Floods Drench These NYC Neighborhoods Most, Study Shows

NEW YORK — Complaints about flooding have spiked across New York City in an unusually wet year, a recent report shows — but some neighborhoods have it worse than others.

New Yorkers logged 3,141 flooding complaints from October 2017 through this September, 53 percent more than the same period four years earlier, according to a Localize.city analysis published Monday.

The gripes were most densely concentrated in Manhattan's Marble Hill neighborhood, where residents logged 143 complaints per square mile, the data analysis website says. Two other areas in Manhattan, three in Staten Island and two each in Brooklyn and Queens rounded out the top 10.

But southeast Queens and Staten Island were home to the city's worst hotspots for flooding, according to the report. Two addresses on 259th Street near 147th Avenue in Rosedale, Queens recorded 21 complaints, while 17 came from Doty Avenue in Arrochar, Staten Island.

Brooklynites complained most about flooding in Coney Island (33.7 complaints per square mile), Borough Park (30.4), Gowanus (23.6) and Flatbush (22.5), the report shows.

The large overall number of complaints came amid unusually high rainfall, with 2018 already among the city's 10 wettest years, the report says. Heavy showers can cause sewers to back up, and streets are flooded when runoff is unable to be absorbed, says Localize.city urban planner Olivia Jovine.

"New York City can expect an uptick in storm events that strain the city’s infrastructure; and with rising sea levels, storm impacts will be exacerbated over the long term," Jovine told the site.

Below are the top 20 neighborhoods for flooding complaints, according to Localize.city. Read the full report here.

1. Marble Hill, Manhattan: 143 complaints per square mile
2. Midland Beach, Staten Island: 56.1 complaints per square mile
3. Stapleton, Staten Island: 44.3 complaints per square mile
4. Arrochar, Staten Island: 43 complaints per square mile
5. Midtown South, Manhattan: 40.3 complaints per square mile
6. Chelsea, Manhattan: 38.2 complaints per square mile
7. Rosedale, Queens: 34.4 complaints per square mile
8. Coney Island, Brooklyn: 33.7 complaints per square mile
9. Far Rockaway, Queens: 33.6 complaints per square mile
10. Borough Park, Brooklyn: 30.4 complaints per square mile
11. Eltingville, Staten Island: 28.4 complaints per square mile
12. Upper West Side, Manhattan: 27.4 complaints per square mile
13. Oakwood Heights, Staten Island: 24.8 complaints per square mile
14. Gowanus, Brooklyn: 23.6 complaints per square mile
15. Laurelton, Queens: 23.1 complaints per square mile
16. New Springville, Staten Island: 22.8 complaints per square mile
17. Flatbush, Brooklyn: 22.5 complaints per square mile
18. St. Albans, Queens: 22.3 complaints per square mile
19. Dongan Hills, Staten Island: 21.3 complaints per square mile
20. Pelham Gardens, Bronx: 21.2 complaints per square mile

(Lead image: People walk with umbrellas in Brooklyn during a large storm in March 2018. Photo by Stephanie Keith/Getty Images)