Route 287 in Tarrytown inundated by flash flooding Oct. 30. See video
An afternoon storm brought flash flooding to southern Westchester on Thursday, Oct. 30. See footage from Route 287 in Tarrytown. [John Meore/The Journal News]
Flooding from a storm Thursday, Oct. 30, caused significant damage to the New Rochelle building housing the United Community Center of Westchester, forcing the nonprofit to close its physical location.
The damage is so severe that the community service organization’s building at 358, 360 and 362 North Ave. was deemed unsafe by the City of New Rochelle’s Bureau of Buildings Department of Development as of Thursday, as indicated by a legal notice addressed to the owner that’s posted in the window.
UCCW provides a wide swath of community services that are likely to be disrupted as a result of the closure.
UCCW’s emergency food pantry, for instance, usually operates from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., Monday through Friday, serving community members in need from Westchester County and surrounding areas like the Bronx. It’s unclear whether they’ll be able to operate from the building in the near future.
‘It literally looked like it was raining inside the center’
According to UCCW’s Development Officer Ana Hercules, for the last two years, there have been leaks in the building.
“Every time it rains, the water comes in,” she said. “The landlord has been saying that there’s no issue with the roof. So he’ll come and he’ll patch.”
“Yesterday,” Hercules continued, “it literally looked like it was raining inside the center, and the lights started flickering.”
At that point, Hercules said she called the fire department, who broke through the ceiling to release trapped water, flooding parts of the building. The building department then cut off both power and heat due to safety concerns.
According to Hercules, the building department found that the drainage system was not up to code, which is what was causing rainwater to back up and leak through weak spots in the ceiling.
UCCW food pantry addresses New Rochelle’s ‘severe’ need
The closure left UCCW’s emergency food pantry in limbo at a time of heightened need.
“In the last month, there’s been so much need for the food pantry that the pantry has actually been bare for most of the month because we’ve had so many people come in,” Hercules explained. “You wouldn’t think of it because New Rochelle is one of the up and coming areas in Westchester, but the need here is severe.”
The center has been looking for other nonprofits to take its perishable food before it spoils, Hercules said, like Choice of New York, or the nearby HOPE Community Services. On Friday, Oct. 31, a day after the building was shut down, UCCW staff members stood outside giving away half gallons of milk so that it wouldn’t go to waste.
“We really have to think creatively, because there’s significant need in this community right now,” Hercules said. The UCCW staff may explore distributing among area churches the food they would normally give out.
When will the UCCW building reopen?
The timeline for reopening is unclear, Hercules said. The building must be inspected by an electrician before power can be restored, she added, and there are concerns about mold development. She said the building department also found a structural code violation in the basement that the owner must address.
Despite the challenges, UCCW remains committed to serving the community. “We’ll get through it,” Hercules said. “I know we will.”