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A decade ago, Extell Development’s 470 West 62nd Street drew attention — and some public backlash — for its separate ‘poor-door’ entrance for low-income tenants, while condominium owners used a different lobby on Riverside Boulevard and Freedom Place South. Now, those low-income tenants – managed by Breaking Ground, a supportive housing nonprofit – are dealing with the aftermath of flooding caused by a sprinkler system that went off on the fifth floor on Saturday, November 1, in the middle of the night, gushing into apartments and leaking through ceilings to the floors below.
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Breaking Ground, which received 80,000 applications for the 55 low-priced supportive housing units in 2015, issued the following statement:
“On Saturday, November 1, at approximately 4 a.m., Breaking Ground responded to a sprinkler activation in the fifth-floor hallway at 470 West 62nd Street. Staff responded immediately to support and communicate with tenants throughout the weekend, including working to mitigate water damage by providing drying fans in affected areas and units.”
Breaking Ground is currently investigating what caused the sprinkler on the fifth floor to go off. “Damage assessment and remediation work are ongoing and will continue until the full extent of damage and needed repairs are identified. We are grateful that no one was injured as a result of this incident, and we are working diligently to ensure that our tenants are not further impacted.”
Our tipster at the Breaking Ground residence said they were awoken in the middle of the night by a strange and rather off-setting smell. When they got out of bed, they described it as “waking up in a nightmare” as water streamed into their bedroom. As they moved to find the source, they made their way to the front door, which, upon opening, revealed “a white fog mist and a wall of water, like something out of a movie, barreling into my apartment.”
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We’re told Breaking Ground said the smell came from fire system water sitting in pipes for a prolonged period, while the white fog mist was “some sort of gas that gets released when the glass from the sprinkler pops.” Currently, hallway rugs from the fifth floor and below have been pulled up, and tiles in the kitchen areas have been removed for replacement.When we shared Breaking Ground’s statement with our tipster, they noted the incident happened closer to 3 a.m. than 4 a.m., and that the FDNY “was there way before anybody from Breaking Ground.” They added that they have renters’ insurance and are working on next steps to get their home back to normal, but are still complaining about the lingering smell from the water sitting in the pipes.
According to an FDNY spokesperson, a call about a water leak at 470 West 62nd Street near Riverside Boulevard and Freedom Place South was received at 2:52 a.m. Firefighters responded immediately, no injuries were reported, and the incident was closed five minutes later at 2:57 a.m. At the time of writing, the cause of the sprinkler activation has not been determined.
Breaking Ground continues to assess the damage and work with tenants to restore their apartments to normal.
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