Meng, Schulman and Chief Climate Officer-Dep Commissioner Visit Flooding Sites in Forest Hills

Statement

U.S. Rep. Grace Meng (D-Queens) and Councilwoman Lynn Schulman (D-Queens) recently joined New York City's Chief Climate Officer and Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) Commissioner Rohit Aggarwala in Forest Hills to visit areas impacted by recent flooding after the lawmakers requested that he and his agency help combat the problem in Queens.

Last year, the borough was devastated by the remnants of Hurricane Ida which caused unprecedented flooding and damage, and local residents endured more floods last month when heavy rainfall hit New York.

During the visit, Meng, Schulman and Aggarwala discussed the problem of flooding in the area. They also discussed potential strategies and solutions including the two legislators calling for the city to look into implementing a voluntary buyout program for homes that are at risk of severe flooding during storms, a request Meng made last month to Mayor Adams which was echoed by Schulman.

They also toured and surveyed hard hit and vulnerable locations including the Fairview apartment building at 61-20 Grand Central Parkway, Kessel Street and Selfridge Street and several parts of Yellowstone Boulevard.

"The lives of so many constituents were turned upside down by the unprecedented flooding and extensive damage from Ida with several Queens residents losing their lives in the storm," said Meng and Schulman. "Many local homeowners also sustained damage during recent flooding that impacted our borough. Combatting this problem must be a top priority for our city. The threat of future floods will continue, which is why we are again calling for immediate action. We thank Commissioner Aggarwala for meeting and surveying susceptible spots with us, and look forward to working with him to address this urgent issue."

See attached photo from the visit which took place approximately a week ago.

Meng also joined Councilwoman Sandra Ung (D-Queens) and DEP officials Thursday night in Flushing for a town hall meeting about the problem where she renewed her call for the city and state to use money from the federal infrastructure bill -- signed into law late last year -- to upgrade sewers and catch basins in Queens. In addition, Meng highlighted the importance of her House-passed legislation that would authorize the Army Corps of Engineers to spend up to nearly $120 million to work with the City of New York in upgrading environmental infrastructure in the borough.

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