“This church has been a vital part of the community for 145 years,” Comptroller Thompson said. “Councilman Weprin and I wanted to do whatever we could to get the Queens Reformed Church the help it needed. I am pleased this can be resolved to everyone’s satisfaction.”

“I’m ecstatic that I was able to assist Reverend Jackson and the Queens Reformed Church in recouping money they spent in repairing their facility after they were flooded due to a break in a sewer,” Councilman Weprin said.

The check was presented to Reverend Anna Jackson, thereby ending a legal claim the church had against the City to pay for the cleanup costs. Jackson’s office had filed a claim after the City refused to pay for the damage, even though a City sewer pipe caused the flooding.

“They answered my prayers,” Jackson said. “This was taking up so much of our time and our energy. Now we can focus on our true mission, and provide a welcoming and spiritual home for families in the community.

The problems first began on Oct. 3, 2001. Rev. Jackson arrived at the church, at 94-79 Springfield Boulevard, Queens Village, and discovered that the entire basement was covered in water and raw sewage. A sewer had backed up and flooded the church’s gymnasium.

Rev. Jackson alerted the City’s Department of Environmental Protection, which quickly cleared the City sewer within a few hours. But that didn’t end the church’s problems. The backup seriously damaged the church’s gymnasium. Rev. Jackson hired a professional cleaning service to drain, clean, sanitize, and deodorize the entire area so that children could once again play indoors. The Church has a youth group for children in grades six through 12, and runs an after-school program and summer camp for kids in grades Kindergarten through six.

She also sought relief from the City. Rev. Jackson filed a claim for $1,390 to defray the cleanup costs. But, she said, the City refused the claim on the basis that there was no prior notice of the sewer malfunctioning.

After reviewing the case, Thompson cut through the red tape to deliver the funds to the church.

“This was a claim held on a legal technicality,” Thompson said. “The law states that the church, in order to prevail, would need to prove that there had been a previous complaint about the sewer line. But this was the first time there had been a problem with the pipe, so how were they to know? Bringing this to an early resolution saves the church time, and inevitably, the City money.”

Deputy Comptroller for Claims and Adjudications Heriberto Barbot, who investigated the case, was pleased with the outcome.

“We are well aware that there are real people and organizations behind many of these claims against the City, and we try to be sensitive to that,” Barbot said. “It is very gratifying to be able to resolve a matter in a way that benefits the City, the Church, and its members.”

Rev. Jackson, whose church has 50 parishioners, was similarly pleased with the resolution.

“I was overjoyed when I learned we were going to receive a check from the City,” Rev. Jackson said. “I am truly appreciative of Comptroller Thompson and Councilman Weprin for expediting this process.”

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