The Staten Island borough president is demanding an investigation after an apparent sewage leak into lakes at a local park, where he said faulty piping has continuously spewed raw sewage into an interconnected waterway.
“If this was Central Park and this was the issue, we had raw sewage in the lake at Central Park, people would be flipping out justifiably,” said Borough President Vito Fossella.
He and other local leaders are calling for the formation of a task force with appropriate state and local agencies to address what they described as a clear public health hazard at Clove Lakes Park. Inside the park, Clove Lake itself is connected through waterways to Martling Lake and Brooks Lake.
“All neighborhoods, all communities come here for the playground, for the strolls, for the parks,” said Debra Altman, a local resident.
Altman said a foul odor has lingered for years.
“There have been times that I have walked down on the lake and you could smell how bad the sewage is,” she said.
The lakes had been open to people to boat and fish in, but are now closed following testing conducted by the Department of Parks and Recreation.
A spokesperson for the department told NBC New York in a statement: “NYC Parks is not aware of any sanitary sewer lines flowing into Clove Lake. We are coordinating with relevant agencies regarding next steps.”
Staten Island lawmakers said they believe there is a straightforward fix.
“This is not rocket science. This is plumbing, for crying out loud.“ said State Sen. Andrew Lanza.
Some parkgoers said they simply want the issue addressed.
“Staten Island deserves a really nice park and this is a gorgeous park so hopefully they can figure it out.” said Delilah Atanasio.
A spokesperson for the city’s Department of Environmental Protection said they would be a part of the task force lawmakers called for on Monday.
This story was originally reported for broadcast by NBC New York. AI tools helped convert the story to a digital article, and an NBC New York journalist edited the article for publication.
