How Co-ops and Condos Can Help Prevent Huge Slush Puddles

Feb. 6, 2015 — New York may have well dodged the almost bullet that was supposed to be Snowpocalypse 2015, but it still got enough snow and sleet to form slush puddles so formidable they may as well be lakes. Think we're exaggerating? Just ask any commuter who's had to wade through the icy muck for more than just a few blocks to avoid faceplanting on the slippery compacted ice. It feels like every year, the slush puddles get larger and larger — and if your waterproof boots are a lie, it really, really sucks. But does this have anything to do with co-ops and condos? As a matter of fact, it does! The severity of these infernal puddles can be prevented with the cooperation of citizens and businesses, says DNAinfo, including co-ops and condos. "The city's Department of Environmental Protection offers grants of $35,000 and up for green infrastructure updates to non-city-owned properties that reduce the impact on the city's sewer system. Co-op, condo and property owners can apply for the grants online for various projects. The DEP is promoting blue roofs — a sloped roof system that collects and stores precipitation — as well as rain gardens, which store excess water in perforated pipes under the plantings." Another thing co-ops and condos can do is what every New Yorker arguably excels at: complain. Call 311 and report those treacherous lagoons "so that the right city agency can get dispatched and the city can track patterns." And don't underestimate the power of joining forces with neighborhood businesses. If cooperation between co-ops and condos and businesses can lead to a rat-free neighborhood, it may be successful at pulling the plug on slush puddles.