When it rains it pours...

...and floods the street.

This is the intersection of Washington Ave. and Lefferts Ave. after modest rainfall.  The street does not drain properly, and the water rises to depths of about 5 inches (crude estimate).  The flood is annoying because it makes crossing the street impossible and getting sprayed with water very likely.

Yvette Clark, our new Congresswoman, once told us that the problem is that there are no drains at this intersection.  Her intepretation of the problem is interesting because we see two drains at this intersection.  They just don't work.

We know nothing about public works and what might be causing the flood.  We do fear, however, that the flood my impact Brooklyn Dairy's business.  We REALLY hope that they're doing well.  Really.

Comments

[Bob Marvin]

"We do fear, however, that the flood my impact Brooklyn Dairy's business"

Err, that would assume they actually HAVE any business, which I doubt because of the difficulty of gaining access (and the remarkable lack of items to purchase).

[Chris]

I agree.
This intersection is really bad when it rains.

[Tom]

Back when Lincoln Rd. was being finished the DOT was alerted about the catch basins being clogged and they cleaned them out at the corners of Lincoln and Flatbush (northwest and southwest). Maybe a 311 call or email the DOT (www.nyc.gov). to get some results.
Also there are streetlights out on Flatbush Avenue. When more than one person calls it in (to 311) they come and fix them.

[girlacross]

I keep meaning to call 311 about this. The lake effect is ginormous when we have successive days of rain.

[kinobuster]

Funny, I was thinking of bringing up the streetlights here even before Tom mentioned them--i've called 311 three or four times since July 10, and they're still both out. Every time, I was told that they should be fixed within 10 business days, if they only needed the bulbs replaced (which seems likely to be the problem, as one of them was working a couple months ago), or up to 30 days if the problem is more serious. Clearly the city deems the problem more than serious, as it's been much, much longer than 30 days--or maybe they're just ignoring the calls???

[Tom]

We all have to keep calling. When one was out on our block it took 3 or 4 of us 3 weeks of calling to get them to come. They will say "Oh someone has called", but you have to pester them. We finally got our light fixed a few weeks later.

[Jennifer Castle]

If we're squeaky enough wheels they will fix it. Just keep calling 311. My former block had this same issue. A contractor poured cement down the drain. It took about a year of frequent calling to get it fixed properly, but it did happen.