Unpaid Water Bill in Buffalo NY

[Peter Phillip]

I made a stupid mistake. I sold a property at the end of 2018 and forgot to close my water account in the city of Buffalo. I just received a bill in my mail in my name ~$3,000 of the unpaid water bill. I know it is an extremely stupid move but where I am from, back home, all utilities get closed at the time of sale and I did not have an attorney to guide me through the process (Second big mistake). What can I do?

For a bit of background; the property burned down in mid-2017and I didn't know the water and utilities weren't closed and were in my name.