Life-long Hamilton Beach resident Vinny Taratella can no longer treat his first floor as his first floor. 

“It became my basement,” he said. “I had to build an additional floor to protect myself during floods.”

In this small Queens community that sits on Jamaica Bay and borders the western side of John F. Kennedy International Airport, flooding happens not just during so-called hundred-year storms like Hurricane Sandy, but consistently during very high tides. Yet residents feel forgotten by the city, especially when contrasted with the wealthier and more high-profile neighborhood of Broad Channel, where a $75 million project to raise the streets was recently completed.

Based on the 2020 American Community Survey, Broad Channel bears a median household income of $96,367. Its racial composition is classified as 93.4% White, 3.2% Hispanic or Latino, 2.2% Asian, and 1.2% two or more races. On the contrary, Hamilton Beach presents a slightly lower household income of $83,958 with a racial composition of 53.2% White, 26.8% Hispanic or Latino, 13.1% Black or African American, 4.4% Asian, and 2.6% two or more races. Housing prices in these areas also differ significantly, as Hamilton Beach’s median sale price is $543,000, whereas Broad Channel’s median sale price is $100,000 more. 

While Hamilton Beach has been struggling with obtaining relief for years, a $75 million infrastructure-upgrade project was completed for Broad Channel. The installment of storm sewers, water mains, new sidewalks, and curb ramps endorse flooding prevention and improve drainage in Broad Channel, yet Hamilton Beach is being overlooked. The socio-economic divide is transparent; Hamilton Beach is receiving the short end of the stick from the city.

An Army Corps project to install tide gates and flood-walls in the Hamilton Beach area is in the air as it is currently receiving public comment, but “if it’s approved, it won’t be completed until 2044” as stated by President of the New Hamilton Beach Civic Association, Roger Gendron.

When inquired about the flooding-relief discrepancy between Hamilton Beach and Broad Channel, Gendron offered that “the project for Broad Channel has been in the works for about 20 years”, whereas Hamilton Beach hasn’t been given attention because it is considered a peninsula and not an island, although he mentions that this does not mean Hamilton Beach has not been affected as much as Broad Channel. Gendron complained that there are no protections for Hamilton Beach and that “it is a difficult waiting game for the community”. 

President of the Broad Channel Civic Organization, Dan Mundy, states that his organization has been pushing for these projects since 2008; however, Gendron said that he started pushing for such projects in 2012 around the time of Hurricane Sandy. Mundy, said “it was a large community effort that was involved in the advocation”, and that elected officials would persistently urge in stating that flooding is an emergency that needs to be addressed. 

Mundy expressed that his organization is still fighting to get some streets raised in their area. He feels that his organization’s efforts have proven successful and that property values are increasing because of them, contrary to Hamilton Beach, where property values are decreasing.

Although, Vinny Taratella, a resident of Hamilton Beach, agrees that what has been done in Broad Channel is phenomenal, he conveyed that the Army Corps project needs to be sanctioned to protect the Hamilton Beach community from flooding. 

He disapproved of flooding insurance prices as he mentioned that they are costly, and he feels that the project would help ease them as well. “We have bills to pay and families to feed”, he emphasizes.

Taratella noted that he had to stop treating his first floor as his first floor, as it became his basement because he had to build an additional second floor to protect himself during floods and storms. Without any action from the city, disasters like Hurricane Sandy and Hurricane Irene are destined to continuously occur. 

All things considered, it is evident that the effects of flooding on the residents of Hamilton Beach are going to be devastating, should a flood occur. Without the city’s protection, the community is not properly safeguarded.