On East Hartsdale Avenue, restaurateur Steven Palm has begun a legal battle to recover his substantial losses from the mid-April flood that ravaged the Hartsdale commercial district and forced his and a dozen other businesses there to close temporarily.
On one legal front, he’ll be joined by seven neighboring business owners whose shops were shuttered for a few weeks to a few months in the wake of the disastrous nor’easter.
Two of the claimants are among the three businesses on the block across from the Metro-North railroad station that had not yet reopened as of early last week. Another business, Cross Westchester Cleaners, has relocated to Central Park Ave, while HSBC has permanently closed its bank branch there since the flood.
Collectively the suing owners seek payment for property damage and business losses they attribute to acts neither of nature nor God, but to negligent public officials, landlords and even a local golf club.
Though no dollar amount was included in their initial notice of claim filed last month with the town of Greenburgh, “It”™s fairly significant,” said Bernard H. Fishman, a Manhattan attorney representing the eight business owners. “It”™s not in the multimillions of dollars.”
A group of co-op owners on East Hartsdale Avenue has filed a similar, separate claim against the town, claiming a faulty sewer system resulted in flooding that forced co-op owners to evacuate their apartments in April and damaged the buildings and personal property. Residents at 180 East Hartsdale Ave. seek $250,000 in damages from the town and residents of 80 East Hartsdale Ave. seek $1 million.
Harrys of Hartsdale, the upscale steakhouse and oyster bar that Palm opened at 230 East Hartsdale Ave. more than six years ago at a cost of $1 million, reopened on June 1 at a cost of $350,000, he said. Palm, who also owns the Underhills Crossing eatery in Bronxville, estimated his lost business during the six weeks of cleanup and rebuilding at $250,000 to $300,000. The loss in restaurant equipment, inventory and infrastructure amounted to another $400,000, he said.
“We took a huge hit,” he said. “We’re hoping to recoup at least what we laid out just to open.”
The restaurant owner hopes to collect that money from his insurance company. If the company paid on his policy coverage, “We’d be OK,” he said.
But like most insurers in the days after the nor’easter struck, his insurance company denied his claim “because it was an act of God,” Palm said. Though he carried flood insurance in his policy package, he was told it only applies to water main breaks or burst pipes.
Now, Palm and his business allies on the hamlet avenue, backed by an engineer”™s report, claim it was not an act of God but human negligence that caused the flooding there.
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An engineer hired by the owners found that an aged storm-drainage system that collected runoff behind the business strip and carried it downhill to the Bronx River was inadequately designed and maintained.
“That was the reason why we got flooded,” said Palm. “It”™s not because we had 3 or 4 inches of rain.” His attorney will use that engineer”™s finding when arguing his case against the insurance company”™s claim denial.
Fishman, the business group”™s attorney, said landlords on East Hartsdale Avenue own the storm drains. The town, he said, was responsible for seeing that the drains were properly maintained and cleared of debris by landlords.
In their notice of claim, the business owners seek damages for “negligent, careless and reckless acts of commission and omission in appropriate design and capacity of storm drains” that feed and run through or near their leased premises. Among other failures of supervision, the town was cited for permitting the construction of apartment buildings and other structures over wetlands and allowing those to tie into the overloaded storm drainage system.
The Hartsdale Parking Authority, which operates a public parking garage directly behind the flooded businesses, also was served a notice of claim. Palm said the business strip”™s storm water problems rose since the authority and a nearby golf club, which is also expected to be named in the owners”™ lawsuit in state Supreme Court, completed construction projects at their facilities.
The town of Greenburgh will hold hearings on the separate notices of claim in September.
“All indications are that we”™re not responsible” for the storm drainage system, said town of Greenburgh Supervisor Paul Feiner. He said the town”™s public works commissioner determined the storm lines are not on town property. They were installed by individual landlords, Feiner said.
“I feel the town”™s been very aggressive in trying to help the businesses,” Feiner said. He said the town within the next month will hire an engineering consultant to look at the causes of the flooding and recommend remedial measures.
“If it turns out there are more things that can be done in the future, I want to do it,” Feiner said. “I just want to make sure that this doesn”™t happen again.”
While waging his legal battle, Palm was awaiting his attorneys”™ advice on whether to accept a $350,000 disaster loan for which he was recently approved by the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA). His restaurant is among 49 flood-damaged businesses in Westchester County to date for which the SBA has approved low-interest loans that total $7,534,700.
“You sign your life away,” Palm said of the federal requirements for disaster loan applicants. “The advantage is the low interest rate (4 percent), but they really put you through the wringer.”
“I”™m just concerned about collecting my insurance money,” he said.
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