Photo Courtesy of Ed Reed/Mayoral Photography Office
“Our city is safer, more resilient and more sustainable today than ever before,” Mayor de Blasio said last week.
By Forum Staff
In the four years since Superstorm Sandy blasted a path through parts of NYC, the City has made “significant progress” on coastal defense and climate resiliency measures in some of the most vulnerable communities across the five boroughs, the de Blasio administration announced last Friday.
Some projects include dunes to protect coasts; storm water management and bluebelt initiatives to lessen flooding impacts and protect water quality; more precise flood maps; and more than $3 billion for reconstruction and resiliency measures across New York City Housing Authority developments impacted by the storm, including elevation of key infrastructure above flood lines and flood-proofing of ground-floor facilities.
Sandy struck New York City in October 2012, taking the lives of New Yorkers and causing more than $19 billion in damages and lost economic activity. And as the administration pointed out, the storm also exposed pre-existing challenges in the City’s waterfront communities and highlighted vulnerabilities to coastal storms and rising seas.
“Four years ago, Sandy lifted the veil on many of the City’s vulnerabilities,” Mayor Bill de Blasio noted. “Since then, we have put a tremendous amount of effort into defending our coastal communities and ensuring that our buildings and infrastructure are prepared to tackle 21st century threats. Our city is safer, more resilient and more sustainable today than ever before, and I thank our federal partners who have helped us along the way. Whether we’re talking about updated and more precise flood maps, or the reconstruction of the Rockaway Boardwalk, our City is continuing to make strides to strengthen the city’s resiliency.”
According to the administration, major coastal protection projects, like those being advanced in cooperation with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers in Staten Island and Jamaica Bay (encompassing the Rockaway peninsula, South Queens and Southern Brooklyn), and others such as the East Side Coastal Resiliency project, the Red Hook Integrated Flood Protection System and the Hunts Point Resiliency Project, have met critical milestones in their planning and design process.
Several key recent achievements include:
- Agreement with FEMA to launch a partnership to draft new, more precise flood insurance maps that are saving 35,000 homeowners tens of millions of dollars in premiums already, de Blasio said. These new maps will reflect both current flood risk and future climate conditions, including sea level rise.
- Reopening of the entire length of the Rockaway Boardwalk, setting a global standard for resilient shoreline design, boasted de Blasio. The rebuilt 5.5-mile stretch now extends from Beach 19th Street to Beach 126th Street and will be fully complete by this summer.
- Created more than 9,000 jobs since Sandy through the City’s resiliency program and successfully completed the Hurricane Sandy Business Loan and Grant Program, awarding more than $54 million in support to nearly 350 businesses citywide. Through BusinessPREP and RISE:NYC initiatives, the City will continue support small business resiliency with grants and innovative technologies, de Blasio promised.
- Improved infrastructure citywide through partnerships with regional infrastructure providers, including working successfully with Con Edison to pledge more than $1 billion in investments to harden its steam, electric and natural gas distribution infrastructure.
