Neighbors gathered Friday afternoon to light candles and lay flowers for a Queens mother and son who lost their lives in Ida’s fury.
“Nothing could prepare you for this … we have lived here for so many years, [we] I never expected it, ”one Hollis woman said.
The 43-year-old woman and her 22-year-old son died in an illegally converted basement unit, as did eight of the other victims anywhere in Queens and neighboring Brooklyn, according to the city.
The Department of Buildings confirmed Friday that five of the six buildings where New Yorkers lost their lives had illegal conversions to basement or basement.
“Our team is conducting tireless inspections at more than a thousand properties in the five districts after Wednesday’s storm and we will continue to do everything we can to make New Yorkers safe in their residences,” said DOB Commissioner Melanie La Weather in Rocca.
A mother and son died in the basement floods caused by the remnants of Hurricane Ida. Greg Cergol reports.
Underground housing has become one of the main foci of city and state officials eager to prepare for the upcoming Ida-level event. With so many basement city apartments ruined by the rain attack, the city’s mayor is concentrating on more drastic measures to protect the vulnerable.
Mayor Bill de Blasio unveiled his New York climate-driven rain response plan on Friday. This plan includes a working group, more warnings and a greater focus on helping families living in basement apartments.
He hopes not to have to run door-to-door evacuations regularly, but said he believes telling people the city may have to do so improves time awareness.
Proponents of housing, such as Chhaya CDC executive director Annetta Seecharan, are calling for an apartment conversion program in the city-wide basement. There is already a pilot program in eastern New York, but its budget was drastically reduced during the pandemic.
“What needs to happen immediately is for the city to move towards a city-wide program that encourages, and again does not penalize, for these apartments to be coded quickly,” Seecharran said.
“It wouldn’t prevent the climate disaster, but when the next climate disaster occurs people can escape.”
This week’s catastrophic flash floods have led to a new city plan to combat the extreme weather. Gilma Avalos reports.
Underground housing has also become a focus of the state attorney general. On Friday, Tish James urged the city to issue special emergency housing guaranteed to New Yorkers living in unregulated basement apartments.
“To prevent these problems in the future, we must also ensure that basement units are safe for human occupation and regularly inspected. It will not be easy to overcome the twin threats of climate change and the housing crisis, but we need to ensure that there are measures in place to protect our neighbors and prevent a future catastrophe, ”James said in a statement.