Statement by State Senator Tony Avella Concerning Mayor’s Postponement of Third Water Tunnel

“Of all of Mayor de Blasio’s actions, delaying work on the third water tunnel is the most obscene abdication of his executive responsibilities to date. There is nothing more crucial than ensuring every borough has access to water, without which everything else stops. That is why every generation of elected officials since the 50’s, when we saw how vulnerable this city would be should Tunnels One or Two suffer even minor damage, has made the third tunnel a priority.

We cannot ignore that lesson. Nor do we need to look decades into the past for a lesson to learn from. Just this year, Flint, Michigan showed us the long term consequences of short term savings when it comes to infrastructure. Rather than spend the money needed to fix their water system, they settled for a cheap and quick-fix that explosively backfired. Not only did it exacerbate the problem, the ensuing costs became magnitudes greater and people have been left without water.

What would Queens and Brooklyn do should Tunnel Two, now eighty years old, experience failures? Failures that can’t be addressed unless water can first be rerouted to a tunnel that’s not yet completed. You are gambling with half the city’s basic needs and most crucial resource, Mr. Mayor. You are gambling and it’s New Yorkers that will suffer the consequences.”

Background:

NYT 04/05/16:  De Blasio Postpones Work on Crucial Water Tunnel…
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