Barnum Island residents petition for bulkheading

Claim New York Rising took back promised funds

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Barnum Island homeowners along California Canal say they were denied promised bulkhead funding for their waterfront properties, and have petitioned to New York Rising to begin protecting the street from flooding four years after Hurricane Sandy.

According to New York Rising’s Community Reconstruction Plan published in March 2014, California Place suffered some of the worst flooding in Barnum Island during Sandy, with up to eight feet of water entering homes and businesses. The CRP also listed the area among those that flood regularly during high tide, and stated that hard infrastructure, such as bulkheads, levees and sea walls, would be considered to remedy the problem.

But residents of the street said that there has been no work on the bulkheading along the canal, and that rain and high tides continue to plague the area with flooding, keeping locals from leaving their homes.

“Once it rains and the high tide comes, it’s coming right over the bulkheading where it’s low, or where there isn’t any,” said resident Anna D’Amaro. “Once it comes over, you’re done. You elevated your home, but you can’t leave it unless you have a boat.”

D’Amaro’s neighbor, Theresa McSpedon, was awarded $4,600 to hire an engineer to help prepare the design materials necessary to rebuild her bulkhead, according to documents given to the Herald by D’Amaro. According to an engineer’s report from last year, the existing bulkheading on McSpedon’s property was not serviceable, and proposed work on the structure included enhancing 40 feet of existing bulkhead with an 18-inch height increase.

But in May, New York Rising, a housing recovery program run by the Governor’s Office of Storm Recovery, told McSpedon in a letter that she was not eligible for bulkhead funding after a June 2015 inspection deemed the potential project area — which is across the street — too far from her house.

“The Program will fund bulkhead work for an applicant whose home was damaged in one of the qualified storms and where the repair of damage to the bulkhead supports the investment made in that home,” the letter reads. “Your bulkhead is located on the other side of California Place approximately 63 feet from your home. For this reason, it is the Program’s determination that your bulkhead does not physically protect the Program’s investment in your home and therefore your bulkhead repair is not eligible.”

Though New York Rising halted the plans, it offered to pay for the engineer’s services.

But another California Place resident, Patti Ambrosia, said she also had her home inspected, and never received such a letter. Rather, New York Rising wrote to her in October 2015 saying she had been awarded $77,000 to rebuild her bulkhead, which was destroyed during Sandy.

Ambrosia then went through the necessary process, getting permits from the Town of Hempstead’s Department of Conservation and Waterways, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation. She said she was also required to sign a contract with a contractor, who estimated that the project would cost $58,000.

She submitted the paperwork in August, and said she called New York Rising when she didn’t hear from officials in six weeks. Representatives told her she needed another approval and was not covered.

“I said, ‘How could you say that, when you had one of your own inspectors come to my house?’” Ambrosia told the Herald. “‘If I was not covered for this, that’s the time I should have been told. Not after you send me a paper that states that I’m entitled.’”

The contractor had begun work on her bulkhead before she was informed of this, and to avoid a $7,000 back-out fee, Ambrosia and her husband took out a loan to fund the project, which is almost complete.

Island Park Mayor Michael McGinty said he has been discussing the possibility of building bulkheads in that area with the GOSR, Nassau County and the Town of Hempstead. He added that though the canal is not part of the village, the flooding from that area affects parts of Island Park.

“If you built bulkheading in that canal, you’d be protecting Nassau County property and Long Island Rail Road property,” McGinty said. “We are trying to energize them to see the importance of those canals, and the importance of some sort of municipal lifting.”

Hempstead Town Councilman Anthony D’Esposito told the Herald on Monday that he would contact New York Rising and state representatives to explain how critical bulkheading is in that area.

“I stand with neighbors residing on California Place North and South in their struggles with New York Rising and the program’s failure in providing financial assistance to those repairing/replacing bulkheading,” D’Esposito wrote in an email.

But Ambrosia said the Town of Hempstead and Nassau County are not acting fast enough, and the residents sent the petition and documents to New York Rising this week, as well as to Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s office, U.S. Sen. Charles Schumer, U.S. Rep. Kathleen Rice and State Sen. Todd Kaminsky.

Kaminsky wrote a letter on Monday to Lisa Bova-Hiatt, executive director of the GOSR, requesting a written response detailing why the residents have been denied funding, and offered to show the area to her and speak further about its needs.

“Without repairs to these bulkheads, residents are left to deal with flooding during heavy rains and high tides, and are left unprotected in the event of another natural disaster or storm,” Kaminsky wrote. “This is simply unacceptable. The structural integrity of bulkheading in this canal is paramount to all property owners and of the utmost concern to ensure their safety.”

The Governor’s Office of Storm Recovery had not responded to the Herald’s request for comment at press time on Monday.

Ambrosia seeks not only reimbursement for what she and her husband spent on the bulkheading, but also protection and peace of mind for the dozens of other homeowners when the next storm hits. She added that she would be willing to file a lawsuit against New York Rising if they can’t obtain funding.

“We have to fight for everybody, because it’s not just us,” Ambrosia said. “We got this far, and to get this far and pull out is not acceptable.”