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March 18, 2008
DEP Damage
I'm looking for tips on what we should do. After I called 311 about a fire hydrant outside my house leaking into my basement and creating a sink hole in my side yard, they came out and repaired the hydrant and told me they'd be back to fix the sidewalk they broke up and refill my sideyard with dirt. They haven't been back. Today I called 311 again and found that their records show that DEP has closed the case and plans no further work. Well I still have the sink hole and the busted up sidewalk. Now the City tells me that I can either file another complaint with 311 who will send out DOT who will perform the work and then bill me and then I can seek reimbursement from the City by filing a claim with the Comptroller or I can have the work performed and file for a claim. It all seems so, so, wrong. The City's workers can just make a mess of things, write it in their reports and walk away and the homeowner has to fix it and file a claim? I'm not so keen about having DoT inspect and make the repair because a lot of the sidewalk is the original bluestone, warts and all and we don't have the money to redo it now. Suggestions? Advice?
Comments
This is the type of problem many local elected officals love to help solve [because they get valuable word-of-mouth publicity]. I suggest contacting your City Council person's office.
Posted by: Bob Marvin at March 18, 2008 6:16 PM
Maybe you should contact a large newspaper.
Every paper has someone who covers this type of story.
You can also try the tv news if you want to be on television
Posted by: Ysabelle at March 18, 2008 6:25 PM
Ysabelle, you are a hypocrite as when as a twit. When I suggested before that someone try calling an investigative reporter like Tappy Phillips you tried to say that was somehow a morally reprehensible. Shut it.
Posted by: guest at March 18, 2008 7:34 PM
To guest 7;34pm
It is a woman's perogative to change her mind.
Posted by: Ysabelle at March 18, 2008 8:02 PM
I had a similar situation about 3 years ago. The city wanted to put a curb cut in front of my house and in the process of doing it cut out 2/3 of my beautiful bluestone sidewalk and were planning to replace it with cement. All without notifying me. I had photos to prove the bluestone was there in the first place and after many rounds with DOT and no satisfaction, I followed the advice of a friend in the courts and sent a certified letter addressed to Bloomberg and on down the line of reporting in DOT clearly explaining my dilemma and threatening to sue if action wasn't taken in 4 months with deadline to reply in a month. It worked. At that point Bloomberg didn't want the city to get involved in any more civil suits.
Posted by: guest at March 18, 2008 8:02 PM
Rent a truck (does not have to be particularily large) and back into the hydrant, the ring at the base will snap (fairly easily it's made to do so). Back up again and bend the valve shaft, then call 311. And no, the water will not shoot out like in the movies.
Posted by: guest at March 18, 2008 9:23 PM
And please tie Ysabelle to the hydrant before you drive the truck into it.
Posted by: guest at March 19, 2008 8:34 AM
When they send you the bill, don't pay it. Send it in for reimbursement. Tell them they'll get their money when you get it. If they would like to file a complaint they will hear from you after a review.
Posted by: funstraw at March 19, 2008 3:31 PM
Call the community board office with your 311 tracking numbers and they will contact the DEP on your behalf.
Posted by: guest at March 19, 2008 10:27 PM
Hi, this is guest 8:02 again:
Initially I did what several of the posters suggested - contacted Marty Markowitz's office, Tish James office, complained to landmarks and continuous pressure on DOT. After 6 months of dragging their feet, that is when a friend who is a judge recommended the certified letter threatening to sue. We also did not fix the mess ourselves and documented everything thoroughly. It was also important to send the letter to everyone in the chain of command from Bloomberg to the head of DOT and down to the DOT person that I had the most contact with. It was not easy to get the names of the responsible parties at DOT (in your case DET)...I got them through an acquaintance at DOT. In my experience, dealing with the city in these situations requires diligence and if you keep up the pressure, eventually, eventually it will work out. Also, be adamant that you want to keep your original bluestone sidewalk and it is not okay to replace with anything else. Good luck and hang in there.
Posted by: guest at March 20, 2008 5:35 AM
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