Installing bulkheads, levees and even developing a new mini-neighborhood of sorts on Manhattan’s east side are all part of a $20 billion move and plan by Mayor Michael Bloomberg as to help block the city and its boroughs from future devastation like Hurricane Sandy, the New York Observer reported.
The mayor said in a statement obtained by the observer; “This plan is incredibly ambitious — and much of the work will extend far beyond the next 200 days — but we refused to pass the responsibility for creating a plan onto the next administration. This is urgent work, and it must begin now.”
The new neighborhood would be an area similar to Battery Park City and would be dubbed Seaport City. It would serve to protect the coastal areas south of the Brooklyn Bridge and would be built atop a levee that stretches into Brooklyn and starts in Manhattan.
Along riverfront areas, the mayor also proposed installing removable “adaptable floodwalls” and along the eastern shore of Staten Island we could also see the rise of a new levee and floodwall.
There are also new dune systems proposed for the storm-battered Rockaways and Staten Island as well as a “double dune” in Breezy Point.
With 250 suggestions for keeping the city safe during extreme weather, the city is proposing to pay for all of the $20 billion price tag with federal aid and city capital funding, the Observer stated.
Crain’s reported that Mayor Michael Bloomberg and City Council Speaker Christine Quinn convened a task force that will assess the damage done by Superstorm Sandy and has released a proposal to overhaul the city’s building code. The goal they have in mind is ensuring buildings are more storm-resilient.
Unveiled at the City Lights Building in Long Island City, 33 specific changes to the building code were made by the Resilient Buildings Task Force report and recommendations were grouped into four categories: better planning, strong buildings, essential safety and backup power.
From high-rise office towers and apartment buildings to single-family homes and ground-floor shops, the report also clearly describes how each of the recommendations affect all the city’s different types of buildings.
Things like an architecture competition that might lead to new models for raising buildings without ruining New York’s street life were called for in the report for both short and long-term action.
Bloomberg said in a statement, “We have to be able to withstand and recover quickly from all hazards posed by climate change.”
Source: www.nj.com
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