Rye Brook residents: Action needed to solve flooding problem, not finger-pointing

Residents believe the extreme flooding is being caused by business parks that line the other side of the Blind Brook creek.

News 12 Staff

Oct 16, 2021, 2:30 PM

Updated 1,186 days ago

Share:

Sixteen families who live on Brook Lane in Rye Brook are facing hundreds of thousands of dollars in damages caused by the remnants of Hurricane Ida – and they feel no one cares.
"I haven't heard anything from our elected officials I haven’t heard from the mayor I haven’t heard from [Westchester County Executive] George Latimer. I mean it’s ridiculous," said Lisa Ademaj.
Residents believe the extreme flooding is being caused by business parks that line the other side of the Blind Brook creek.
"They have not addressed the drainage issue properly and when it rains everything goes into the brook which is behind our house," says Ademaj.
The brook lies in several jurisdictions. Residents say no one is taking responsibility to mitigate future flooding, but instead “pointing fingers.”
Rye Brook officials say one solution was identified during a 2014 engineering study. It proposes creating two retention ponds on the SUNY Purchase property upstream – a $500,000 project back then.
Residents say the issue has been debated for years and now is the time for action.
Purchase College President Milagros Peña said in a statement, “We are committed to working with the community to help mitigate flooding, which is an increasingly serious problem for our area. We welcome the opportunity to engage in a community-wide discussion."