'A government failure' - Central Harlem wades through subway flood

Record ID: 1625682

  • Title: 'A government failure' - Central Harlem wades through subway flood
  • Date: 9th July 2021
  • Summary: NEW YORK, NEW YORK, UNITED STATES (JULY 9, 2021) (REUTERS) NEW YORK LAW FIRM SUPPORT STAFF WORKER, ROXANNE HUNTER, WALKING IN SUBWAY STATION (SOUNDBITE) (English) NEW YORK LAW FIRM SUPPORT STAFF WORKER, ROXANNE HUNTER, SAYING: "I think it's a... like a failure on the government, like the city government's part, because we should have better drainage systems here. Yeah." (R
  • Embargoed: 23rd July 2021 19:26
  • Keywords: 157th Street Station MTA Subway flooding infrastructure
  • Location: NEW YORK, NEW YORK, UNITED STATES
  • City: NEW YORK, NEW YORK, UNITED STATES
  • Country: USA
  • Topics: Ground Accidents/Collisions,Disaster/Accidents,United States
  • Reuters ID: LVA004EL4E5ON
  • Aspect Ratio: 16:9
  • Story Text:Residents of Upper Manhattan directly blamed government officials Friday (July 9) for flooding that overtook an area subway station the day before, they told Reuters in interviews.
    After being downgraded to a tropical storm, Elsa is nevertheless currently lashing the region.
    Widely shared videos showed subway riders struggling Thursday (July 8) to wade through water as the station at 157th Street in Harlem was flooded.
    "You don't hear about that happening on the East side (of Manhattan)," said area resident, Roxanne Hunter, who is a support staff worker at a New York law firm, referring to a more upscale area of Manhattan. "I think it's a... like a failure on the government, like the city government's part, because we should have better drainage systems here."
    The rains did also pour down on other stations, including 42nd Street, Bryant Park, located in Manhattan's Midtown business district.
    The MTA did not respond to a request for an interview with Reuters.
    Elsa is expeted to weaken to a post-tropical cyclone by the end of Friday.
    No deaths in the region have been reported.
    (Production by: Hussein al Waaile and Dan Fastenberg)
  • Copyright Holder: REUTERS
  • Copyright Notice: (c) Copyright Thomson Reuters 2021. Open For Restrictions - http://about.reuters.com/fulllegal.asp
  • Usage Terms/Restrictions: None
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