Sidewalk remains broken for decades - New York News | NYC Breaking News

A life-long Brooklyn resident says he's fed up with city bureaucracy.

Richard Mahany says he's spent decades complaining about a city-made hazard in front of his home and has gotten nowhere.

The 77-year-old has owned his Bay Ridge home for 47 years.

"I've been productive all my life.  I never took a nickel from the city or any kind of agency," Mahany says.

But Mahany is angry with the city for failing to do anything about the badly buckled sidewalk in front of his home.  It is caused by a tree owned by the city's parks department.

A woman who lives down the block even tripped on the broken sidewalk and broke her arm.

Mahany says it is a danger the city has known about since the late 1980s.

The city eventually came in 2005 and inspected the sidewalk and gave Mahany a sheet with a priority number of 47 out of 100.

The number went up to 66 in 2009.  The parks department told Fox 5 that the department only repairs sites that rate in the high 80s and 90s.

Sites are only inspected once every three years.

"It's very sad.  Great city, great country," Mahany says.  They can't fix something this simple?"

To add injury to insult, Mahany got a notice of violation from the City Department of Transportation last year for having a trip hazard.  He was ordered to fix it right away.

The notice said "The property owner is responsible for repairing all defects...within 45 days."

But because a city tree caused the damage, the DOT said it would fix the problem.  That was in July 2011.  It still isn't fixed.

Now, it appears another person has fallen and is suing Mahany.  He recently got a letter from an attorney claiming his client suffered "personal injuries...as a result of an accident...through your negligence."

The city now says the sidewalk could be repaired in a three to four weeks.

Mahany says he's ready to leave the city.

"I don't hate the city.  I just hate what has happened to the city," Mahany says.

The DOT tells Fox 5 News that if Richard Mahany wanted the repairs done quickly, he could have hired a contractor, paid for it himself, and then filed a claim with the city comptroller.