For as long as he could remember Darryl Washington would dread the coming of those April and May showers.

The pitter-patter of the water above his head could over time mean that part of his home would turn into a submarine or at least a facsimile of what a very leaky one would look like.

He and so many other residents of Springfield Gardens have been suffering from flooding for years after every heavy rain.

Elaine King, like many of her neighbors, had virtually given up. She had spent too much money and time drying out her possessions or throwing them out all together after pumping out the pond created in her basement and first floor.

After making many promises during that time, the city has finally been making progress to fix their storm sewer systems to alleviate the problems. But it seems that residents of Springfield Gardens have had to make a costly trade to no longer be in fear of showers. Many of these long-suffering residents are saying the contractor hired by the city has created a whole new problem.

About thirty residents up and down 143rd Road between 222nd and 224th Streets say they have cracks on the outside of their homes, cracks on their inside walls, cracks on their front steps, and some have had to re-do their front steps entirely. And according to some residents, their homes are even sinking.

Apparently, this all started about a year-and-a-half ago when the city hired a private contractor to do work on the storm drain systems.

Neighbors say they’ve been complaining to the city and to the company ever since the vibrations from the work damaged their homes. But they say they have gotten little to no response.

Many of these people are retired and are on fixed incomes.

Some will have no way to pay for this kind of damage and in reality they shouldn’t have to.

But given the history of this situation and the response time of government to the needs of Southeast Queens, I fear they will be given the run around almost indefinitely.

They’ve had meetings and made calls, but the answers to their questions are few.

Cracked foundations and walls are not an acceptable trade off for a functioning sewer and drain system that should have been built with the neighborhood in the first place.

One or two complaints may have been partial justification for a stonewall, but all of these people are not making this up. The city said residents should complain to the company. The company says their insurance company is looking into it.

Looking into it?

So far that has not included any visits to the homes of where that "it" is taking place. That is an early indication of how seriously they are taking the problem.

If this contractor continues to pawn off the questions and long-term resolutions to their insurance company, it looks like this may have to end up in court.

While the perfect solution is for any company that damages property while they are doing work is for them to step forward and pay for the damage, it’s been my experience that kind of action is the exception rather than the rule.

Corporations usually have to be compelled to spend money outside of their budgets.

The City Department of Design and Construction is the agency supervising the construction of the sewer and drain system. They have said they will follow-up to make sure that the contractor follows through on a promise to deal with the complaints.

It’s my opinion, however, that residents who are affected should be prepared to hire legal representation.

Yes, it will cost money, but I think trying to handle something like this on one’s own is a mistake. This contractor, like most companies that deal with the city, already has lawyers in place to protect their interests.

When world leaders negotiate for peaceful resolution of a matter, the risk of war is usually an implied threat. Unfortunately in the 21st century, business is often conducted the same way.