The years 2022 and 2023 saw record flooding in the City of Yonkers.
Yonkers, like every city in the USA, faces financial hardships and the need for more revenues to pay for its ongoing operations. But, how do our elected officials approach and handle this issue? Especially since the cost of making the improvements is in the billions of dollars; far beyond the ability of the taxpayers in a city where the average income of its residents in the 2020 census is approximately 75-thousand-dollars a year?
Let us look at the issue of our sewers
Yonkers has several sewer districts because we have hills in the city that in some places rise to 300 feet above sea level and then down to the level of the Hudson River. Many of these areas flood during strong storms. We have had areas of Warburton Avenue even wash down onto the Metro North train tracks because of extremely heavy storm runoff and our systems overloading.
For the most part, we have combined storm and sanitary systems. So in severe rain, we have sewage flowing out of toilets in homes at lower elevations. This is because the existing system is not adequate to remove all the stormwater and sewage produced. In some areas such as Ludlow Street, we have separate stormwater treatment and then it flows into the Hudson River. But, this is not what happens in most of Yonkers. But all across the city we have homes that become unlivable and schools that are closed because of these conditions.
As of 2022, the Mayor’s administration in coordination with developers, have plans to add over 5,600 apartments on the west side of Yonkers. Many of these new developments will rise above our current ordinances–even up to 300 feet tall. These developments thus create even more pressure on the existing sewer and water systems throughout the entire city. And while discussions on stormwater runoff are a part of each building project, Westchester County often warns Yonkers that they are near capacity.
It’s not too late to act
The Planning Department of the City of Yonkers should be taking into consideration the impact of these new developments on our infrastructure and how it impacts the residents of the city today and in the future. Development is important to the future of our city, but any development must take into consideration the present and future impact on our infrastructure.
Right now, it is very difficult to find any plans by the City to do anything about this growing threat. That is, apart from asking the State or Federal government for aid. Yet, we proceed ahead with development that will further overload our existing infrastructure.
It’s as if we are building demand on our infrastructure that will be catastrophic in the future. And when this happens, who will take responsibility? Will the cost of these pending floods cause such severe problems that it makes life unmanageable in the lower lying area of Yonkers?
We ask these questions now so that they can be on record. We can then go back to today’s politicians and hold them responsible for the inaction they take today.
