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CONEY ISLAND: Sandy victims slam Recchia over sewer project

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See this story at BrooklynDaily.com.

By Will Bredderman

Brooklyn Daily

Talk about raising a stink!

A group of outraged Hurricane Sandy victims nearly ran Councilman Domenic Recchia out of a Community Board 13 meeting on a rail Wednesday after the legislator announced that a desperately needed Coney Island sewer repair project won’t begin until 2016.

Residents have been demanding the city update the neighborhood’s infrastructure for years, claiming that sewers constantly overflow during big storms.

“If we get a hard rain, a tough rain, we’re going to get that water again. And it’s not good,” said CB13 member Ronald Stewart.

When Hurricane Sandy hit, sewer backups washed out most of the neighborhood’s residential streets, say residents, who claim the People’s Playground wouldn’t survive another major storm if it didn’t get the upgrade the city promised.

“We can’t survive to 2016 if we get another Sandy!” resident Kenny Jones said. “Why is Coney Island taking so long?”

Recchia (D–Coney Island) asked the more than 20 community members attending the meeting to be patient, claiming that the city wants to complete the project as soon as possible.

But Recchia’s pleas fell on deaf ears — ears deafened by audience members shouting at the council’s Finance Committee chairman.

“We don’t need another Sandy!” screamed Brighton Beach activist Ida Sanoff. “We get another nor’easter, we’re going to be underwater!”

The meeting go so out of hand that cops in attendance shouted everyone down as CB13 chairman Eddie Mark incessantly banged his gavel to restore order.

“We are putting money into the community,” Recchia said once the shouting had stopped, adding that contractors will soon be able to place bids on the sewer project.

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