NEW YORK CITY — Drivers on the Belt Parkway filed more than 700 claims against the city since 2010 for damage to their cars caused by the pothole-laden road — more than at any other location in the city, according to the city comptroller.
And those claims, along with thousands of others by drivers and pedestrians hurt in falls on city streets, cost the city nearly $140 million in settlements, he found.
Potholes on city streets and roads “deflate tires, break axles and twist ankles, often at a significant financial cost to the city," Comptroller Scott Stringer said in a statement.
His office examined “defective roadway” claims over six years and broke them down into two categories — “pothole” claims filed by drivers and “trip and fall” claims filed mainly by pedestrians.
For drivers, the Belt Parkway topped the list of damages, followed by the Grand Central Parkway with 433 claims and the Brooklyn-Queens Expressway with 422 pothole claims.
While the city doesn't settle all claims, of the more than 12,200 filed by drivers, 1,549 were settled, costing $1.5 million, Stringer found.
Pedestrians filed more than 5,900 “trip and fall” claims against the city, the majority in Manhattan, and nearly half were settled. The payout was $136.3 million, the comptroller's office said.
Broadway is the worst street in the city with nearly 200 claims, and Second and Third avenues also had some of the highest number of incidents.
The Department of Transportation battles potholes year-round, which are often made worse after heavy snowfall and ice conditions.
They have so far filled 370,000 potholes this year, an official said.
A spokesman with the DOT said the agency repaired nearly 100 percent of the city's potholes within 30 days last year, and within only five days this year.
"New Yorkers are already seeing the impact of increased investment – just drive up the freshly resurfaced portions of the FDR or Grand Avenue in Queens or Bay Street and Clove Road in Staten Island," he said, crediting investments from Mayor Bill de Blasio to repair the roads.
