New York City‘s top numbers-cruncher has denied nearly 5,000 claims against the city for property damage caused by the devastating and deadly Hurricane Ida, claiming the city is ‘not liable for damage from ‘extraordinary and excessive rainfalls.’
City Comptroller Brad Lander rejected every single claim – 4,703 in all – with the city requesting compensation for property damage caused by flooding after the 2021 storm overwhelmed New York’s sewer system.
The storm swept through the Big Apple last September, dumping nine inches of rain in some places and claiming 13 lives.
Some victims were trapped in basement apartments that became watery tombs that filled to the ceiling as the municipal sewer system became overtaxed by the deluge.
City and state officials admitted at the time that they were caught flatfooted by the flood and were late issuing storm warnings.
New York City Comptroller Brad Lander, pictured here, rejected nearly 5,000 claims against the city for property damage cause by Hurricane Ida last year
Police outside the home of a two-year-old boy in Woodside, Queens, who died alongside a 48-year-old woman and 50-year-old man during Hurricane Ida when their basement apartment flooded
Amrita Bhagwandin, 52, was one of the relatively lucky ones. Ida only filled her basement apartment in Hollis, Queens, causing $125,000 in damage, according to The City, a local online news publication.
Two of her neighbors, a mother, and a son, died in the storm.
She said that the foundation of the home was undermined and her wiring and plumbing have to be completely redone.
‘I’m up to my wit’s end here trying to get a contractor with a decent price because everything’s going to cost me more than $125,000,’ she told The City.
Residents sort through damaged and destroyed items after a night of heavy rain and wind caused many homes to flood on September 2, 2021 in the Flushing neighborhood of the Queens borough of New York City
Danny Hong shows where the water reached up to him as he shows the damage in his basement apartment on 153rd Street in the Flushing neighborhood of the Queens, New York on September 2, 2021
A hole in the foundation where a window once was and flood waters rushed in is seen in the basement apartment on 153rd Street in the Flushing section of Queens
She received her rejection letter on Monday, according to the publication, letting her know that her problem is not New York City’s problem.
‘We are sorry to inform you that, based on New York State law and the facts of the storm, the City of New York is not legally responsible for the damage to your property that occurred when Hurricane Ida struck New York City on September 1, 2021,’ Lander wrote in his denial of her claim.
For over a century, courts have held that municipalities across the state of New York, including the City of New York, are not liable for damage from ‘extraordinary and excessive rainfalls.”
New York City Comptroller Brad Lander cited 100-year-old case law that establishes the city is not liable for damage caused by ‘excessive rainfalls’
Amrita Bhagwandin, 52, seen here, is looking at $125,000 in damage caused by Hurricane Ida
A police officer stands guard as a man surveys the damage to a home in the Jamaica section of Queens on September 2, 2021
Ragendra Shivprasad (left), the landlord of a building where some of the occupants were killed when several feet of water collapsed the wall to a basement apartment, stands with neighbors as they watch the scene in Queens on September 2, 2021
Emergency service personnel work at the scene of a basement apartment where bodies were found on Peck Ave. in Flushing, Queens on September 2, 2021
Teresa Eng cleans out her bedroom in a her basement apartment in the Flushing neighborhood of the Queens on September 2, 2021
The exception, Lander pointed out, is if the damage was caused by ‘negligent action or omission’ by the city government.
But he quickly dismisses the possibility that that happened during the storm.
‘That was not the case here,’ Lander writes.
The only recourse for Bhagwandin, and other New Yorkers in her dilemma, is to hire a lawyer and sue the city.
Time is running out for that. New York State law requires that claims against the city be filed within a year and 90 days of the incident.
For the victims of Hurricane Ida, that means they have until November 30 of this year to sue.
Tara Ramskriet, 42, and her 22-year-old son, Nicholas, who lived down the block from Bhagwandin, died from the water in their basement apartment.
A hole in the foundation where a window once was and flood waters rushed in is seen in a home on 153rd St. in the Flushing neighborhood of Queens
Police officers use a yellow tarp to block the view as bodies are removed from a flooded basement apartment on Peck Avenue in Flushing, Queens on September 2, 2021
According to Ramskriet’s other son, who survived, the flood waters were so powerful that it swept his father, Dameshwar off his feet, according to The New York Times.
The dad tried to hold onto his wife, but she too was washed away by the powerful deluge.
‘I tried to hold on to my wife, and she was trying to hold on to me,’ Dameshwar Ramskriet told the Times last year. ‘But the water pushed me away and I couldn’t feel her hand anymore.’
There may be a good reason that the Ramskriets were unprepared for the flood.
The National Weather Service predicted a severe rain event at 2.40pm EST but NYC officials didn’t send out any alerts until the night
9.01pm: A flash flood warning was issued across NYC. 9:09m: A tornado warning is issued across NYC
9.28pm: The National Weather Service issues a Flash Flooding Emergency – the first of its kind – across NYC
11.26pm: De Blasio didn’t declare a state of emergency until 11.26pm – after the bodies of at least seven people were found
The city didn’t warn residents of the pending storm until 7.20pm the night that Ida struck.
Flash floods warnings were issued for the next hour and a half as the rainfall peaked just before 9pm, but the city didn’t send out the alert of the Flash Flood Emergency until 10.25pm.
Bhagwandin is terrified of the next storm as hurricane season approaches again.
‘We are not ready for an emergency. We are not ready for the emergency,’ she said.
Governor Kathy Hochul and then-Mayor Bill de Blasio said the storm’s strength took them by surprise.
New York City has denied the claims of nearly 5,000 people whose belongings were damaged by Hurricane Ida
Flood damaged belongings fill the porch of a Woodside, Queens home after Hurricane Ida
The flood water line is seen just above glasses hanging over a sink in a basement apartment on 153rd St. in Flushing on September 2, 2021
A resident of Peck Avenue in Flushing, Queens uses buckets to remove water from his basement apartment after Hurricane Ida
‘We did not know that between 8.50 and 9.50pm last night, that the heavens would literally open up and bring Niagara Falls level of water to the streets of New York,’ said Hochul.
De Blasio said he’d gotten a forecast Wednesday of 3 to 6 inches of rain over the course of the day.
‘We’re enduring an historic weather event tonight with record-breaking rain across the city, brutal flooding and dangerous conditions on our roads,’ de Blasio said after the storm subsided.
States of emergency were declared in New York and New Jersey while the National Weather Service issued its first-ever emergency flash flood warning for New York City, urging residents to move to higher ground.
Queens Borough President Donovan Richards, whose district saw most of the damage, encouraged his constituents to sue.
“This decision — which I encourage homeowners to explore their options about — is an unfortunate encapsulation of the city’s negligence and sheer failure when it comes to extreme weather preparedness,” he said in a statement to THE CITY.
People visit the flooded Bethesda Fountain in Central Park on after extremely heavy rain caused by Hurricane Ida
An empty flooded playground is seen in the above photo taken in Brooklyn after Hurricane Ida
A slide is pictured at a flooded playground in Brooklyn after Hurricane Ida
Sections of the FDR Drive in Manhattan, the Bronx River Parkway, and the Brooklyn Queens Expressway were also flooded. The Major Deegan Expressway in The Bronx is seen above
Buses, UPS delivery trucks, and trailers stand idle on the Major Deegan Expressway in The Bronx after Hurricane Ida
Across the Northeast, 46 people lost their lives, 23 in New Jersey alone.
Lander pointed out in his rejection letter that the city’s Department of Environmental Protection measured between four and nine inches of rain on the night of the storm. More than 3.15 inches fell in a single hour in Central Park, he notes, ‘breaking the record for the most amount of rain ever recorded in a single hour in New York City.’
‘I’m 50 years old and I’ve never seen that much rain ever,’ said Metodija Mihajlov whose basement of his Manhattan restaurant was flooded with three inches of water.
‘It was like living in the jungle, like tropical rain. Unbelievable. Everything is so strange this year,’ he told AFP.
In another part of Queens, water rapidly filled Deborah Torres’ first-floor apartment to her knees as her landlord frantically urged her neighbors below – who included a baby – to get out, she said.
But the water rushed in so strongly that she surmised they weren’t able to open the door. The three residents died.
‘I have no words,’ she said. ‘How can something like this happen?’
Sophy Liu, also of Queens, roused her son from bed and put him in a life jacket and inflatable swimming ring as their first-floor apartment flooded.
Unable to open the door against the force of the water, she called friends for help. The water was nearly five feet high when they came to her rescue, she said.
‘I was obviously scared, but I had to be strong for my son. I had to calm him down,’ she recalled Thursday as medical examiners removed three bodies from a home down the street.
Lander said that he was sympathetic to the storm victims and blamed global warming for the devastation.
‘As climate change intensifies the volume and frequency of local storms, the City of New York must do more to prepare our communities,’ he wrote in his rejection letter.
He proposed that the city create a ‘Disaster Recovery Center’ to facilitate legal assistance and provide information on relief programs and provide help with insurance claims.
‘I’m sorry that such a center did not exist in the aftermath of Hurricane Ida,’ he said. ‘Hopefully, by creating such a center, it will be possible to help future New Yorkers facing disasters (regardless of whether or not the City is liable for damage).