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Image source: Heritage Radio

We caught wind of the short film, Beach 87th St./Surfing After Sandy from the NYDN. Filmed by Jesse and Lukas Huffman in documentary style, it features the surfing community and how they were affected by Hurricane Sandy. It was filmed about 34 days after the storm.

It starts with a retelling of what things were like on October 29, 2012 from the vantage point of J. Scott Klossner, Keone Singlehurst and Beth Perkins, bungalow dwellers on Beach 87th Street. They talked of friends’ and neighbors’ homes flooding, with some residents not knowing how to swim. Things floated, and some crashed and broke.

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According to an article in today’s Daily News, the city and the government are duking it out over the city’s practice of dumping raw sewage into the Gowanus Canal amidst the federal government-led Superfund cleanup of the canal. Here’s the crux, according to the story: “The feds say the city will have to crack down on the sewer overflows – which spew almost 400 million gallons of sewage into the canal every year – as part of an upcoming Superfund cleanup or else the ambitious cleanup will be ruined because the waterway will quickly get dirty again. But city officials say the sewage isn’t responsible for the toxic sludge at the bottom of the canal, which comes from decades of industrialchemical pollution.” The city has its own plans for reducing sewage dumping, but the federal government says it’s not good enough. Here’s their side: “EPA spokeswoman Mary Mears said sewer overflow controls – beyond those to which the city is currently committed – …are necessary in order to ensure the long-term integrity of a Superfund remedy for the Canal. ‘Of course, as a general matter, it is very important that we reduce the flow of raw sewage into urban waterways,’ she said. Through the Superfund law, the EPA can move to legally force the city to stop the overflows.” Translation: The city is not going to win this fight.
City Balks at Demands From the Feds to Stop Raw Sewage Overflows into Gowanus Canal [NY Daily News]
Photo by juliandunn

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Will the residents and businesses of Carroll and 4th Avenue finally experience some respite from the semi-regular flooding they’ve been experiencing? Maybe. The DEP showed up this morning to investigate the clogged catch basins that caused a huge pool of water to settle on the street over the weekend. A DEP worker said they’re “looking into” what’s wrong with the street’s drains.
Over the Weekend, a Flood on Carroll Street [Brownstoner]

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After the heavy rains on Saturday afternoon around three feet of rain collected on a section of Carroll Street, causing thousands of dollars in damages to a business and flooding several basements. The flooding was blamed on malfunctioning catch basins next to two developments that caused rainwater to cross 4th avenue and settle on the western corner of Carroll. The water only pooled for about 15 minutes, but that was enough time to do serious damage. It’s not the first time Carroll between 3rd and 4th has seen a deluge over the past year: The street witnessed a similar event after the tornado last August, when a few feet of water took a couple hours to properly drain. “They said they took care of it, and here we go again,” said Joanne Amitrano, who manages three buildings on Carroll between 3rd and 4th avenues. Amitrano had been in contact with city officials and the DEP after the hurricane flood, and only last week DEP officials told her that the catch basins on the block were in working order—which they were, though the ones across 4th Avenue had evidently filled with construction debris, sending what Amitrano calls “a wave” across the street. The building on the corner of Carroll houses the new coffee shop Root Hill Cafe, and its owners had to hire a crew on Sunday to suck out water from the basement, where all its supplies are stored. Root Hill wasn’t open for business yesterday and its owners say they’re facing tens of thousands of dollars in damages. Small consolation: Sunday’s storms didn’t result in flooding.
Update: Gowanus Lounge has photos of flooding on 9th Street, closer to the canal, and Curbed shows the two waterlogged streets side by side.