Clogged sewer main fills Queens basements with stinky sludge

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Dozens of Queens residents woke up Saturday to a nauseating nightmare: basements flooded with several feet of putrid sewer water.

City officials blamed the fetid backup in South Ozone Park on a blocked 48-inch sewer main.

City workers labored into the night at the corner of 150th Street and South Conduit Avenue to clear the clog.

But this was of little solace to residents in some 50 properties along 146th Street, Inwood Street, 130th Avenue and 133rd Avenue.

"This is terrible," said Patricia Cardoza, 64, as she bailed with buckets, and then installed a sub pump in her tub, which had filled with rank, brown water. "I’m too old for this — my back hurts."

"My dryer is full of water, and my washing machine is floating," said Culjit Singh, 40, who had four feet of waste in his basement at 130-48 Inwood St.

He, too, purchased a sub pump, but it couldn't keep up with the gushing sludge.

He and his family, including his three kids ages 2, 13 and 15, will stay in a hotel for now, he said.

"I made three complaints to 311, and they said they would respond in six hours. Well, it's been six hours and nobody is here," he said. "It is just ridiculous. Nobody is calling me back. We are paying taxes — they should fix it."

Kai Bakari, 26, was asleep in apartment at 130-40 146 St. when the smell woke her up at 7 a.m.

"I got up and I stepped in water," she told The Post.

"I tried to salvage what I can, but the water level was rising fast."

Despite her basement sub pump, a pool of filth in her apartment rose three feet deep within four hours.

"Now my couch is floating," she said, taking refuge in her backyard.

Khari White, 38, president of the 149th Street South Ozone Park Civic Association — whose home was spared — was at the scene Saturday afternoon consoling residents and reaching out to officials.

"I was alarmed when residents started calling me this morning, complaining about raw sewage entering their homes and reaching high levels," he said.

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"I’m shocked. I’m in disbelief," he said. "These are homeowners who work hard to be here. They shouldn't have to go through this."