Brooklyn Assemblyman Says New Yorkers Have Unnecessarily Spent Millions of Dollars Repairing Cracked Sidewalks

A Brooklyn assemblyman says New Yorkers have unnecessarily spent millions of dollars repairing cracked sidewalks.

Dov Hikind says he's gotten several calls from homeowners saying they've been getting violations caused by tree roots.

But the Department of Transportation says it doesn't charge owners of one- to three-family homes for those types of repairs.

Hikind says many have paid for them out of their own pockets because the violation notices are too complicated. Now, he wants wants the city to pay them back.  

"No indication at all that this, these cracked sidewalks resulting from this tree are the responsibility of the city of New York," Hikind said. "People are being ripped off. They're being ripped off for money they don't have very, very often."

The DOT says it's in the process of clarifying its policy.