New York Is Lagging as Seas and Risks Rise, Critics Warn

[mark1447]

 

With a 520-mile-long coast lined largely by teeming roads and fragile infrastructure, New York City is gingerly facing up to the intertwined threats posed by rising seas and ever-more-severe storm flooding.

 

So far, Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg has commissioned exhaustive research on the challenge of climate change. His administration is expanding wetlands to accommodate surging tides, installing green roofs to absorb rainwater and prodding property owners to move boilers out of flood-prone basements.

 

But even as city officials earn high marks for environmental awareness, critics say New York is moving too slowly to address the potential for flooding that could paralyze transportation, cripple the low-lying financial district and temporarily drive hundreds of thousands of people from their homes.

 

Only a year ago, they point out, the city shut down the subway system and ordered the evacuation of 370,000 people as Hurricane Irene barreled up the Atlantic coast. Ultimately, the hurricane weakened to a tropical storm and spared the city, but it exposed how New York is years away from — and billions of dollars short of — armoring itself.

 

“They lack a sense of urgency about this,” said Douglas Hill, an engineer with the Storm Surge Research Group at Stony Brook University, on Long Island.

 

Instead of “planning to be flooded,” as he put it, city, state and federal agencies should be investing in protection like sea gates that could close during a storm and block a surge from Long Island Sound and the Atlantic Ocean into the East River and New York Harbor.

 

Others express concern for areas like the South Bronx and Sunset Park in Brooklyn, which have large industrial waterfronts with chemical-manufacturing plants, oil-storage sites and garbage-transfer stations. Unless hazardous materials are safeguarded with storm surges in mind, some local groups warn, residents could one day be wading through toxic water.

 

“A lot of attention is devoted to Lower Manhattan, but you forget that you have real industries on the waterfront” elsewhere in the city, said Eddie Bautista, executive director of the New York City Environmental Justice Alliance, which represents low-income residents of industrial areas. “We’re behind in consciousness-building and disaster planning.”

 

Other cities are also tackling these issues, at their own pace.

 

New shoreline development around San Francisco Bay must now be designed to cope with the anticipated higher sea levels under new regional regulations imposed last fall. In Chicago, new bike lanes and parking spaces are made of permeable pavement that allows rainwater to filter through it. Charlotte, N.C., and Cedar Falls, Iowa, are restricting development in flood plains. Maryland is pressing shoreline property owners to plant marshland instead of building retaining walls.

 

Officials in New York caution that adapting a city of eight million people to climate change is infinitely more complicated and that the costs must be weighed against the relative risks of flooding. The last time a hurricane made landfall directly in New York City was more than a century ago.

 

Many decisions also require federal assistance, like updated flood maps from the Federal Emergency Management Agency that incorporate sea level rise, and agreement from dozens of public agencies and private partners that own transportation, energy, telecommunications and other infrastructure.

 

“It’s a million small changes that need to happen,” said Adam Freed, until August the deputy director of the city’s Office of Long-Term Planning and Sustainability. “Everything you do has to be a calculation of the risks and benefits and costs you face.”

 

And in any case, Mr. Freed said, “you can’t make a climate-proof city.”

 

So city officials are pursuing a so-called resilience strategy that calls for strengthening the city’s ability to weather the effects of serious flooding and recover from it.

 

Read even more:

 

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/09/11/nyregion/new-york-faces-rising-seas-and-slow-city-action.html?pagewanted=all

[QM1to6Ave]

Oh yeah, we are totally screwed when the waters really start rising. We will have all those shiny new R179 cars, but all the tunnels will be flooded with corrosive salt water, lower manhattan and the Rockaways will disappear, and Staten Island....well, nobody cares about Staten Island anyway.

[Via Garibaldi 8]

Oh yeah, we are totally screwed when the waters really start rising. We will have all those shiny new R179 cars, but all the tunnels will be flooded with corrosive salt water, lower manhattan and the Rockaways will disappear, and Staten Island....well, nobody cares about Staten Island anyway.

 

 

Well some of Staten Island could be spared... At least the parts up in the hills anyway....

[KeystoneRegional]

 

This is another thing NIMBY's (Not In My Back Yard b1tch3s) might oppose - Levees in New York City. Before York City becomes Orleans in 2005, we gotta get York City to handle extreme flooding and stuff or the city will suffer. In fact I believe New York City should get more Tornadoes, Hurricanes and stuff to get idiots here to realize that we are not a "special" city, we are like any other city around the globe. The Weather Channel and many news agencies covered Issac in somewhat of an exaggerating way simply because they have to get people to realize the power of mother nature that may decend upon us. And look at above, another battle of the boroughs, in Fact the boroughs that need the most protection is South Shore Queens, South Shore Brooklyn, Staten Island (The Outerbridge to Bayonne [move counter clockwise along the shore]), Roosevelt Island and the East River Corridor (including the portions that transition into Long Island Sound). We seem to take things for granted, but we have to prepare no matter what.

 

 

 

 

 

I personally think the article is too late, they should've posted this this first year the Rockaways flooded, and they waited until after Irene, One Full Year after Irene to publish it. Keep in mind much of the East River Shores flooded during Hurricane Irene, as well as Battery Park in Lower Manhattan. Source? YouTube Videos that I certify as authentic, no matter if it is taken by others.

 

 

 

 

(Pardon the font size, size 14 and below give me errors here).

 

 

[lilbluefoxie]

 

This is another thing NIMBY's (Not In My Back Yard b1tch3s) might oppose - Levees in New York City. Before York City becomes Orleans in 2005, we gotta get York City to handle extreme flooding and stuff or the city will suffer.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

that would look terrible and ruin all the great views of the rivers. We aren't New Orleans in 05, we actually have a competent mayor, unlike they did back then who sat on his ass and blamed his shortcomings on Bush.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

In fact I believe New York City should get more Tornadoes, Hurricanes and stuff to get idiots here to realize that we are not a "special" city, we are like any other city around the globe.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We are very fortunate to be spared from extreme weather, only a fool would wish destruction on his own home.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Weather Channel and many news agencies covered Issac in somewhat of an exaggerating way simply because they have to get people to realize the power of mother nature that may decend upon us.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

They do it for ratings, if they make it sound like its Armageddon, people are going to flock to the weather channel to watch it.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

And look at above, another battle of the boroughs, in Fact the boroughs that need the most protection is South Shore Queens, South Shore Brooklyn, Staten Island (The Outerbridge to Bayonne [move counter clockwise along the shore]), Roosevelt Island and the East River Corridor (including the portions that transition into Long Island Sound). We seem to take things for granted, but we have to prepare no matter what.

 

 

 

 

 

I personally think the article is too late, they should've posted this this first year the Rockaways flooded, and they waited until after Irene, One Full Year after Irene to publish it. Keep in mind much of the East River Shores flooded during Hurricane Irene, as well as Battery Park in Lower Manhattan. Source? YouTube Videos that I certify as authentic, no matter if it is taken by others.

 

 

 

 

(Pardon the font size, size 14 and below give me errors here).

 

 

 

 

Prepare by acting smart, and heeding the warnings of the news. A good idea is to stock up on supplies BEFORE the storm hits, since everyone knows most hurricanes come in around August-September, in early August, thats the time to go to Wally World or Tarzhey and get your batteries and flashlights and lanterns and radios. If you have money, invest in a portable generator. Long Island is the worst place to be in such a storm emergency or even just to travel to the mainland because of the difficulty of getting off the island. (one of the reasons I plan on moving out of state next year after college)

[Tokkemon]

New Orleans is actually *below* the water surrounding it. That's why there's levees there. New York doesn't have that problem (yet).

[KeystoneRegional]

[/left]

that would look terrible and ruin all the great views of the rivers. We aren't New Orleans in 05, we actually have a competent mayor, unlike they did back then who sat on his ass and blamed his shortcomings on Bush.

 

We are very fortunate to be spared from extreme weather, only a fool would wish destruction on his own home.

 

They do it for ratings, if they make it sound like its Armageddon, people are going to flock to the weather channel to watch it.

 

 

Prepare by acting smart, and heeding the warnings of the news. A good idea is to stock up on supplies BEFORE the storm hits, since everyone knows most hurricanes come in around August-September, in early August, thats the time to go to Wally World or Tarzhey and get your batteries and flashlights and lanterns and radios. If you have money, invest in a portable generator. Long Island is the worst place to be in such a storm emergency or even just to travel to the mainland because of the difficulty of getting off the island. (one of the reasons I plan on moving out of state next year after college)

 

1) I am not blaming Bloomberg or the New Orleans Mayor, in 05' it should be Louisiana Governor Kathleen Blanco's fault for not declaring her state in emergency and request funding from Bush and FEMA. I am simply blasting the New Yorkers who are ignorant and think we are immune from any disaster what-so-ever.

 

2) Only a fool indeed, but I am not a fool, I want a hurricane here to teach the ignorant people's damn butts a lesson.

 

3) Ratings, but people have to still understand and have second thoughts on a hurricane simply because a weatherman is acting a bit funnier and exaggerating a bit, money is money but people still have to get prepared and know the rules you listed on the reply #4.

 

4) That's what all New Yorkers should do now, but soon we are bound to need levees or these tools will not work in favor of those evacuating after a hurricane. Prepare before, not until it hits New York, but people seem to not take my advice on Levees and such and decide to ignore when our neighbors at Wilkes-Barre and our friends at New Orleans are all ready and prepared for the worst.

 

At the end still, I think there should be levees of some sort, no matter what, things sometimes have to change or Long Island would be flooded like New Orleans and same for New York City. It only takes a small hill to prevent water from flooding in and putting our subways into lockdown.

 

 

New Orleans is actually *below* the water surrounding it. That's why there's levees there. New York doesn't have that problem (yet).

 

Yet but soon, in fact the Rockaways flood every year lately, I could say we have this problem right here right now, but because it happens in the Rockaways, I'll be like a typical Non-Rockawayian and say we don't (yet), though I shouldn't do that.

[lilbluefoxie]

I still find your wishing a hurricane to cause thousands of dollars in property damage, and possibly even kill people to be very disturbing.

[KeystoneRegional]

I still find your wishing a hurricane to cause thousands of dollars in property damage, and possibly even kill people to be very disturbing.

 

 

Well, for these NIMBY's and ignorant people who don't want Levees, the use of taxpayer money and other stuff, you have to bring a hurricane or torrential continuous downpour over a time span to get them to realize why NYC needs to get ready for a disaster caused by water.

[lilbluefoxie]

where are you going to build a levee system there? First off you would have to rebuild all the ports in Manhattan and Brooklyn. Secondly you would reduce the size of the hudson and east rivers. Then how are you going to protect all of Queens and Brooklyn, the only way a functional levee system is going to work is if you surround the entire Long Island in a Levee system and that has no chance in hell of ever being built. Best get our resources to solve real problems like crime and crumbling infrastructure than theoretical ones such as the fallacy of global warming.

[Far Rock Depot]

to be honest, the flooding in Rosedale is waaaaaaaaay worse than in the rockaways. Back in the 90s, the major problem in rockaway was beach erosion after the numerous nor'easters we were hit with. High tide would reach up to the boardwalk in many sections. Although there are a few streets that do get flooded-mostly on the Bay side, it's not as horrendous as Rosedale.

[lilbluefoxie]

you mean the marshy area by the airport?

[Far Rock Depot]

If you're referring to Rosedale, yeah. But also mostly around the 147th Ave stretch served by the Q111/113. I remember when I was a teenager riding the 113 one time where 147th was so flooded the water got over the second step at the front door. Now in rockaway, the only streets I've seen flooded are the streets that dead end at the Bay, but not all of them.

[lilbluefoxie]

If you're referring to Rosedale, yeah. But also mostly around the 147th Ave stretch served by the Q111/113. I remember when I was a teenager riding the 113 one time where 147th was so flooded the water got over the second step at the front door. Now in rockaway, the only streets I've seen flooded are the streets that dead end at the Bay, but not all of them.

 

 

im not sure on teh boundarys of rosedale, im talking about the Brookville Blvd area by that marsh.

[Phantom909]

will any levee system protect us from the collapse of cumbre vieja?

 

joe

[KeystoneRegional]

Well, I guess since people don't want the levee system built, I guess the alternative is move our corporate facilities to the Hudson Palisades - Newark, NJ corridor, Wilkes-Barre and Scranton, PA corridor and White Plains-Stamford, NYCT Corridors...