Tuesday’s Headlines: Wet Wet Wet Edition
Here’s the hard truth: As long as we keep having unpredictable rain storms like the one we had on Monday evening, we’ll keep discovering gaps in our infrastructure’s ability to handle them.
Simply put, if the water doesn’t have anywhere to go, it’ll stay where it is — be that a street, a highway, a subway station or a basement. And that’s exactly what happened last night on several highways as well as the 1, 2 and 3 train lines in Manhattan.
Roads and highways also experienced dangerous flooding, including the Cross Island Parkway, the Jersey Turnpike and the Major Deegan and Cross-Bronx expressways. City officials had to close down segments of the latter two Bronx highways, while the MTA suspended 1/2/3 service in Manhattan around 9 p.m.
The night featured the second wettest single hour in New York City’s recorded history, according Fox Weather meteorologist Greg Diamond — 2.07 inches of rain fell on Central Park between 7 p.m. and 8 p.m., second only to Hurricane Ida’s three inches in a single hour back in 2021.
Several people tragically died in basement apartment floods during the rain from Hurricane Ida. As of 11 p.m. on Monday, no deaths had been reported from Monday’s downpour, though the rain had only slightly let up.
Dan Zarrilli, a former city climate official, warned in a post on X that New York must update its infrastructure to meet the new climate reality of heavy and dangerous rain storms.
“A warmer atmosphere holds more moisture,” Zarrilli wrote. “We better get ready for more of these intense rainfall and cloudburst events. Our infrastructure was designed for a different world.”
Editor’s note: A previous version of this story referred to Dan Zarrilli as a former MTA board member. Mayor Bill de Blasio nominated Zarrilli for the board in 2019, but he was not seated.
In other news:
- “I’m telling you this kid would not harm anybody.” Family and friends of the 15-year-old cyclist killed fleeing NYPD over the weekend want answers about what transpired before the boy’s death. (Daily News)
- No surprise: Randy Mastro is behind the mayor’s recent skittishness on 34th Street (Gothamist)
- The City Council voted to expand the city’s delivery app minimum wage, but Mayor Adams won’t say whether he’ll sign it. (Gothamist)
- Andrew Cuomo remains as desperate as ever for the public’s approval and adoration. (Gothamist)
- EDC wants to run a ferry route between the Bronx and the Rockaways. (Gothamist, Daily News)
- Two women were arrested for assaulting a third woman in a violent dispute over a parking spot in Ridgewood. (Fox 5 NY, NY Post)
- Subway ridership continues its steady crawl back to pre-pandemic numbers. (Daily News, amNY)
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