By the TimesLedger staff
If the weeks upon weeks of gloom, wet shoes, soggy umbrellas and rainouts of everything from Mets games to street fairs seemed like an all-time record for downpours, you weren't dreaming. It was.
The nearly incessant rain amounted to more than inconveniences and weather ennui for Queens' 2.2 million residents. It also took its toll on borough businesses and, in some instances, disrupted transit.
“We've already broken a 100-year-old record for the wettest June,” said Meteorologist Scott Reynolds of the New York City office of the National Weather Service.
Reynolds said New York City got what was then a record 9.78 inches of rain for the month of June 1903.
“New York City eclipsed the old record last Saturday, June 21, when the June rainfall registered 10.22 inches,” Reynolds said. “And we still have some days left in the month,” although he said forecasters see no threat of major rain over the next week.
Reynolds said the deluge was the result of what he called a “heavy upper level system” that seemed to park itself over much of the northeastern United States.
Sporting events from the Little Leagues to the major leagues were called off, including Game 2 of the Subway Series at Shea Stadium between the Mets and the Yankees. It was called off after 3 1/2 innings last weekend and has been rescheduled this weekend as a day/night double-header.
Merchants and those who planned outdoor activities like the uncounted outdoor rummage sales throughout Queens and the weekly flea market at Aqueduct Race Track complained of washouts.
“A lot of these fairs have clothing and other things that could get ruined,” said Barbara Boyle, housing adviser with Central Astoria Local Development Corporation. Its fair has been rescheduled for June 29.
Another was the Holy Cross Greek Orthodox Church annual festival to which crowds came on Friday and Sunday. Heavy rains last Thursday and Saturday ruined it.
“I keep saying 'we had a drought last year, don't forget, '” said Marilyn Bitterman, district manager of Community Board 7, which includes Whitestone, Flushing and College Point.
Restaurants and other businesses whose fortunes are tied to the weather also suffered.
” Ken Schmidt, day manager for C.J. Sullivan's restaurant in Bayside, which has a large outdoor patio, said “the rain made it terrible.Our business was probably cut in half or worse.”
Robert Moravek of the Douglaston Club, a recreation complex, said business was “way off.”
“If our patrons are not at the pool, they're not staying for dinner,” Moravek said.
Ronald Keil, owner of Keil Brothers Nursery in Bayside, said “we haven't been closed, but it certainly has affected sales.” He said some of their plants have been adversely affected by diseases caused by too much moisture.
The manager of Woodside Garden Center, who identified himself only as Anthony, said “nobody comes out on rainy days.”
Even Queens clothes horses were discouraged by the rain.
Muhanad Assaf, manager of Rainbow clothing store at Merrick Boulevard and Jamaica Avenue, said “people don't want to come in the rain.”
Glory Rush, manager of the Ashley Stewart clothing store next door, agreed.
“The rain did kill our business, frankly,” she said. “Now that the sun is out and everybody's happy, they're coming out.”
Nadine Woloshin, a spokeswoman for New York Waterway, said the new ferry service to Jacob Riis Park from Manhattan was canceled Saturday and Sunday because of the heavy rain.
Cristina Capurro, a spokeswoman for the state Department of Transportation, said the persistent rains had delayed repaving of the Long Island Expressway between the Cross Island Parkway and the city line.
It appeared that the weather may have even kept criminals off the streets. The Breaking News Network, a system that notifies media about police activity, was curiously silent much of the soggy weekend. It finally perked up Sunday afternoon when the sun came for an hour but as more rain returned, it was quiet once more.
