Council Member Wong asks about infrastructure and flooding in his district

Thank you, Chair.

Good afternoon.

Good afternoon, yes.

I live in my district for 50 years.

I moved there in 1976, and I learned two things.

One, the power cable in front of my house hasn't been changed.

It's the same cable every morning I looked outside.

So that's one.

And those lines that's been suspended, they're not buried.

And to this day, most of my district, which covers two community boards at your fast track plan, covers this community board four and five.

Right.

So the issue is that.

We're dealing with the same power lines, and worse, we're dealing with the same sewer grid that's been put there for close to 100 years.

So with that, and that there are flood zones in my district, and that the Juniper Valley Park area is low land, is low ground.

What we used to see is that there's flooding every once every three or four years.

Now is that we see flooding every single time it rains.

And that's serious because, one, the rainwater is nowhere to go, and two, it causes sewer backflows.

And sewer backflows is serious because I see raw sewage literally floating.

on the streets and it and when the water recedes you smell it for the next couple of days those are serious issues

12 years ago i got scott stringer he was comptroller back back then to come look at this and he says oh yes we got to build more uh basins we gotta we gotta upgrade the sewer lines uh and then

We got community boards involved.

Con Ed came, oh yes, the power lines needs to be upgraded.

Nobody mentioned the two words fast tracking.

Oh, we're going to fast track the sewer line upgrades.

Oh, we're going to fast track the power lines.

All of a sudden, boom, we have fast track building.

Built, built, and built.

Where are you going to find the electricity and where are you going to find the sewer lines that really should be there?

So I even spoke to the mayor, you know, upgrade the infrastructure, then come to tell me about building.

Because we are dealing with these two issues.

Right now with one, two family homes, and they've been there 50, 60, 70 years, okay, that we can't even handle those power requirements or those sewer problems.

Every time there's a windy day, my district lose power because of those power lines that's flapping, flapping in the breeze.

Boom, we lose power.

It's the truth.

It's the truth, okay?

And those are, all right, so here's my question, okay?

So I hear all the time from my constituents, even when I

work for Robert Holden, right, constituents call that water and electric infrastructures in the area is straining to support the housing that exists today.

How will DCP ensure that our local water and electric grids can handle the influx of 10-story buildings?

Shouldn't we be improving infrastructure before allowing new development?

Please answer that.

Thank you for your question, and thank you for bringing those issues to you.

I'm sorry that your district is experiencing that and certainly want to make sure that we have a better handle on what's happening there.

As I noted throughout this hearing, we want to make sure that as we're considering housing opportunities and communities, we're also looking at the environmental impact needed capital infrastructure.

I would just also note that we're planning for a growth of housing, but we are way behind in terms of the housing we need for the growth in population that we've already seen.

The city has grown.

People are here.

They're living in homeless shelters.

They are underhoused.

They are doubled up in apartments.

What we also need to do is ensure that we're building the housing that people need today while we're also planning for the housing that people need in the future, including folks who may be in your district but not in the housing that they need.

And so through the fast track, we have an opportunity to be able to accelerate the production of affordable housing in your district while also still ensuring public review, community board review, an assessment of your physical and capital infrastructure.

And we certainly will be attentive to those needs as we start to plan forward.

And I would just note that we are also looking at opportunities, again, relative to your communities.

We don't have an expectation that the South Shore of Staten Island looks like Midtown Manhattan, right?

We want to make sure that growth makes sense in that community and that the community is able to accommodate it.

Yeah, growth makes sense when the infrastructure could accommodate it.

Without talking the infrastructure and you just keep telling people to come in and build, you're putting the carriage in front of the horse.

And that's the message I want to relay today.

Thank you.

Thank you, Chair.

Thank you.

Councilmember Brewer.