Gaping Hole on Grand Avenue
This large hole in the asphalt appeared outside our house a couple of weeks ago. We called it into 311. DOT inspected and passed the buck to DEP. It’s at least a foot in diameter and opens into a two-foot deep cavernous space that extends several feet in all directions under the street. Seems like…
This large hole in the asphalt appeared outside our house a couple of weeks ago. We called it into 311. DOT inspected and passed the buck to DEP. It’s at least a foot in diameter and opens into a two-foot deep cavernous space that extends several feet in all directions under the street. Seems like an accident or major cave-in waiting to happen. Any guesses on how long it’ll take DEP to deal? According to the complaint response, DOT won’t reinspect for two months. That’s an awfully long time for something this risky to go unfixed. Let’s hope they get on it soon!
We had a similar problem on Bergen Street between Hoyt and Bond two years ago. Several calls to DEP via 311 over two weeks, and the hole got bigger and deeper until it was an absolute hazard to pedestrians and cyclists. I got so fed up I called the fire department, who will act on issues of safety if a compelling case is made. They arrived that afternoon and said they’d contact the DEP directly. The hole was fixed the next week.
Tunnels, other than the subway, I meant.
Suggestion: Take a photo of this sinkhole with a little child sitting on that curb beside it. That is if the child would be safe sitting there. It would show how serious and dangerous this is. Then email this photo to the DEP and whomever else, hoping for a more urgent response from someone.
This sounds like an awful predicament.
(Does Brooklyn have underground tunnels like some other cities?)
Mr. Brownstoner: Two points.
1. The implication is that DOT “passed the buck”. They in fact did not. If it is a sewer line issue, then any patch they put there gets eaten away again as soon as it rains. That’s why DEP must inpsect it.
2. DEP will start from inside the owners home. It would be prudent for the homeowner to follow up with DEP ASAP and get an appointment set for that. DEP won’t just knock on your door hoping someone’s home. The homeowner has a part in this process.
If you think it’s bad now and it does turn out to be a sewer line crack, it will get larger with every heavy rain.
Wow, the mouth of hell!
I see there is a patch in the road just to the side of the hole. Do you know what work was done and when? Maybe they did something that is causing erosion under the street.
I have had the pleasure of replacing an old terracotta sewer main. Not fun, and not cheap.
Regardless of the cause or even financial responsibility, the main issue here is that time is of the essence, as it is an accident waiting to happen.
“documented here”, sorry I must have missed that.
It will most likely still be the course of action taken by DEP. I dealt with this same issue twice. Once was not a sewer issue, but before DOT took action, DEP scheduled a camera inspection to prove it wasn’t. Only after they signed off did DOT then come by to fil te hole and patch the street. Second time was another location. Turned out to be an old clay sewer pipe running out from the house that broke just past the curb. 20K to fix and permits to open up the street all the way up to the double yellow lines. So, the entire lenghth out to the main sewer was replaced a few year ago and you are sure it was done properly?
He replaced his sewer line just a few years ago, documented here, so I doubt that’s the problem.