For 11 Elmont co-op evacuees at hotel, few signs they're going home
Eleven residents evacuated from an Elmont co-op on Foster Meadow Lane overrun by floodwaters are staying at the Uniondale Marriott, at Nassau County's expense, with no sign of when they will be allowed back. Credit: Howard Simmons
Close to 100 evacuees from an Elmont co-op overcome by floodwaters remained shut out of their units Tuesday, with the building’s management company unable to say when residents will be allowed to go home.
“The only thing that can be done is wait for the professionals,” Gerald Karikari, a partner with the management company, Manhattan-based Woods and Ruff Management, said late Tuesday, referring to the repairs crew and various building, safety and insurance inspectors.
“Those residents who have insurance in their units can put in a claim for other accommodations,” Karikari said.
Hempstead Town has declared the building unsafe for occupancy and noted past building violations and evacuations because of flooding.
And Nassau County, which is paying for 11 evacuees to stay at a Marriott and having grown frustrated with the difficulty reaching the management company in recent days, has threatened legal action.
The co-op was flooded during Friday’s storm, forcing the evacuation of about 100 senior residents after the building was deemed unsafe and power was turned off. About 60 of those residents initially sought shelter at New Hyde Park Memorial High School, where the American Red Cross was hosting evacuees.
The American Red Cross closed the shelter at the high school, but neither the county nor the Red Cross have heard when frustrated residents — many having described their evacuation has harrowing and even distressing — can get back in their units.
And it’s not just the residents who have grown impatient. If Nassau has not heard from the management company by the end of Wednesday, “about moving forward with repairs, we are prepared to take legal action for the residents,” County Executive Bruce Blakeman said.
Karikari couldn’t estimate a date when residents would be able to return. Nassau County said there had been no communication Tuesday with the property management company.
Hempstead Town officials said they offered to provide generators at the property, but no workers had come to the site to make repairs as of Tuesday. Officials have said repairs have to be made before the building can be inspected and deemed safe to reopen.
John Asbury is a breaking news and general assignment reporter. He has been with Newsday since 2014 and previously worked at The Press-Enterprise in Riverside, California.
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