Hurricane Sandy underscored New York City’s long-standing vulnerabilities as a large, diverse city with 520 miles of coastline. A staggering 50.6 square miles of New York City flooded during the storm —17 percent of the City’s total land mass—and in many areas the depth of floodwaters was unprecedented.
In response, the City has developed a range of varied and nuanced solutions to help vulnerable areas continue to recover from the storm and better withstand climate events in the future. The resiliency programs outlined in the CDBG-DR Action Plan are designed to complement these and other efforts the City is undertaking and totals over $473.2 million in funding.
More details for each of these programs can be found by visiting the program links below or by viewing relevant sections of the CDBG-DR Action Plan.
In addition, the City is the recipient of an $176 million award from The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s National Disaster Resiliency (NDR) Competition. You can read more about the City’s NDR award by visiting our National Disaster Resiliency page.
Rebuild By Design - Hunts Point: Hunts Point is the location of the City’s largest food distribution center. In order to make it less vulnerable to the impacts of extreme weather events, the City has made it a priority site for integrated coastal protection interventions and other food supply-specific initiatives such as continuous power.
Staten Island University Hospital: Staten Island University Hospital (SIUH) is home to the largest emergency room in Staten Island and both its North and South Shore campuses are on low-lying property and are vulnerable to flooding from extreme weather events. The City is working with SIUH to elevate critical infrastructure at both campuses, and add stormwater and wind resiliency measures at its North campus.
Breezy Point Mitigation: The Breezy Point Risk Mitigation Project is a critical part of barrier island protection for both the Breezy Point community and the Jamaica Bay watershed and floodplain. The proposed project has two principal components: a double dune system on the ocean-side of the community and new protective measures on the bayside.
Coney Island Resiliency Improvements: This project will advance resiliency measures at Coney Island Creek by reinforcing and raising coastal edges vulnerable to sea level rise and high recurrence coastal floods.
Raise Shorelines: This program aims to protect neighborhoods and infrastructure that were adversely impacted by Sandy by strengthening coastal protection measures. Funding will be used for design and permitting for coastal protection measures in low-lying neighborhoods throughout the City.