Dyker Heights officials, residents call on city to fix outdated sewer
Rainfall causes backflow into basements, homes, they say
DYKER HEIGHTS — State Sen. Andrew Gounardes, Councilmember Justin Brannan, Community Board 10 District Manager Josephine Beckmann, and former U.S. Rep. Max Rose joined residents of 10th Avenue in Dyker Heights on Tuesday, urging the New York City Department of Environmental Protection to finally finish sewer repairs begun in FY1999.
The officials and community members called on the DEP to prioritize replacing what they called the overwhelmed and outdated sewer infrastructure south of 77th Street. Storms accelerated by climate change have increased in frequency and severity in the past decade, and are likely to continue to do so, furthering the need for the DEP to address these long-standing infrastructure issues quickly, they said.
The DEP began to modernize the century-old sewer system along 10th Avenue more than 20 years ago, but stopped short of replacing pipes below 77th Street. More than 2 decades later, these crucial pipe replacements have yet to be realized. As a result, even light rainfall has caused severe sewer backflow into residents’ basements and homes, as well as flooding up to 4 feet.