Storm Floods See 157 Percent Surge In UWS Damage Complaints

UPPER WEST SIDE, NY — After remnants of Hurricane Ida pounded the city last week, officials asked New Yorkers to call 311 to report damage to their homes or streets.

On the Upper West Side, residents appear to have heeded that call. From the evening of Wednesday, Sept. 1, when the storm came crashing in, through Monday, UWS residents filed 88 complaints to 311 about flooding, water damage, fallen trees, and utility outages, city records show.

That's a 157 percent increase from the number of similar complaints recorded during the six days directly before Sept. 1, when only 35 complaints were made by Upper West Siders.

Finding hotspots from the complaints helps show which parts of the Upper West Side were hit the hardest from the record rainfall and subsequent flooding.

The most common damage relate complaint from UWS residents to 311 was water leaks. Nearly 30 community members reported some issue with water leaking into their apartment or building from Sept. 1 to Sept. 6.

Here are those addresses that reported issues with flooding and leaks during the storm, some addresses have multiple complaints filed:

• 153 Amsterdam Avenue
• 592 Amsterdam Avenue
• 253 West 93rd Street
• 471 Central Park West
• 12 West 85th Street
• 27 West 96th Street
• 206 West 80th Street
• 854 West End Avenue
• 60 West 85th Street
• 319 West 80th Street
• 206 West 80th Street
• 255 West 75th Street
• 61 West 85th Street
• 123 West 81st Street
• 294 West 92nd Street
• 104 West 83rd Street
• 114 West 71st Street
• 67 West 85th Street
• 114 West 73rd Street
• 107 West 69th Street
• 107 West 82nd Street
• 107 West 82nd Street
• 123 West 81st Street
• 67 West 85th Street
• 13 West 100th Street
• 310 West 82nd Street
• 515 Cathedral Parkway

There's a clear hotspot in the calls, with a section of blocks from 80th to 85th Street, generally near Amsterdam and Columbus, reporting by far the most water floods and leaks on the Upper West Side during the storm.

Other complaints that appeared multiple times were damaged and completely fallen trees near Riverside Park, sewer backup, the loss of hot water, and lighting going out.

As a whole, the Upper West Side appeared to suffer less severe damage than other parts of the city, like the neighborhoods in Queens in Brooklyn that saw a majority of the 13 deaths that occurred within the five boroughs.

The Upper West Side was far from unscathed, though, reports of a sinkhole, downed trees, a record amount of rain in Central Park, and major damage to multiple playgrounds in Riverside Park all followed the storm last week.

IDA UPDATE: Hippo Playground (91st Street), Dinosaur Playground (97th Street) & Riverbank Playground (145th Street) are closed

Greenway is blocked @ 148th & 181st

Many trees & limbs fell - NYC Forestry Team is starting to address now. Please use caution if you visit the park! pic.twitter.com/3btepJ2b9s
— Riverside Park Conservancy (@RiversideParkNY) September 2, 2021

Read More: Central Park Again Records Wettest Hour In NYC History

Patch reporter Nick Garber contributed to this report.