The city has completed a $24 million infrastructure project in southeast Queens a year ahead of schedule.
The Department of Design and Construction installed two miles of new sewer and water mains in South Jamaica and St. Albans. The Department of Environmental Protection funded the project that improves street conditions alleviates flooding and upgrades much-needed infrastructure in the two communities.
“After years of government neglecting the neighborhoods and residents of southeast Queens, our administration is writing a new chapter with critical resiliency projects like this one,” Mayor Eric Adams said in a statement. “Every New Yorker deserves the peace of mind that their streets and homes won’t flood when it rains, and we are making the investments necessary to make that a reality.”
Speaker Adrienne Adams said the upgraded infrastructure is critical to improving the quality of life for residents of southeast Queens.
“Neighborhoods like South Jamaica and St. Albans, and other communities throughout southeast Queens have long suffered from flooding and poor drainage, underscoring the need for overdue investments,” Adams said. “This $24 million project, completed ahead of schedule, will make a substantial difference for our neighbors in southeast Queens.”
Work began on nine individual blocks in the two neighborhoods in 2020. To alleviate flooding, 3.19 feet of storm sewers were added and another 230 feet of existing storm sewers were replaced.
“All city residents, no matter where they live, deserve to be served by high-quality infrastructure and to be protected from the life-threatening and property-damaging impacts of flooding,” Queens Borough President Donovan Richards said. “This project goes a long way toward achieving that goal.”
Generations of southeast Queens residents have been plagued by flooding issues.
“Adding to the resilience of our neighborhoods is a critical priority as once-in-a-hundred-years storms become once-in-a-decade storms,” state Senator Leroy Comrie said. “I welcome this DEP and DDC announcement that upgrades to our water infrastructure mean both South Jamaica and St. Albans are better equipped to cope with flooding and the impacts of extreme weather.”
State Senator James Sanders said the timing of the completion of the project couldn’t come at a better moment.
“The early completion of this project has come right on time since we are now in hurricane season,” Sanders said. “As flooding is one of our major issues, we must continue this kind of forward progress in places like South Jamaica and St. Albans and other communities in southeast Queens to keep us safe.”
Assemblywoman Alicia Hyndman and Councilwoman Nantasha Williams also lauded the DEP and DDC for completing the project a year ahead of schedule as part of a much larger $2.5 billion investment by the city to build a comprehensive drainage system, improve street conditions and alleviate flooding in neighborhoods across southeast Queens.
“We continue to make excellent progress in the $2.5 billion Southeast Queens Initiative, the largest of its kind in the city,” DDC Commissioner Thomas Foley said. “And we look forward to completing this program of more than 40 individual projects for the half a million people who live in these historically underserved areas.”
