When torrential rain hit Brooklyn this fall, the basement-level art studio Private Picassos on Grand Avenue in Clinton Hill became an unintentional test of the city’s crumbling storm infrastructure. Within 10 minutes, a wall of water shattered its double glass doors, flooded the 2,000-square-foot studio, and left owner Valeen Bhat standing in knee-deep water, watching her nearly 20-year-old business go under — literally.
“I knew that my child was safe, but this is my other child,” Bhat told Brooklyn Paper. “The water came so fast that we couldn’t stop it. The glass doorframe broke from the pressure.”
Bhat, who moved Private Picassos from Park Slope to Clinton Hill in 2024, had already seen signs of trouble. During a smaller storm in June, minor flooding seeped up through the drains. She spent thousands of dollars out of pocket to repair previous damage, add sump pumps and install sandbags. But when the flash flood struck on Oct. 30, even those precautions couldn’t keep the torrent out.
By the time the fire department arrived to cut power and rescue the children inside, her studio had sustained thousands of dollars in damage — ruined materials, warped floors, destroyed doors and weeks of forced closure during the business’s busiest season.
“It’s absurd,” she said. “Running a small business in New York is already hard enough. Now I have to think about what furniture will survive the next flood.”
A street, and a system, underwater
Grand Avenue, where Bhat’s studio sits, has become a microcosm of a larger Brooklyn crisis. Residents describe clogged storm drains, overwhelmed sewers and floodwaters with nowhere to go. Bhat said neighbors often head out with rakes during storms to clear debris, but even that no longer helps.
“At 2 p.m., before the rain even got bad — I checked the drains,” she said. “They were already overflowing. The water had nowhere to go.”
The street’s topography exacerbates the situation. The intersection of Green and Grand avenues forms a low point that collects runoff from surrounding blocks. Homeowners and businesses alike report repeated flooding, sometimes reaching several feet high.
“There’s a woman down the street from me who’s had 10 feet of water in her apartment three times,” Bhat said. “At least for me, it’s my business, not my home. We were lucky we could still go home to a dry bed.”
The ‘City Sponge’ approach
For Brooklyn resident Nick Nyhan, flooding has become both a personal challenge and a citywide mission. After dealing with repeated basement floods in his own home, he launched The City Sponge, a newsletter and resource hub aimed at helping New Yorkers understand and mitigate flood risks.
“The question I was trying to answer was simple: ‘What do I do?’ But that turned into a hundred other questions — about sewers, insurance, pumps, legal rights and where the water even goes,” Nyhan told Brooklyn Paper.
“Small businesses can apply for mitigation grants through the Department of Small Business Services,” Nyhan said. “But they’re only about $5,000 and limited to businesses in officially designated flood zones. The maps are outdated, and many businesses that flood all the time don’t even qualify.”
That disconnect between what’s on paper and what’s happening on the ground frustrates many Brooklyn residents, Nyhan said.
“The city needs to reexamine flood zones based on what’s really happening,” he added. “Not just what’s on old maps.”
Rallying on and rebuilding
Despite the trauma and losses that accompany flooding, Bhat refuses to give up on Private Picassos.
“We’ve had people drop off dinner, coffee and wine just to show support,” she said. “Other businesses have offered us free space for classes and parties. The community has been phenomenal.”
She’s now focused on three goals: reopening safely, installing her own flood-mitigation measures, and organizing a community meeting to push the city for action.
“I know there will be another storm,” she said. “I just want to be ready for it.”
For now, that means continuing repairs, staying vocal, and hoping that Brooklyn’s growing flood crisis doesn’t wash away the small businesses that keep its neighborhoods alive.
City officials say they are aware of the growing threat. Council Member Crystal Hudson, who represents Clinton Hill and Fort Greene, acknowledged the crisis and said her office is pushing for long-term infrastructure solutions.
“Our office is aware of the infrastructure issues that have led to flooding and property damage in Clinton Hill,” Hudson said in a statement to Brooklyn Paper. “After the most recent flooding event, our office connected with constituents and a local business to explore relief and potential long-term infrastructure upgrades for the community. As climate change exacerbates extreme weather, our city must coordinate efforts and bolster planning to not only protect those most vulnerable to flooding but also to advance long-term infrastructure solutions. I will continue working with my colleagues in the Council, as well as the next mayoral administration, to bring New York City’s infrastructure into the 21st century.”
Bhat said the support of neighbors and the community has made a difference, but the challenge remains.
“It’s been magical to build something here,” she said. “I’m not giving up. But we can’t keep doing this alone.”
To support Private Picassos’ recovery, visit their GoFundMe page. For resources on flood mitigation and preparedness citywide, visit thecitysponge.com.
