WATER-BILL DEADBEATS HIGH & DRY
By DAVID SEIFMAN

April 3, 2008 -- They said they'd do it, they warned they'd do it, and now they've done it: For the first time in history, the city has shut off water and sewer service to a nonpaying residential customer.
The barrier-breaker was identified as a one-family house at 167 Berriman St. in Cypress Hills, Brooklyn, whose taps ran dry starting last Thursday.
The owner of the record is listed as Ibrahim Sambolah.
The Department of Environmental Protection reported he hasn't paid his water bill for at least a year, and now owes $2,330.62 in fees, interest and penalties.
Yesterday, four more one-family homes in Brooklyn, The Bronx and Queens were also removed from the city water system for failing to make payments ranging from $1,341.35 to $2,070.76.
DEP spokeswoman Mercedes Padilla said the shutoffs took place without incident, and those affected had plenty of warning.
Last night, she said the owner of one of the waterless properties on 204th Street in Jamaica had contacted the agency.
"They called, but they haven't come in or paid," she said