Mamaroneck Offers No Estimate On Repairing Damaged Building

MAMARONECK, N.Y. — Mamaroneck residents who evacuated the apartment building at 680 W. Boston Post Road after a water pipe leak was found Sunday afternoon do not know when they will be allowed to return, officials said.

A notice posted at the entrance of 680 W. Boston Post Road in Mamaroneck says the building is uninhabitable.
Photo Credit: *Chaya Babu*

by Chaya Babu

01/30/2013 2:00 a.m.

"We’re trying to work with them to expedite everything getting done and getting everybody back into their apartments, but there is no specific estimated time when that’s going to happen yet," Mamaroneck Village Manager Richard Slingerland said. "We’re doing everything we can to make it as soon as possible."

Slingerland met Tuesday morning with the Mamaroneck Building Department, repair crews, and the apartment building association.

Repair crews have been working since the leak was discovered, he said. The burst pipe caused water damage on all four levels of the building, including the parking garage.

Wires were soaked, causing electrical complications, and the ceiling and sheetrock had to be ripped out in multiple locations. The electricity and gas were shut off, so the gas must go through a full inspection process before it can be restored.

"Additionally, quite a few of the doors were broken because when the fire department had to force entry at the time," Slingerland said. "That’s another issue for getting people back into their apartments with proper safety and security. So there’s a lot of different things going on."

All of the residents are staying with friends or family members, said Carolyn Sherwin of the American Red Cross Metro New York chapter.

"We didn’t need to keep the shelter open for them, but we did keep the reception center open until about 7 p.m. on Sunday," she said.

Resident Susan Welch, who is staying with a friend in Bronxville, waited in the building's lobby Monday afternoon to retrieve a few belongings.

“I think I’m pretty lucky; I have minimal to no damage," she said. "Others have it very bad. Nobody’s gotten back in since other than to get a few things."

Nothing like this has happened since she moved into the building in 1994, Welch said. “All of a sudden the alarm was going off, and it rang for about a half-hour before people started responding because we didn’t really think it was anything. This was very unexpected.”

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