Stephen Zahn, left, a natural resources supervisor for the state Department of Environmental Conservation, and Venetia Lannon, a regional director for the state DEC, spoke at the CB 10 meeting last Thursday about the state’s plan to spend millions of dollars on a flood mitigation project for Howard Beach. Photo by Anna Gustafson
A $50 million flood mitigation project for Howard Beach will help to ensure that the kind of devastation wrought during Hurricane Sandy will never hit the area again, two representatives from the state Department of Environmental Conservation said at a Community Board 10 meeting last Thursday.
“This is the kickoff meeting for a project we’re really excited about,” Venetia Lannon, a regional director for the state DEC, said at last week’s meeting held at the Knights of Columbus building in South Ozone Park.
Gov. Cuomo has allocated $3 million in state funds for the design of the initiative known as the Spring Creek Hazard Mitigation Project, followed by about $47 million for implementation. The plan, Lannon said, is a trailblazing one that will utilize “nature-based infrastructure” to deter flooding, such as planting marsh grass.
“How can we protect against future flooding?” Lannon asked.
“There’s no silver bullet,” she continued, but stressed that the natural infrastructure project will help ensure that residents will never again see their homes completely destroyed as many of them were during Sandy.
“Since Sandy, plans to protect us from future storms have gone into overdrive,” said Stephen Zahn, a natural resources supervisor for the state DEC.
Cuomo announced the South Queens project in December, which he said would pay for the project along a 150-acre span along Spring Creek and Jamaica Bay.
“Like several other communities located by water, Howard Beach suffered incredible damage from storm surges during Superstorm Sandy,” Cuomo said upon announcing the initiative. “…As the state continues to work with local communities to identify and implement strategies to make at-risk areas more resilient to extreme weather, this project is another example of how we’re building back better to better protect New Yorkers’ homes and businesses.”
The flood mitigation efforts will occur along Spring Creek’s eastern shore and Jamaica Bay’s northern shore. The project site is bounded by the Belt Parkway to the north and, to the southeast, 78th Street, 161st Avenue, 83rd Street, 165th Avenue, and Cross Bay Boulevard.
The project will feature low- and high-level vegetated salt marshes, dune complexes, grasslands, and maritime forests. Additionally, approximately 765,00 cubic yards of material will be excavated at the project site and reshaped to create higher inland contours. About 40,000 cubic yards of sand will be imported and spread across the project area to create a six-food cover for planting purposes.
According to Cuomo, the project will restore more than 150 acres of maritime habitats, including dunes and forests; 49 acres of low marsh; 10 acres of high marsh; and six acres of tidal creek.
As part of the project, Zahn said the DEC wants “to maintain and improve public access through the park,” something about which a number of CB 10 members voiced worries.
“I’m worried it’ll become a place where people will bring hibachis and barbeque,” CB 10 member Joann Ariola said. “Once it’s open to the public, who will police that area?”
Lannon responded that state officials “imagined it more as a nature walkway, not a place where you hang out, sunbathe and barbeque.”
CB 10 member and newly-elected second vice chairman John Calcagnile stressed that the state needs to focus on old Howard Beach as well as new Howard Beach.
“While I appreciate this study, the wetlands absorbed a lot of the storm,” he said. “I’d like to see this project spread out through old Howard Beach.”
When Cuomo first announced the project, residents voiced similar concerns, saying there needs to be efforts to protect such areas as Charles Park and Hamilton Beach, as well as Shellbank and Hawtree basins.
By Anna Gustafson
