Ozone Park families displaced by sewer backup being kicked out of motels

NEW YORK - For more than three months, dozens of residents of South Ozone Park have been displaced from their residences after a collapsed city pipe flooded their homes with raw sewage.

They were told the city would cover their hotel stays into April, but some of those families told FOX 5 NY that they are now being abruptly evicted on March 6 with nowhere to go.

The affected residents’ problems started on November 30 when basements of homes throughout South Ozone Park were filled with noxious raw sewage. While most of the affected basements have been cleaned, they have also been gutted and are not currently livable. 

Residents have bene asked to make renovations out of their own pocket and ask the city for reimbursement later. 

“We’ve been dealing with this for way too long, our constituents are still hurting, traumatized, devastated from the sewage emergency they had nothing to do with,” Councilwoman Adrienne Adams.

The New York City Office of Emergency Management confirmed that 18 people will no longer have hotels, while 16 will be able to stay.

In a statement, an OEM spokesperson told FOX 5 NY that they have been “in constant communication with displaced families and are continuing to work with each individual to help them return to normal.”

They added that the residents being allowed to stay are the ones who have proven that they are looking for alternative means of housing.