NEW YORK — A pair of family dental practices in the Bronx were completely flooded Friday after heavy rains for the second time this month.
Friday’s scene brought nothing but worry to employees at Wasserman Cosmetic & Family Dentistry on Riverdale Avenue.
“This is probably the worst we’ve had,” said Dr. Jerry Wasserman.
CBS New York first reported on flooding problems in Riverdale last week. Families blamed New York City’s poor drainage and recent construction that continue to hurt their bottom line.
It’s becoming all too familiar for them, as they plan to cancel dates for the second time this month.
“Here we go again. This is happening all the time, and obviously we can’t do business that way,” said Dr. Paul Hertz, of Fine Comprehensive Dental Practice.
CBS New York saw inches of rain seep into the office as employees rushed to mop it up. The flood even lifted the floorboards off the ground.
Wasserman said the entire yard behind the office was consumed by water within 30 minutes.
“We had two major floods and it’s only in the last three years that we’ve had these problems,” Wasserman said.
They believe they continue to flood due to poor drainage and a retaining wall behind the property.
“We didn’t create this problem, someone else did,” Wasserman said.
After our first report, the Department of Buildings said inspectors went to the site and were unable to determine what was causing the flooding, but that the school’s drains were approved.
Dentists believe the city is not taking the time to properly investigate the matter.
“We have nowhere to turn. We’re left alone in the woods to deal with this,” Wasserman said.
Both businesses said that spent hundreds of thousands of dollars to repair flood damage as of 2021. They said the lack of support from the city continues to hurt them.
“It’s going to put us out of business for maybe a month or more,” Wasserman said.
On Friday, we asked the DOB if they would be sending an inspector to look at the recent flooding, but have not heard back.
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