Exactly one year ago the passage of tropical cyclone ‘Ida’ wreaked havoc in New York City. This meteorological phenomenon that caused the death of 10 New Yorkers who drowned in basements, also recalls in a very dramatic way, the fragility of the Big Apple and the risk they continue to run at least 100 thousand families in the five boroughs living in makeshift underground apartments, in neighborhoods of immigrants of color and undocumented.
On the other side of this tragedy, we must also remember that even more than 100 People who lost their homes in Queens and Brooklyn are living in hotels.
On the first anniversary of this fatality, as reinforced by a report presented this Tuesday by the Comptroller of the City of New York, Brad Lander, “no concrete steps have been taken in any initiative to clear the way to provide minimum protections to those who live in these underground apartments”,
Therefore, amid the reminder of some of the most recent tragedies that once again lifted the veil on the drama of the affordable housing shortage in New York City, Lander is promoting the Basement Residents Protection Act that recognizes all these units as “existing and with a basic legal status”.
It is just a step that must be accompanied by broader state legislation that allows the absolute legalization of these residential units.
In principle, the rule supported by Lander would help owners register basements, also known as ‘basement’. And it would allow occupants to have certain rights and basic fire and flood safety systems.
“We must act now to extend the basic rights and responsibilities of basement residents. As well as requiring and helping homeowners make life-saving improvements, such as smoke detectors and non-return valves, while we continue to work on the road to legalization”, said the Comptroller.
The floods caused by ‘Ida’ generated 11 $1 billion in losses in New York State. Neighborhoods in Queens and Brooklyn were hit the hardest. (File Photo: F. Martínez)Minimum: smoke detectors
Currently there is no record of makeshift housing units in basements, since most of them are illegal. Especially in neighborhoods in Queens and Brooklyn.
Furthermore, basement dwellers cannot insist on even minimal protections or improvements, for example the provision of a smoke detector, because they are not formal tenants. And they currently lack lease rights.
The owners, many of whom are also low-income people of color, generally do not have the financial resources to meet the burden to legalize these units.
In In summary, the Comptroller’s proposal to demand the basic rights of tenants and safeguards in these underground units is an important step that state legislators can move towards permanent legalization.
A Growing Risk
New Comptroller Report Includes Geographic Analysis to Better Understand the Potential Scope of Flood Risks Facing One-, Two-, and Three-Story Homes families with basements in New York City.
Research indicates that about 10% of all basements in the Big Apple, whether occupied or not , currently face some type of risk that the water level will rise dangerously.
The report also includes projections: For the year 2050, as storms intensify, one-third of basements will be at increased risk of coastal flooding and extreme rainfall events. Due to data limitations, the analysis does not project how many of those units are currently occupied. But it does show the growing risk that storms like ‘Ida’ pose to the residents of these makeshift spaces.
“As we continue to organize a citywide basement conversion program, we need to quickly increase security in these units, which are the homes of some of our most vulnerable neighbors,” said Annetta Seecharran, executive director of Chhaya, an organization that is part of a coalition advocating for basement legalization in recent 15 years.
Although the heavy rains caused by ‘Ida’ were unprecedented, and tested a system of sewer that was built when these climatic phenomena were not even appearing, experts argue that this tropical storm will not be the last to put lives and homes located in underground residential units at risk.
One year after the passage of this cyclone “there has been little significant action to address this limbo facing basement units, as legislation to provide a path towards its legalization, stalled in the last legislative session in Albany”, concludes the Comptroller’s report.
For his part, Assemblyman Harvey Epstein, who represents parts of Lower Manhattan and Brooklyn, has proposed to eliminate the technical barriers to open the doors to the legalization of these spaces through a state law.
The first wall that must be torn down is to repeal the state ban on converting basements into apartments.
In this way, the City would gain the discretion to bring existing illegal underground units into compliance with state safety standards, without having to comply with state multi-dwelling law limits, which historically inhibited the formalization of these units.
“We are listening to the City and the Comptroller. We can avoid more tragedies if we change these codes”, said Eptein.
100 families they still live in hotels
Almost a year after ‘Ida’ displaced them from their homes, 100 families in New York City are still living in hotels and struggling to get more permanent housing.
According to a statement from the city’s Department of Housing Preservation and Development (HPD) shared with local media, the displaced families are spread over three hotels, the Radisson in the south of Jamaica and two in the center of Brooklyn, and have been forced to deal with the difficult real estate market, marked by the lack of affordable housing and an astronomical rise in rent prices.
After the storm hit, the City provided habit hotel reservations for 113 families. Since then, the other 150 families have been able to obtain alternative housing, either temporary or permanent.
Like thousands of anecdotes and tragedies that surrounded these torrential rains, the Ecuadorian Mario González who lives in the basement of a house in Flushing, Queens, remembers that the ‘basement’ where he has lived for 12 years was partially flooded.
“We lost very little, because we have very little. In these cases, since one does not have papers, one prefers not to make major claims, because it is possible that you stay on the street”, he told El Diario.
The City does not indemnify
It was possible to know that 4,700 New York families affected by the floods of last September 1, presented claims to the City of New York to try to obtain financial compensation, to help them fully repair their damaged homes. All cases were denied.
The storm dumped more than three inches of rain in a single hour, collapsing sewer systems, which were built to handle rainfall of less than two inches per hour.
The central axis of this sequence of claims is that the negligence of the city in the maintenance of the drainage systems caused the floods.
The Comptroller’s Office denied claims under a precedent established at the turn of the century that ruled that municipal governments are not responsible for damage caused by “extraordinary and excessive rainfall.”
However, several thousand families had some funds. The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) approved nearly $223 millions in support for more 88,000 people statewide, and more 36,000 people in New York City received about $158 millions. The average payment was $2,500.
For undocumented immigrants, the state and the City created an Ida aid fund of $27 million separately, which offered a maximum of $80,08 per eligible household.
Other relief and funds on the way
- This week Governor Kathy Hochul announced the implementation of the Action Plan proposed by the Office of Storm Recovery (GOSR), which includes $41.2 million in federal funds to support initiatives that will help residents adapt to the effects of climate change. Priority will be given to historically underserved communities.
- Among the proposed programs is ‘Resilient Housing Renters,’ which would encourage renters to move out of homes damaged by the storm, by providing financial support for them to obtain safe and stable new homes.
The Data:
5,000 undocumented immigrants were affected by the floods last September caused by storm Ida, mainly residents of basements illegally converted into homes in Queens.