ECO LOGIC - HOLD BACK THE SEA
By Madeleine Dale, Senior Vice President, West Side Office
Wrapped in 520 miles of waterfront, New York City has more shoreline to defend than any other U.S. city. To address the challenge of rising oceans, the City released a new plan for A Stronger, More Resilient New York. An addition to the expansive PlaNYC, the 456 page report is bursting with “actionable recommendations for rebuilding the communities impacted by Sandy and increasing the resilience of infrastructure citywide.” The NY Times headline $20Billion Plan to Shore Up City as Climate Shifts drew attention to the price tag, but after $19 billion in Sandy damage, the costs of prevention seems modest.
If anything, the fiscal restraint will disappoint advocates of technological mega fixes, along the lines of grand projects like Moses in Venice. Instead of a massive barrier stretching across the Verrazano Narrows, a balanced approach will mix new construction of flood walls, levees and jetties with restoration of natural barriers like wetlands and dunes. On sites from Staten Island, to City Island to Coney Island, protective measures will mitigate damages but offer no guarantees that future storms won’t require future evacuations. By design, pragmatism sets the tone: “Rather than talk about it and have plans that never get fulfilled, we’re actually doing something,“ Mayor Michael Bloomberg explained the Special Initiative for Rebuilding & Resiliency. Implementation can begin immediately and will extend into the next decade using Federal and City funds already allocated and Congressional grants approved after Sandy.
Along with Tokyo, Miami, Hong Kong, Bangkok and Mumbai, NYC is on a short list of costal cities with populations over 5 million vulnerable to creeping sea levels. While estimates of global sea level rise are measured in inches (4 to 11 inches), projections for local area increases reach up to 5 feet by 2080. And the gravest hazards are the increasing intensity and frequency of storms. Critical infrastructure already in the path of storm surges includes 50% of the City’s power plants, several hospitals as well as tunnels and trains. Irene and Sandy, two whoppers which hit practically back to back, prompted the map revisions released this week by Federal Emergency Management Agency. The NY Times reports the new boundaries place 800,000 residents in an area labeled the ”100 year flood plain“ by 2050. Surprisingly there are no calls to abandon waterfront construction.
The Rs in SIRR, the Special Initiative for Rebuilding and Resiliency, do not stand for retreat. Though Sandy flooded the Brooklyn Naval Yards with four feet of water, the City has an RfP out for developers interested in adding 40,000 square feet of retail. The ambitious Sea Port City, tucked into the proposal, is presented as a storm surge barrier with benefits. The development on the scale of Battery Park City to be built on landfill and jetties along the south-east tip of Manhattan will sit in one of the lowest lying areas on the island.
"This is primarily a resiliency initiative, not a development initiative,” the president of the city’s Economic Development Corp., Seth Pinsky, told CRAINS. “But it is one that has the added benefit of providing economic-development dividends. We know that there’s demand for land in Manhattan.” While some cities add infrastructure to hold back the sea, this metropolis builds bigger and higher right up on the edge.
To work with Madeleine, contact her over email at mdale@halstead.com.
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Thoughts of Eco Logic are those of Madeleine Dale and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of Halstead Property, LLC