that of the LPC. Ikert said that since June 26, the date of the LPC vote of approval (which was unanimous), Sunnyside has had "L" or tentative landmark status, with City Council approval needed to make the designation complete. The near certainty of such approval has moved City Planning into action. Conley said that another public hearing on the zoning text amendment should be held. Lisa Deller, head of the Board 2 Land Use Committee, said she is trying to arrange for a meeting to be held Monday, October 8.