When torrential rain hit Brooklyn this fall, the basement-level art studio Private Picassos on Grand Avenue in Clinton Hill became an unintentional test of the city’s crumbling storm infrastructure. Within 10 minutes, a wall of water shattered its double glass doors, flooded the 2,000-square-foot studio, and left owner Valeen Bhat standing in knee-deep water, watching her nearly 20-year-old business go under — literally.

“I knew that my child was safe, but this is my other child,” Bhat told Brooklyn Paper. “The water came so fast that we couldn’t stop it. The glass doorframe broke from the pressure.”

Bhat, who moved Private Picassos from Park Slope to Clinton Hill in 2024, had already seen signs of trouble. During a smaller storm in June, minor flooding seeped up through the drains. She

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