Morning Tonic: My Rooftop Flood

When it rains, our apartment leaks. Minor leaks, usually through the air vents in the bathrooms, which make very little mess. Occasionally we’ll have to toss out a soggy roll of toilet paper.

A good-sized storm blew through New York yesterday, slowly but assuredly soaking everything for hours. Our bathroom drips soon turned to a steady stream of water. No worries, we thought, glad the bathroom floors have drains. Then water started coming out of the light fixtures.

When our landlord arrived, he discovered the parapet walls on the top of the building had their drains clogged, which meant about three feet of water was pooled directly above our heads. He dove into the water, unclogged the drain, causing this gout to erupt from the side of our building for almost five minutes. Because a ball had been caught in our basement drain, the water didn’t pass into the sewer system, but instead flooded the basement. A fun day!

It’s not a great story or anything, but I just really like this picture. I can’t tell you how surreal it was to realize your roof was holding gallons of water and to see it forcibly gush out of the side of the building.