Officials confirm 5 of 6 NYC apts where people died were illegally converted

basement
A flooded basement level apartment stands in a Queens neighborhood that saw massive flooding and numerous deaths following a night of heavy wind and rain from the remnants of Hurricane Ida on September 03, 2021 in New York City. Over 40 people were killed on the East Coast by tornadoes and flash floods did heavy damage to parts of New York and New Jersey as the evening storm caught many off guard with the severity of its rain, wind and flooding. Photo credit Spencer Platt/Getty Images

NEW YORK (1010 WINS) — As the NYC death toll from Ida hit at least 13, the Department of Buildings confirmed Friday that five of the six places where New Yorkers lost their lives from flood waters were in illegally converted cellar and basement apartments.

"Our team is tirelessly conducting inspections at over a thousand properties across the five boroughs in the aftermath of Wednesday’s storm, and we’ll continue doing everything we can to keep New Yorkers safe in their residences," DOB Commissioner Melanie E. La Rocca said in a statement.

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With a high concentration of the city's deaths centered in basement residences, Mayor Bill de Blasio announced the city will warn people living in basements of the "threat" flooding could pose ahead of a major storm along with other actions in his NYC Climate-Driven Rain Response.

"We are now going to be speaking, going forward, to people who live in basement apartments, specific messages, specific cell phone alerts, telling people about the vulnerabilities they face in these kinds of rain events ... we are going to prepare to evacuate you from your apartments so that people are in the mindset early," de Blasio said.

State Attorney General Letitia James went a step beyond De Blasio's plan of action, urging the city to provide special emergency housing vouchers to all New Yorkers living in illegal and unregulated basement apartments.

"It is our duty to move these New Yorkers out of harm’s way by offering them safer, regulated housing," James said in a statement. "To prevent these problems in the future, we must also ensure that basement units are safe for human occupancy and regularly inspected. Overcoming the twin threats of climate change and a housing crisis will not be simple, but we must ensure measures are in place to protect our neighbors and prevent a future catastrophe.”

The six locations where the DOB's investigation is ongoing:

153-08 Peck Avenue, Queens - Illegal Conversion of cellar level converted into apartment

90-11 183 Street, Queens - Illegal Conversion of basement into apartment

491 Ridgewood Avenue, Brooklyn – Illegal Conversion of cellar with four Single Room Occupancy (SRO) units.

55-35 84 Street, Queens – Illegal Conversion of cellar level into apartment.

44-60 64 Street, Queens – Illegal conversion of cellar level into two apartments

61-20 Grand Central Parkway, Queens – Legal basement apartment

Featured Image Photo Credit: Spencer Platt/Getty Images