BLAS PROBED FOR IDA INCOMPETENCE
The city received repeated complaints about the Queens basement apartment where an 86-year-old woman drowned in Wednesday night’s flash flooding — but it didn’t stop anyone from living there, records show.
The Department of Buildings also got a complaint about a business being operated out of another Queens house where a 2-year-old boy and his parents died in the basement during the flooding caused by the remnants of Hurricane Ida.
But inspectors closed the complaints at both buildings after they were twice unable to get inside, online DOB records show.
In April 2012, a caller told the DOB that the basement at the first house, at 55-35 84th St. in Elmhurst, was illegally occupied.
A second complaint, in August 2012, repeated that allegation and said food was being sold from the home, according to the records.
As per DOB policy, both complaints were closed without any enforcement action following two visits by an inspector who was “unable to gain access” either time, the records show.
On Wednesday, the basement turned into a deathtrap for Yue Lian Chen, 86.
A violation issued on Thursday alleges that living space was created in the house’s cellar without permits for plumbing and electrical work. The only legal use for the cellar was “recreation, boiler and storage,” according to the records.
In a bitter twist, DOB records note the property isn’t in the Special Flood Hazard Zone designated by the Federal Emergency Management Administration.
In September 2005, the DOB got a complaint about the first floor of a house at 44-60 64th St. in Woodside being used for commercial purposes.
That case was also closed when an inspector visited twice and couldn’t get inside.
On Wednesday night, a family — 2-year-old Lobsang Lama; mom Mingma Sherpa, 48; and dad Ang Gelu Lama, 50 — died in their basement apartment there.
On Thursday, a DOB inspector found the building “shaking” and “vibrating” due to flood damage, and an inspector was unable to enter on Friday because of an NYPD investigation, the records say.
A total of 13 people died in Wednesday’s flooding, including 11 in basement apartments. Five of the apartments are in Queens, and one is in Brooklyn.
Buildings Commissioner Melanie La Rocca said the DOB found five of the six apartments were illegal conversions.
“Our team is tirelessly conducting inspections at over a thousand properties across the five boroughs in the aftermath of Wednesday’s storm,” she said, “and we’ll continue doing everything we can to keep New Yorkers safe in their residences.”