Many people in Queens name their neighborhood before their borough, and with good reason: water damage in a Long Island City tower has little in common with a flooded cellar in Ridgewood or bay water in Howard Beach. Pick your neighborhood on the map to jump to it. Each has a line on its housing and the water problems that come with it, and many have their own page.
- Astoria
- Long Island City
- Sunnyside
- Woodside
- Jackson Heights
- Elmhurst
- Corona
- Flushing
- Bayside
- Whitestone
- Fresh Meadows
- Forest Hills
- Rego Park
- Kew Gardens
- Ridgewood
- Middle Village
- Maspeth
- Richmond Hill
- Ozone Park
- Howard Beach
- Jamaica
- St. Albans
- Rosedale
- Far Rockaway
- Rockaway Park
Astoria
Two-family houses, attached homes and walk-ups between the East River and Steinway Street. A leak from the floor above or a damp cellar can start mold. Read mold removal in Astoria.
Long Island City
Glass towers at Hunters Point and Queens West, older row houses around Court Square and Dutch Kills. Leaks can travel down through tower floors; row-house basements can flood in heavy rain. Read Long Island City.
Sunnyside
Apartment buildings and the low row houses and courtyards of Sunnyside Gardens, south of the rail yards. Leaks between units are one thing to watch; in buildings of three or more apartments, Local Law 55 puts mold and the leaks behind it on the owner.
Woodside
Apartment complexes and attached houses under the 7 train along Roosevelt Avenue. Basements that took rain and bathrooms that leak are where mold can start. Read mold removal in Woodside.
Jackson Heights
Garden co-ops around private courtyards, rental buildings and attached houses. Water often comes from the apartment above or a riser. Read Jackson Heights.
Elmhurst
Densely built blocks around Broadway and Queens Boulevard. Leaks between households and tenants’ rights on mold. Read Elmhurst.
Corona
Attached and divided houses with basements between Junction Boulevard and Flushing Meadows Corona Park. Heavy rain and basement units. Read Corona.
Flushing
Apartment blocks around Main Street and houses with basements further out toward Murray Hill and Auburndale. Read Flushing.
Bayside
Detached houses with finished basements near Little Neck Bay, plus garden apartments. Rain, groundwater and sewer backups. Read Bayside.
Whitestone
Detached houses on the north shore near the East River. Finished basements can take water from rain or a burst pipe; downspouts must be disconnected from the sewer, DEP says, with water sent at least 6 feet from the foundation.
Fresh Meadows
Houses and garden apartment complexes in eastern Queens. In buildings with 10 or more apartments, mold over 10 square feet must be handled by assessment and remediation workers holding a NYS Department of Labor license.
Forest Hills
Co-ops along Queens Boulevard and Tudor houses in and around Forest Hills Gardens. Leaks from above, plaster ceilings and house basements. Read Forest Hills.
Rego Park
Apartment buildings and co-ops beside Queens Boulevard, with attached houses on the side streets. Tell the super or managing agent at once about a leak from above, and photograph your unit before anything is cleaned.
Kew Gardens
Apartment buildings and older houses next to Forest Park. Plaster ceilings can hold water after a leak; a bulging or sagging ceiling should be left alone until it is checked.
Ridgewood
Long rows of attached brick houses with cellars, on the Brooklyn border. Sewer backups, leaks between floors and shared walls. Read Ridgewood.
Middle Village
Detached and attached houses with basements, many finished as living space. When rain or a pipe floods a finished basement, carpet pad and the bottom of the drywall are often the first losses.
Maspeth
Houses beside industrial blocks and the edge of Newtown Creek. DEP lists street flooding from clogged catch basins among the city’s four kinds of flooding; report a blocked basin to 311.
Richmond Hill
Two-family houses with basements from Forest Park down to Liberty Avenue. Rain can flood basements here, far from the water. Read Richmond Hill.
Ozone Park
Attached and two-family houses with basements in south Queens. Ida showed that rainfall flooding can happen anywhere in the city, with basement apartments at higher risk.
Howard Beach
Houses on low ground along Jamaica Bay, listed by FloodHelpNY for its backwater valve program. Bay water, high tides and Sandy. Read Howard Beach.
Jamaica
Houses with full basements around the commercial center at Jamaica Avenue and Sutphin Boulevard. Mold after basement water. Read mold removal in Jamaica.
St. Albans
Detached houses with basements in southeast Queens. Basement water should be dried within 24 to 48 hours, the EPA says, to keep mold from starting.
Rosedale
Houses at the far southeast edge of Queens, by the Nassau County line. Check your address on NYC’s flood maps and your hurricane evacuation zone separately.
Far Rockaway
The eastern end of the Rockaway peninsula, in the area FloodHelpNY lists as Rockaway East for its backwater valve program (check its boundaries on FloodHelpNY). Read water damage restoration in Far Rockaway.
Rockaway Park
On the peninsula between the ocean and the bay, on the Queens coastline that Sandy flooded in 2012. Seawater flooding is Category 3 water under the IICRC S500. Read the Rockaways.
Queens Water Damage Restoration is an independent referral service, not a restoration company. When you send the form, your details go to an independent local restoration provider serving Queens, who can contact you, inspect and quote any work directly. You decide whether to hire them.
Three ways Queens takes on water
Across the borough, water damage comes in three broad patterns. In apartment buildings and co-ops, it often comes from above: the unit upstairs, a riser, a building system. In houses, it often comes from below: a basement that floods in heavy rain, a sewer backup through a floor drain, groundwater through the foundation, or a burst pipe. And on the shoreline, along Jamaica Bay and the Atlantic, it can come from outside: surge and seawater, which the IICRC S500 counts as Category 3 water.
The NYC Health Department’s lesson from Hurricane Ida is that rainfall flooding can happen anywhere in the city, not only near the water, and that low-lying areas and basement apartments are at higher risk. So a neighborhood far from the bay is not a neighborhood without flood risk.
Whatever your neighborhood
- Switch power off only from a dry place, and never touch switches while standing in water.
- Shut the main valve if a pipe or fixture is the source.
- Photograph everything before it is moved or thrown away.
- Dry quickly: the EPA says within 24 to 48 hours to prevent mold growth.
- Send the request with your neighborhood, and an independent local provider can contact you.
The service pages go further: water removal, flood cleanup, water damage repair, mold remediation and mold inspection.
Questions people ask
My neighborhood is not on the map. Can I still ask?
Yes. Choose ‘Somewhere else in Queens’ on the form and name it. The site covers all of Queens.
Is this site a restoration company?
No. Queens Water Damage Restoration is an independent referral service, not a restoration company. When you send the form, your details go to an independent local restoration provider serving Queens, who can contact you, inspect and quote any work directly. You decide whether to hire them.
Water damage in Queens? Tell us your neighborhood and what happened.