Assemblymember Monica Wallace (D-Lancaster) and Speaker Carl Heastie (D-Bronx) visited Cheektowaga Town Park on Thursday and announced they have secured $2 million to replace critical sanitary sewer infrastructure at the Harlem Road Pump Station. The funding, which was announced during Speaker’s Heastie statewide tour in Western New York, will ensure the long-term stability of a pump station that protects over 5,500 homes and businesses in northwest Cheektowaga while alleviating any potential impact on local property taxes.

“One of the most basic functions of our government is to maintain critical infrastructure like this sanitary sewer pump station. This funding is desperately needed to prevent failure of the pump, which could result in raw sewage flowing into thousands of nearby homes,” said Assembly member Wallace. “I’m proud to have helped deliver this funding to the Town of Cheektowaga and thank Speaker Heastie for working with me to ensure the health and safety of Cheektowaga residents is protected.” 

“My annual statewide tour gives me the opportunity to visit different corners of the state, seeing firsthand the needs of communities as well as their successes, and it’s great to be here in Cheektowaga with Assemblymember Wallace,” Speaker Heastie said. “It’s critical that we invest in updating and upgrading our state’s aging sewer infrastructure, and this funding will help to do that, keeping the Harlem Road Pump Station from reaching failure and backing up into the homes of Cheektowaga families.”

“Like other towns in Western New York, Cheektowaga has aging infrastructure that needs upgrades, repair, and replacement. The Harlem Road pump station was built in the late 1930s and needs replacement,” said Town of Cheektowaga Supervisor Brian Nowak This funding helps us accomplish the work without adding to the sewer district tax burden. I want to thank Assemblymember Wallace and Speaker Heastie for delivering for Cheektowaga and funding critical infrastructure work.”

The Harlem Road Pump Station was built in 1939 and is a bypass station for Cheektowaga, keeping the sewer system from backing up into homes during wet weather events. Last year it was discovered there was a full failure in one of the three link seals around the piping from the wet well to the dry well station. The $2 million in funding announced by Speaker Heastie and Assemblymember Wallace today will allow for a complete upgrade of the station, saving it from failure and protecting homes from sewer backups.

Speaker Heastie and Assemblymember Wallace also toured Cheektowaga Town Park, visiting the town pool and pickle ball/tennis courts that will soon be renovated thanks to funding secured by Assemblymember Wallace. The lawmakers also toured the new Polish American heritage artwork and the Cheektowaga Boys & Girls Club, both of which were made possible because of funding they had passed in prior state budgets. The Boys & Girls Club opened in September 2021 and was funded with $100,000 in operating funds and $250,000 in capital funds secured by Assemblymember Wallace. The Polish American heritage artwork was unveiled during the Cheektowaga Polish-American Arts Festival and created using a portion of $40,000 for public art that Assemblymember Wallace secured.