Those Flooded Basement Apartments are a Deadly Part of the Housing Crisis
Deborah Torres, right, talks to police officers in Queens, where three people died after their basement apartment flooded. Photo: Mary Altaffer/AP/Shutterstock Eight of the nine people who died during the Hurricane Ida floods last night were exactly where emergency alerts told them was the safest place to be: their homes. Specifically, they were in their own basement apartments in Queens and in one case, Brooklyn. Only one of the buildings, at 61–20 Grand Central Parkway, was located in an area that was a “special flood hazard area,” according to Department of Buildings records,...