Gotham Gazette

The Place for New York Policy and politics

resiliency

resiliency

  • Battery Park City Authority Gets Expanded Capacity to Fund Major Lower Manhattan Resiliency Projects

    Battery Park City (photo: @Ingfbruno via WikiCommons)


    The state budget approved last month gave the Battery Park City Authority the ability to raise an additional $1 billion in funding for resiliency projects that will protect the southern tip of Manhattan from the worsening effects of the climate crisis.

    The Battery Park City Authority (BPCA) is a state entity originally created in 1968 to develop and improve the neighborhoods on the west side of Lower Manhattan. It is responsible for maintaining and upgrading the physical landscape of the 92 acres under its purview, home to nearly 17,000

    ...
  • New York City Needs Federal Legislation for Preventative Climate Resilience

    Climate resiliency efforts (photo: Ed Reed/Mayoral Photography Office)


    Our nation faces a growing and urgent need to enhance our resilience to flooding and other natural disasters, which are becoming increasingly frequent, intense, and costly. For example, since 2000, flood-related disasters in the U.S. have accounted for more than $850 billion in damage and losses. We can no longer afford to delay action to more fully and proactively address the devastating effects of extreme weather events such as these. 

    New York

    ...
  • Ten Years After Sandy, New York is More Resilient Than Ever, with More Work to Do

    Resilient planning (photo: Michael Appleton/Mayoral Photography Office)


    Ten years ago, New York City received one of the biggest wake-up calls in its history – climate change was here, and we were not ready.

    Superstorm Sandy, which killed 44 New Yorkers and caused $19 billion in damages and lost economic activity, was the first massive climate-change-driven storm to hit the five boroughs — and, as we are now well-aware, it wouldn’t be the last. We did learn some very important lessons.

    First among them: if we are going to build, and rebuild, we need to build resiliently. That is

    ...
  • Max Politics Podcast: The Environmental Bond Act Ballot Proposal and Other Key Climate Issues

    Rooftop solar panels (photo: Gabriel López Albarrán)


    October 13, 2022 - Max Politics Podcast: The Environmental Bond Act Ballot Proposal and Other Key Climate Issues

    Proposal 1 on the 2022 general election ballot is a statewide referendum on the $4.2 billion Environmental Bond Act, which New York voters will approve or disapprove this fall. Julie Tighe, president of the New York League of Conservation Voters, and Amy Chester, managing director of Rebuild by Design, joined the show to discuss the bond act and other major New York climate issues.

    Listen to the

    ...
  • Adams Administration Officials Outline Preparations for Massive Influx of Federal Infrastructure Funding

    Infrastructure underway (photo: Michael Appleton/Mayoral Photography Office)


    The $1.2 trillion infrastructure law enacted in November by Congress and President Joe Biden is expected to funnel about $27 billion to New York State, with a hefty portion of that funding flowing to New York City. The City Council wants to ensure that those resources will be used well and distributed equitably across the city, and at a hearing on Tuesday, Council members sought plans from Mayor Eric Adams’ nascent administration to accomplish that goal. 

    Tuesday’s joint hearing was held by the Council’s Committee on

    ...
  • To Help Increase Resiliency, New York City Needs More Community-Tailored Climate Information

    46464293425 4cc7a53813 c

    Protecting NYC from climate change (photo: Paige Polk/Mayoral Photography Office)


    Climate change seriously upped its impact this year in New York City. Hurricane Ida produced historic rainfall and flooding, which triggered flash flood warnings across all five boroughs for the first time ever and caused at least ...

  • City Council Passes Bill Requiring 'Citywide Climate Adaptation Plan'

    1 rockaways atl sf

    Coastal resiliency project underway (photo: Michael Appleton/Mayoral Photography Office)


    Update: The City Council approved the Citywide Climate Adaptation Plan legislation on Thursday, October 7.

    After Hurricane Ida once again exposed New York City’s vulnerability to major climate events, the New York City Council is set to pass, and Mayor Bill de Blasio is expected to sign, a bill that will mandate the creation of a new “citywide climate adaptation plan.”

    The Council will vote on Thursday to approve the legislation, ...

  • De Blasio Administration Looks Toward Final Climate Actions

    1 de blasio admin final climate

    The new Brooklyn Bright bike lane (photo: Ed Reed/Mayoral Photography Office)


    The administration of Mayor Bill de Blasio is putting the final touches on its efforts to combat climate change and create a more sustainable city, with significant short- and long-term challenges at play, major decisions to be made in the mayor’s final months in office, and questions about its policy choices.

    Ben Furnas, the director of the Mayor’s Office of Climate and Sustainability, points to key accomplishments of the last several

    ...
  • ‘It’s About Sweating the Small Stuff’: Council Member Brannan on Resiliency Oversight, Improving City Government, and Running for Speaker

    3 brannan improv city

    City Council Member Justin Brannan (photo: John McCarten/City Council)


    Following the severe destruction across the city from Hurricane Ida, City Council Member Justin Brannan is urging immediate measures to better equip the city to withstand severe storms in the future and “our new climate reality.”

    Brannan, a Democrat who chairs the Council’s Committee on Resiliency and Waterfronts, appeared recently on

    ...
  • Everything is Connected: New York City’s Climate Crisis Demands a New Way of Thinking

    visits hurricaneqns

    Mayor de Blasio surveys damage from Ida (photo: Ed Reed/Mayoral Photography Office)


    When the long tail of Hurricane Ida brought record rainfall to our region earlier this month, public officials claimed they were blindsided by the damage that resulted. While it’s notoriously difficult to accurately predict rainfall, the devastating societal impacts of the storm were not a surprise to those who follow these issues closely.

    An inundated transit system, flooded homes in lower-income neighborhoods, residents trapped in basement apartments.

    ...
  • Max Politics Podcast: City Council Member Justin Brannan on Resiliency Oversight, Running for Speaker, & More

    just resilence600

    City Council Member Justin Brannan (photo: John McCarten/City Council)


    September 16, 2021 - Max Politics Podcast: City Council Member Justin Brannan on Resiliency Oversight & More

    City Council Member Justin Brannan, chair of the Council's resiliency and waterfronts committee and a candidate to be the next speaker of the Council, joined the show to discuss his recent oversight hearing and other issues related to resiliency and government effectiveness, as well as his bid for speaker and more.

    Listen to

    ...
  • Climate Groups Call on 2021 Candidates to Back NYC Green New Deal Agenda

    NYC Green New Deal rally Trump Tower

    An NYC Green New Deal event (photo: Michael Appleton/Mayor's Office)


    A coalition of climate-conscious groups is calling on candidates running for citywide and City Council positions in this year’s full slate of city government elections to sign a pledge to create a Green New Deal for New York City, with specific policy proposals.

    The pledge asks that candidates who sign both advocate and vote for Green New Deal policies at the city level. The recommended policies aim to end fossil fuel infrastructure, create more

    ...
  • Claiming 'The Campaign of Ideas' in Mayoral Race, Shaun Donovan Releases Climate and Transit Plans

  • New York City Needs a Resiliency Plan that Creates Green Jobs for New Yorkers

    solar panels green jobs NYC

    Solar panels rendering (image: Mayor's Office) 


    Eight years ago today, October 29, Hurricane Sandy struck the Eastern seaboard, causing severe flooding and power loss throughout New York City and the entire region. Sandy was very personal to me and my family as I know it was to many of you and yours. Friends nearby in Brooklyn lost their homes and businesses, and one even lost her life. I was honored when President Obama asked me to lead a federal task force to ensure we recovered and rebuilt stronger. The Sandy effort showed how strong and resilient

    ...
  • City Council Must Act Now to Protect the Lower East Side

    escr rendering

    (rendering: City of New York)


    It has been seven years since Superstorm Sandy made landfall on our city, causing billions of dollars in damage and ravaging some of our city’s most critical infrastructure, including our parks. It took years for the famous boardwalks in Coney Island and the Rockaways to re-open. Trees across our coastlines died and continue to be at risk from exposure to salt water. And many of our coastal parks are no less protected from the next big storm today than they were in 2012.

    As a steward and advocate for our city’s parks, I know that we can’t

    ...
  • 7 Years After Sandy - Part II: The City’s Limited Resiliency Efforts Since

    coneyisland wetlands rendering

    Rendering of Coney Island wetlands project (photo: mayor's office, Oct. 2013)


    This is part two of a three-part series on '7 Years After Sandy.' Find part one -- Pieces In Place That Worked, Rebuilding Efforts That Failed -- here. Find part three --

    ...
  • 7 Years After Sandy - Part I: Pieces In Place That Worked, Rebuilding Efforts That Failed

    aerial view bridge

    Brooklyn Bridge Park (photo: mayor's office)


    This is part one of a three-part series on '7 Years After Sandy.' Part two -- on the city’s stalled and advancing resiliency measures -- can be found hereThis series is part of Gotham Gazette's work in participation with the Covering Climate Now project, which includes over 250 media outlets focusing on

    ...
  • Leaving the REBNY vs NIMBY Doom Loop

    city planning manhattan brooklyn waterfront

    (photo: NYC Planning)


    This past week, amidst flooded streets, blackouts, overheated jails, and subway failures, New Yorkers saw the consequences that result from a failure to engage in strategic long-term planning for the future of our city. In the final decisions of the 2019 Charter Revision Commission, we also missed a big chance to do something about it.

    The dangers of failing to invest strategically in the infrastructure that sustains our city will grow in coming decades, as temperatures

    ...
  • Getting New York City Ready for the Next Big Storm - & the Next Heat Wave, Flash Floods & Other Climate Emergencies

    cm carlos m cm dan gardonick marine

     (photo: William Alatriste New York City Council)


    Billy Joel’s dystopian vision for New York City, laid out in the very upbeat but equally terrifying “Miami 2017,” is coming true. The lights have indeed gone out on Broadway. Perhaps the only difference is that Queens won’t stay. 

    This is New York City in 2019: a near 100-degree heat wave shut down power for hundreds of thousands of New Yorkers, who then trudged through flooded streets once the high temperatures gave way to torrential

    ...
  • Max & Murphy Podcast: Examining the City's Resiliency Planning & Emergency Preparedness

    Justin Brannan

    (photo: John McCarten/City Council)


    July 24, 2019 - Max & Murphy Podcast: Evaluating the City's Emergency Preparedness

    cm justin brannan 150 wbaiCity Council Member Justin Brannan represents parts of southern Brooklyn and is the chair of the newly-created Council Committee on Resiliency & Waterfronts. He joined the show to discuss recent emergencies

    ...
  • Zoning for a More Resilient Future

    more resilient future

    (photo: City Planning Department)


    As the threat of climate change grows more prevalent by the day, cities must take the lead in reducing our carbon footprint and becoming more resilient. This year, New York City has taken a big, green step forward, with actions by Mayor Bill de Blasio and the City Council that will decrease our emissions.

    When it comes to withstanding the storms and flooding that climate change will bring more frequently, though, it’s vital that existing zoning rules don’t stand in the way of protective measures for the buildings that make

    ...
  • We Can’t Effectively Plan for Climate Change without Real Community Dialogue and Long-term Planning

    mayorbilldbl500

    (photo: Paige Polk/Mayoral Photography Office)


    As we march toward a new climate reality, are we leaving the public behind? The New York City Panel on Climate Change’s (NPCC) 2019 report, released on March 15, offers a sobering new lens known as the Rapid Ice Melt scenario: the metropolitan region could experience 9.5 feet of sea level rise by the end of the century. That’s six inches short of the height of a regulation basketball hoop.

    The real ‘March madness’ spilling into April and beyond is that we have barely any plan or resources to adapt our

    ...
  • Suggestions for Better Disaster Relief from Former HUD Leader

    NYC Ferries

    NYC Ferries (Michael Appleton/Mayor's Office)


    As the city approaches the five-year anniversary of Hurricane Sandy, which ravaged the eastern seaboard and wrecked homes and businesses in New York’s coastal communities, a new report says there is more work to be done to prepare for the next storm.

    Former HUD regional administrator for New York and New Jersey Holly Leicht, who oversaw the Department of Housing and Urban Development’s $15.2 billion Superstorm Sandy recovery program, presented ...

  • Building in the Wrong Places: A Pivotal Choice

    hudson river park aerial

    photo: Hudson River Park Trust


    Building sites for so-called "parks" or other misplaced uses in or over the water offshore is a ruinous policy. Unprecedented proposals now before the City Council to help finance such in-water construction by selling legally dubious "air rights" (supposedly unused development rights) from sites in the lower Hudson River--starting with Pier 40--or other public waterways to mega-developers would magnify this harmful policy's potentially catastrophic citywide impacts.

    Joanne Witty's ...