He won’t curb his enthusiasm.
A Mill Basin man is demanding the city pay to fix a dangerous curb and sidewalk it broke, rather than making him foot the bill. Homeowners are responsible for repairing sidewalks in front of their houses, but the senior citizen says the city should have to pay, because it did the damage.
“Why the hell should I shovel out a couple hundred dollars? I didn’t create the problem — why should I get stuck with it? I could understand if it was my problem, I’d take care of it. But I didn’t cause it,” said 83-year-old Michael Brongo of E. 64th Street.
Department of Transportation laborers tore up the road between Strickland Avenue and Mayfair Drive North on June 20 to prep it for a fresh coat of asphalt, which it laid down a few weeks later, a department spokeswoman said. But in the process, workers nicked the sidewalk and curb near Brongo’s driveway with heavy machinery, lifting up a slab of concrete and creating a tripping hazard for anyone who walks by.
Repairing a broken sidewalks is usually a homeowner’s responsibility, but because it wasn’t his fault, Brongo complained to 311 hoping the city would come fix it — but no one ever got back to him, he said.
“I put in a 311 complaint, and they said somebody would get back to me in 14 days, which they never did. And two, three weeks after, they came around to repave and I asked two of the men to send a supervisor. I’m handicapped, I can’t walk, I waited for somebody to come by, but nobody ever showed up,” said Brongo.
Brongo must still pay for the repairs up front and then submit a receipt to Comptroller Scott Stringer, who will then determine whether or not the city will reimburse him, a Stringer spokesman said.
But Councilman Alan Maisel (D–Mill Basin) wants the city to pay for it outright so Brongo doesn’t have to shell out anything — though that doesn’t seem likely, he said.
“We are bringing it to the attention of the city, they are not acknowledging that they have not done anything. We’re trying to help him — we’ve asked the city to fix it,” said Maisel. “But just because I ask them to do something doesn’t mean they will.”
The city is aware of the damage and made temporary repairs to the curb, but will review options for permanent fixes, a Department of Transportation spokeswoman said.
