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Last year, the United States Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) released its official proposal for protecting the New York City metropolitan area from storm surges and coastal flooding. The $52 billion plan would go toward building extensive new infrastructure along the shorelines of the five boroughs.

But while it seems promising in its ability to fortify the city against storm surge, some community advocates in Hunters Point, Queens are pushing back on the plan. They argue the proposal is too general and inadequately tailored to the unique needs and flooding risks of neighborhoods like theirs– making it an inappropriate solution that could cause more problems than it solves.

“[Recent flooding events in Hunters Point] are related to a hurricane that comes, and not because it brings a storm surge, but because it dumps a huge amount of rain that overwhelms the sewage system and the drainage system,” said Jessica Sechrist, executive director of the Hunters Point Parks Conservancy. 

Hunters Point, which borders Long Island City and sits just north of Newtown Creek on the East River, has shifted in past decades into a rapidly growing residential area through the construction of apartment buildings as well as extensive new parks along the water.

One of the most concerning elements of the USACE plan, according to Sechrist, involves a seagate that would sit at the opening of Newtown Creek, protecting it from overflowing in the event of a storm surge. But under the right circumstances, she said, a gate could have the unintended effect of blocking the flow of water in the opposite direction—leaving the combined sewage overflows with nowhere to go.

“There is a concern”, Sechrist says, “that in the event of a non-Sandy type of hurricane where we just get very heavy rain without an associated storm surge, Newtown Creek will flood because there are now more limitations to its ability to go anywhere, and when these floods happen, it will flood with raw sewage [instead of seawater].

For many Hunters Point residents, the USACE proposal is frightening; it talks extensively of gray infrastructure such as seawalls, levees, and deployable flood barriers that seem impossible to imagine over the gorgeously designed parks.

The HPPC, a community-based organization whose mission is supporting and advocating for the parks in the neighborhood,  released an official statement in February responding to the USACE’s proposal and voicing their concerns. 

Some of the main issues brought forth by the HPPC were that this plan disregards the green infrastructure that already exists within the park’s design. For instance, it involves the building of a seawall over the wetlands in the park, which function to absorb excess seawater and are so effective that they “took no damage from flooding” during Hurricane Sandy, according to the statement. 

The Army Corps of Engineers should “continue to explore Natural and Nature Based Solutions [and] build on the extensive work already completed and being planned by the City and State when considering waterfront design options” the HPPC said in their statement.

The Newtown Creek Alliance also took issue with the USACE plan, issuing an official response to the proposal in which they argued that the storm surge projections utilized by the Army Corps were calculated based on data from 1983-2001. Therefore, “other factors (like the impact an increased water level could have on river flows) were excluded,” the Alliance said in the statement. 

The data also is only focused on storm surge, which Sechrist said doesn’t show the full picture. The biggest threat when it comes to flooding in Hunters Point is not necessarily storm surge, but simply a rising water table due to climate change and intense wet weather, which the USACE’s proposal fails to acknowledge. “[Recent flooding events] are related to a hurricane that comes, and not because it brings a storm surge, but because it dumps a huge amount of rain that overwhelms the sewage system and the drainage system,” she said. “And causes flooding in the subways, basement apartments, etc.”

Sechrist predicts that most of the USACE’s proposals would be unlikely to come to fruition due to the successful advocacy of the community in conjunction with other groups such as the Newtown Creek Alliance and North Brooklyn Parks Alliance. The plan is still in the early stages and still needs approval and funding from the federal government before its projected construction start date in 2030.

The Wildwoods, one of New Jersey’s most popular summer destinations, is preparing for its usual onslaught of tourists and beachgoers. But this summer, North Wildwood, one of The Wildwoods’ towns, is in for a different reality, where most people will be lucky to find remnants of a beach. 

Sand from North Wildwood’s beach is washing away at a devastatingly fast rate and according to Mayor Patrick Rosenello, the state of New Jersey has failed in its duty of protecting his town’s shore, essentially leaving the community to fend for itself when it comes to fighting the erosion. The town did so by trucking in sand from neighboring Wildwood over the past ten years on its own dime. However, the situation has reached a breaking point because 2022 was the final time North Wildwood would truck sand in, and summer 2023 will see no imported sand for the first time in a decade.

Two months ago, North Wildwood sued the state for $21 million, claiming this was how much the town had spent to combat the erosion. The New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection (NJDEP) countersued a month later for $12 million, saying the town had completed beach restoration projects without approval. Unfortunately, Caryn Shinske, NJDEP’s press officer, and Michele Kropilak, manager of the NJDEP’s Bureau of Coastal and Land Use Compliance and Enforcement, have declined to provide any commentary, stating they are unable to do so because this is an ongoing litigation. The legal battle and halt in trucking sand will have major implications for the future of the tourism industry in North Wildwood, as well as the homes and businesses of year-round residents.

“[The state has] dug their feet until it became an absolute crisis, which is where it is right now,” said Rosenello.

Following superstorm Sandy, the state and Army Corps of Engineers spent approximately $800 million on shore protection, but The Wildwoods, which encompass one of the only three free beaches in the state, received three-tenths of one percent of those funds. Rosenello explains that one has to go back to 1962 to understand why the island received such a tiny fraction. That year, there was a powerful storm that destroyed many areas along the shore and triggered a long series of federal and state replenishment projects up through the 90s’.  

“The Wildwoods had the largest beaches in the state of New Jersey, actually the widest beaches on the East Coast. And so getting The Wildwoods into one of those federal projects was never a priority…[but] that began to change in the mid 1990s [when the] North Wall in particular began to lose beach.”

The problem is, at that point, the procedures and regulations to kickstart a project had become too troublesome to make any progress, which leads back to today’s struggles.

Marguerite Wisch owns The Sahara Motel on 18th Street and Alante Motel on 8th Street. She kindly explained all of the problems she’s experiencing and projecting for the upcoming season.

“There is going to be a lot of turmoil this year,” said Marguerite.

She highlighted that incoming guests asked her if there’s going to be a beach when they show up, and others have already canceled their reservations. Local homeowners have also expressed concern over their properties.

“It’s damaging the price of property. From 2nd Street to 7th Street there’s no beach. I own a condo on 6th Street also and the people that live in [the building] are asking ‘Where do we go? What do we do?’ We’re not beach property anymore.”’

Additionally, Marguerite predicts that there will be spillover effects on the motels and streets that still have beachfront access. Both of her motels remain beachfront property, but the motel and beach area will become incredibly dense and unpleasant because of the concentrated influx of people who would’ve otherwise gone elsewhere. Clearly, she is extremely concerned about her guests’ experiences.

“The parking is going to be horrific.”

Marguerite’s and many others situations are incredibly unfortunate, especially when considering how well the tourism industry has done the past couple years. Ben Rose, Director of Marketing and Public Relations of the Greater Wildwoods Tourism Authority explained that The Wildwoods as a whole saw record-breaking tourism in 2021 and 2022, with 2022 being the best year yet. Most of this success is attributed to COVID-19, for The Wildwoods saw a significant increase in tourism volume because all those who would’ve flown for vacation during the pandemic ended up traveling locally.

Nonetheless, Ben’s perspective on the situation aligns with Mayor Rosenello’s and Marguerite’s.

“They need a permanent solution down there as far as affecting tourism. All of the rental properties and all of the hotels that are directly opposite the beach… could be affected because people will no longer be able to just walk straight down to the beach and enjoy [it and the ocean].”

For now, all the locals and tourists can do is wait for the state to step in and start the beach restoration projects that are long overdue. Hopefully such initiatives will begin soon and any future damage will be mitigated.

Right now, there are no studies to see if there is a safe level of consumption of PFAS. However, New York State has proposed a new regulation for PFAS in drinking water which would establish the maximum contaminant levels at 10ppt (parts per trillion). As of 2021, areas such as the Water Authority of Western Nassau County and Garden City Park Water District have a contaminant level of 68.7ppt and 57.5ppt respectively. This is well beyond the recommended maximum contaminant levels.

Not many people knew about this growing concern. I have surveyed 50 residents of Long Island and a growing number of them had no idea that their water could be contaminated. About 80% of residents that I have surveyed responded with a resounding “No, I didn’t know this was happen to my water.”

15% of the residents surveyed had some knowledge on the issue and 5% of the residents surveyed responded with “Yes, I know this was happening.”

One resident that responded “Yes” mention they started to rely on bottle water for their drinking water but still use their tap water for cooking. Their initial reaction when hearing this was “shocked” since the water didn’t taste any different. If they didn’t watch the news, they would have never heard about the water issue.

This resident lives in Huntington where their contaminate levels aren’t as high as other counties in Long Island.

Citizens Campaign for the Environment (CCE) formed in 1985 by a small group of concerned residents of Long Island. Today, CCE has grown beyond the Long Island areas with offices in Albany, NY, Syracuse, NY, and Buffalo, NY. Helping citizens have more impact and involvement in crucial environmental campaigns is one of their main objectives. By giving members the chance to engage in the political process, CCE continues to work to empower the public and push a compelling environmental agenda. A representative of the organization said “Long Island has a serious water problem on their hands. There needs to be more attention on this issue since many are unaware.”

“Right now, CCE is partnering with Yale Superfund Research Center on their study to test drinking water and blood sample to understand the exposure levels of 1,4-dioxane in Long Islander’s bodies to better understand it effects public health.”

“Ultimately, our goal is to educate the public. We want the public to become educated on this issue and warn others that it is a pressing matter.”

Presently, Nassau County has the most water systems exposed to cancer-causing chemicals, and Long Island has the most contaminated drinking water in New York State.

Over the years it has been a rising problem due to the increasing amount of chemicals that can be traced to the water supply. Unlike the beautiful Catskills water that New York City uses, Long Island’s drinking water comes from an underground aquifer.

While the aquifer filters out dirt and small solids, it doesn’t filter out cancer-causing chemicals, such as 1,4 dioxane and perfluorinated compounds. Over the years, there has been an alarmingly high amount of volatile organic compounds (VOCs), a class of chemicals, that are the most prevalent groundwater contaminant on Long Island. They are typically regarded as hazardous compounds. One chemical contaminant found is PFAS (per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances), which are extremely dangerous compounds that are permanently present in waterproofing and nonstick goods.

PFAS are referred to as “forever chemicals” because they accumulate in our bodies over thousands of years and take a very long time to degrade.

Today, Long Island has over 250 contaminated groundwater sites. The contaminants found in the drinking water can be detrimental and deadly to our health. Ingesting too much of the chemical can cause cancers, immunity, fertility, and academic difficulties since it has all been linked to exposure.

According to a National Cancer Institute (NCI) study, an experiment on rats and mice exposed to 1,4-dioxane in their drinking water reported increased incidences of liver cancers. The liver and kidney are the primary organs affected by 1,4-dioxane, and severe damage to these organs may have contributed to mortality after exposure to high levels of the chemical.

This is a growing concern among the communities that live on Long Island. This is a threat to the public safety and health of Long Island residents and they should be made more aware of what they are intaking on a daily basis.

Rockland County, located in the Hudson River Valley of New York, has been engaged in an uphill battle with its largest water distributor, Veolia Water NY (formerly known as Suez Water), to combat persistent levels of harmful and toxic per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) in its water sources. Commonly known as “forever chemicals,” PFAS are linked to adverse health effects such as kidney and testicular cancer, thyroid diseases, decreased fertility, decreased immune response, decreased birth weight, and skeletal birth defects. Despite the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) statement that there are no safe levels of PFAS contamination, New York State has set an enforceable maximum contaminant level (MCL) of 10 parts per trillion (ppt) for two PFAS compounds, perfluorooctane sulfonic acid (PFOS) and perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA), since 2020. This is a considerable improvement from the previous, egregious MCL of 70 ppt. Due to concerns about the consequences of unfettered contamination and negligence on the part of community-serving, private water utilities to transparently communicate a coherent treatment action plan, an open letter was sent to then-Governor Andrew Cuomo, spearheaded by advocacy group Rockland Water Coalition and co-signed by over 80 county organizations. The 2020 letter laid out a clear call to action of 7 central demands:

1. Eliminate PFAS chemicals from our water as quickly and comprehensively as possible. 
2. Keep the public informed about the full extent of the contamination and the clean-up process. 
3. Test comprehensively and publicly post the results. 
4. Hold polluters accountable. 
5. Provide up-to-date information to healthcare providers and free blood testing to vulnerable populations such as pregnant women. 
6. Regulate all PFAS in drinking water together as a class at the state level. 
7. Support legislation to ban the production of PFAS in non-essential uses.

In retrospect, the subsequent effects of community pressure on Veolia Water’s efficacy are considerable, though the goals outlined are far from realized. The Coalition’s and the larger community’s efforts have brought clarity to the once jargon-infested yet ubiquitously critical health crisis. The mounting implications of PFAS contamination are unraveling as Veolia and various other organizations are prompted to justify their strategic timelines. 

Perhaps most concerning is the apparent scale of PFAS (a family of more than 4,700 human-made chemicals), its rampant state a factor of its widespread cross-industry functional value since its inception in the 1930s. See Image Below Titled PFAS Sources

The most recent data from Dan Shapley, Co-Director of Science-Patrol Program, Hudson Riverkeeper tells us, “about one quarter of the water sources in Rockland County that have been tested exceeds New York States standards in at least one of the tests taken.” See Map and Key Below Titled Rockland County

The progress towards effective treatment is exacerbated by the fact that contamination sources are not obvious, identification requires rigorous, time-consuming testing especially in Rockland where, “there is a very distributed network of wells spread throughout the county that service and provide drinking water to the 300,000 plus folks,” said Sean Mahar, Executive Deputy Commissioner at New York State Department of Environmental Conservation.

Logically, the search began with the likes of superfund sites, brownfields, inactive landfills, etc. There was a particular focus on areas of increased firefighter foam usage, which is a significant PFOS contributor therefore all too convenient of a contamination medium. The data collected likely informed a lawsuit against manufacturers of certain firefighting foams, as a first attempt at fulfilling the Coalition’s demand number 4, “Hold polluters accountable” and, as Dan Shapley said, “attempt at trying to get more compensation back to the state for what we’ve had to spend to protect New Yorkers and our legal strategy is very much continuing in that regard as we find more of these instances where we have MCL exceedances or detections of these compounds in the environment.”

Aspectual to their treatment action plan, simultaneously underway is Veolia’s implementation of granular activated carbon filters (GAC). While GAC filtration systems are sold as a cure-all on Veolia’s website, (https://nywq.veolianorthamerica.com/acting/) Peter Grevatt, CEO of The Water Research Foundation understands that though they are, “very effective at binding PFAS, they don’t destroy PFAS and so the PFAS then still have to be disposed of in some safe manner…” Carol Walczyk, Vice President of Water Quality and Compliance, Veolia understands this pitfall saying, “destruction technologies is what everybody really wants but those are still in the lab research stage…we would have to do an extended pilot study to prove that it would work.” 

Clearly, facing the reality of Rockland’s PFAS contamination requires the community to swallow the extended timeline of its solution; we are actively suffering the unforeseen costs of industrialization and consumerism. Nevertheless, we must continue to advocate alongside organizations like the Rockland Water Coalition which brought accountability to the government and Veolia alike. 

The extensive proposal by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to fortify the New York harbor has been met with a mix of eagerness and trepidation by the public — and yet in some areas, citizens are still oblivious.

The tentatively selected $52 billion Alternative 3b is still in its “preliminary” and “conceptual” planning stage, but the window for public comment on the plan closes at the end of March after already being extended once. 

One of many massive church gate structures slated for construction in 2030, the Arthur Kill barrier would cut right through Tottenville Shore Park within a neighborhood at the southern tip of Staten Island. 

There’s little indication that Tottenville’s residents have any idea it’s being planned.

Note: WordPress is saying my images, even after resizing to 30kb, are too large. I’ve linked them here with captions while I figure it out.

“I can safely say it’s honestly a little hard for us,” resident Chris Bradford said. “If it doesn’t show up in the press … you really don’t hear about it. Nobody’s going door to door to tell you, nobody goes to the community board meetings.”

On Sunday morning at Conference House Park, none of the Tottenville residents approached were aware of the project. But after a very brief summary of the plan — with the ravages of hurricane Sandy fresh in the community’s memory — many residents said they would support the project. 

“It’s certainly the first I’m hearing about it,” a father of two living nearby said. “But even with all the construction, it would sound like it would be a good thing. You know, for the long-term.”

Severe coastal storm risk, heightened by climate change, was the subject of the NY & NJ Harbor Tributaries Study that started 10 years ago with the signing of the Disaster Relief Appropriations Act of 2013 by President Obama. Alternative 3b is just one of five different solutions the Corps considered, ranging from building a massive floodwall to block off the entire harbor to doing nothing at all. 

Local Vanessa Jones was quick to voice her support. 

“It’s just going to get worse from here,” she said, beating dust off a rug in front of her home near the beach. “We can’t keep not doing anything and that’s really all congress does.”

Other sites around the city where such gates are planned, including Jamaica Bay, Red Hook, Newtown and Flushing, have held town hall meetings and have amplified public scrutiny thanks to river alliances and “friends of” groups’ continued divulgence. No such group has advocated for community involvement in Tottenville.

A joint statement on the project was sent to the USACE on behalf of various organizations, including the Newtown Creek Alliance, the Gowanus Canal Conservancy and seven others. 

Listed in the statement on behalf of Staten Island’s Kill Van Kull and Arthur Kill was the Coalition for Wetlands & Forests, a lesser known organization that’s most recent public announcement to date was in 2021. The inclusion unfortunately reads more like a bureaucratic formality than an assurance of collaborative involvement. 

During Community Board 3’s monthly meeting Tuesday night, members passed a motion supporting a seven-foot-tall perimeter fence around a local park, approved a handful of liquor licenses and commented on some tree stumps that needed uprooting. Several other items were on the agenda. The Arthur Kill barrier was not one of them. 

The board members did not respond to a request for comment. Neither did the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers; nor the aforementioned coalition.

“It’s a little bit of a shame that they’ve been so lowkey about it,” Bradford remarked. “Because I’m certain there would be a lot of opinions.”

It’s still unsure whether the USACE will be moving forward as recommendations from partners and the public will ultimately determine its fate.

The Corps said a report will be released shortly after the window closes — but without a more aggressive public awareness initiative to clue in every community affected, it may be doomed to fail before construction ever begins.

By Caspar Gajewski

Artistic rendering of the South Brooklyn Marine Terminal. Provided by Equinor.

The 73-acre South Brooklyn Marine Terminal will be transformed by the energy titans Equinor and bp into an operations and maintenance hub and staging area for the vast offshore wind farms they’ve been contracted to construct in the New York Bight, which will bring “over 1000 jobs to the area,” according to a company spokesperson.

Just how many more than a thousand is unclear. 

Lauren Shane, senior communications manager for Equinor Wind U.S., said more than 1000. At a community meeting Equinor hosted on Feb. 28, a different company representative said the port upgrades would create 1500 short-term jobs and 500 long-term jobs. Bklyner reported “1000 short-term and 200 long-term jobs within the Sunset Park community and 5,200 jobs overall.” Mayor Eric Adams said the offshore wind industry will bring “13,000 local jobs over time,” when he announced on Jan. 13 the SBMT port transformation agreement.

The SBMT deal was finalized by the New York City Economic Development Corporation and included several provisos. 

Equinor has agreed to contract with minority- and women-owned business enterprises for at least 30% of its supply chain needs. Furthermore, it will invest $5 million into an ecosystem fund that will “bring more New York City residents into offshore wind careers, propel offshore wind innovation, and support a just transition,” according to a mayoral press release. The company has stated it will work towards opening an offshore wind learning center in Sunset Park, although it is not required to do so. 

Sunset Park is a diasporic, post-industrial, perennially-polluted neighborhood, peopled by Asian, Latinx and immigrant communities. Community organizations like UPROSE have for decades centered environmental justice in their fight for green-manufacturing jobs. 

“This community vision of taking the industrial waterfront so that it could start building for climate adaptation, mitigation and resilience is not new,” Elizabeth Yeampierre, the executive director of UPROSE, told Bklyner. “These are victories that don’t happen overnight.”

Yeampierre would know. UPROSE lead a successful 2019 opposition campaign against Industry City’s rezoning proposal for the SBMT, which is the city’s largest industrial waterfront, that the group and others believed would accelerate gentrification, displacement and economic inequality. 

The organization wanted to maintain the waterfront’s industrial identity not least because, according to a report by former New York State Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli, 11.3% of private-sector jobs in Sunset Park are manufacturing related, the highest for any community in NYC.

“We recognize everything the community has fought for,” Shane, the senior communications manager, said.

But that doesn’t guarantee Sunset Park residents jobs or local businesses contracts with Equinor’s main suppliers. 

Equinor has held three supply-chain expos since its bid for the Empire and Beacon Wind projects was approved in 2022.

“Our purpose is to bring in local companies,” Shane said, but when asked if Equinor requires Vestas, its turbine supplier, and Skanska USA, its construction manager, to work locally where possible, she said, “No.” 

“It’s an ongoing collaboration,” Shane said.

It’s uncertain to whom jobs and supply-chain contracts will be given, but the work will vary. Short-term jobs at SBMT will primarily include construction and staging, which is a term that describes the assembly of wind turbines.

Long-term jobs, though fewer in number, will include warehouse staff, control room operators and turbine technicians. 

And those jobs will be around for the foreseeable future. “The wind farms will last at least 25 years,” Shane said.

Would you build a boat and head out onto the Bronx River if you knew it was for the greater good?

In society, we often get so caught up in our own lives and the world around us that we forget about the most important thing today, our youth. Well, I’ll tell you who didn’t forget Adam Green. In 1996, Adam Green launched a program called “Rocking the boat.” It started as a volunteer project in an East Harlem high school working with New Settlement Apartments. They provided both workshop space and students for the cornerstone Boat Building Program.

This non profit organization takes over 200 students per year in a series of STEM based programs that will last them throughout their high school and early college careers. Rocking the boat offers three programs when students first enter such as Boatbuilding, Environmental Science, or Sailing. But once the students become young adults, that doesn’t mean their journey at rocking the boat comes to an end. They are then offered part time positions working for rocking the boat, where they can go on to lead more youth. Students also receive social services by three licensed social workers. They help students prepare for the transition from high school to college or trade school. As well as overcome any obstacles they may face in college and plan out their long term goals. While also offering them emotional and social support.

Students may enter with little skills like barely knowing how to read a ruler but they leave with so much more like knowledge, friendship, and community. Students in the boat building program read plans, create and assemble all the components to build a full size traditional wooden sailboat from scratch. Then they launch it onto the Bronx river. The sailing program teaches participants the proficiency of sailing. Students go through intensive training where they learn how to swim, sail, and teach others. All while students are working toward their U.S. Sailing instructor certification. Lastly, the environmental program helps students by using environmental tools collect water quality data, monitor birds and fish, reintroduce native plant and animal species, and perform restoration work that is helping to bring the Bronx River back to life after years of neglect.

Now, how do we know that Rocking the boat is really making an impact? Let’s look at the stats, since Rocking the boat was implemented. “On average, 96% of Rocking the Boat students graduate from high school on time.” as stated by the Rocking the boat website. And “57% of Rocking the Boat alumni have received their bachelor’s degrees within six years of high school graduation.” But most importantly, “95% of participants grow in social emotional competency.” The students are growing as people and that’s more than anyone could’ve asked for. I can show you with numbers that this program is making a difference but who better to hear from then the students themselves. First, we hear from Taji Riley, former Boatbuilding student, Boatbuilding apprentice, and Program Assistant. “I first joined Rocking the Boat because being able to build boats is really different from a regular after school program where all you do is homework. I got to do something out of the ordinary. Now when I’m in the shop I feel like I can let out that inner woman who wants to build. That’s where my passion for carpentry shows–working the wood, figuring out how the grain goes together, that’s what I need.” Then, we hear from Rigoberto Garcia, former On-Water student and Environmental Job Skills apprentice. “Rocking the Boat is always teaching me something new. This experience has made me feel capable, and given me a sense of responsibility to my work and to myself.”

Lastly, after sitting down with Ricardo Almonte, Alumni coordinator and fellow Baruch graduate. I got to hear several rewarding aspects of working for Rocking the Boat. For example, guiding the participants through not only school but life as well and watching them go on to make life choices on their own. He stated, “There are so many rewarding aspects of this job that I can’t pick just one…but the feeling I get from helping people identify and achieve their goals is indescribable.” Rocking the boat is shaping young minds by helping them develop pride, purpose, and possibility. It creates a sense of community that inspires young people to determine their own future. 

In late 2022, the United States Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) released its official proposal for protecting the New York City metropolitan area from storm surges and coastal flooding. The plan projects $52 billion in costs that would go toward building extensive new infrastructure along the coasts of New York. While it seems promising in its ability to fortify the city against storm surge, further inspection brings to light the fact that many of the suggested changes are insufficient or entirely inappropriate. This is most evident in the proposals for Hunters Point, a neighborhood along the coast of Queens that has shifted in past decades into a rapidly growing residential area through the construction of apartment buildings as well as extensive new parks along the water. For Hunters Point residents, the USACE proposal is frightening; it talks extensively of gray infrastructure such as seawalls, levees, and deployable flood barriers that seem impossible to imagine over the gorgeously designed parks.

The Hunters Point Parks Conservancy, a local community-based organization with the aim of supporting and advocating for the parks in the neighborhood, has released an official statement responding to the USACE’s proposal and voicing their concerns. Some of the main issues brought forth by the HPPC were that this plan disregards the green infrastructure that already exists within the park’s design. For instance, it involves the building of a seawall over the wetlands in the park, which function to absorb excess seawater and are so effective that they “took no damage from flooding” during Hurricane Sandy, according to the HPPC’s statement. The Conservancy holds the stance that the Army Corps of Engineers should “continue to explore Natural and Nature Based Solutions, build on the extensive work already completed and being planned by the City and State when considering waterfront design options.”

A conversation with Jessica Sechrist, the executive director of the HPPC, revealed one of the most concerning suggestions brought forth by the plan: a seagate that would sit at the opening of Newtown Creek as a form of protection against storm surge to prevent the creek from overflowing. Sechrist explains that this piece of infrastructure would further reduce the water flow between the creek and the East River, preventing the Combined Sewer Overflows, a facet of New York City’s sewage system which combines sewage with rainwater and thus overflows during wet weather events, from washing away and would therefore threaten the neighborhood with excessive sewage in the waterways. “There is a concern”, Sechrist says, “that in the event of a non-Sandy type of hurricane where we just get very heavy rain without an associated storm surge, Newtown Creek will flood because there are now more limitations to its ability to go anywhere, and when these floods happen, it will flood with raw sewage [instead of seawater].”

To explain how it is possible for a federal plan to be so ignorant of the needs of the community and the functions of its waterways, the Newtown Creek Alliance’s official response to the proposal demonstrates that the storm surge projections utilized by the Army Corps were calculated based on data from 1983-2001, and therefore “other factors (like the impact an increased water-level could have on river flows) were excluded.”

The data also is only focused on storm surge, which Sechrist explains doesn’t show the full picture: “[recent flooding events] are related to a hurricane that comes, and not because it brings a storm surge, but because it dumps a huge amount of rain that overwhelms the sewage system and the drainage system and… causes flooding in the subways, basement apartments, etc.” The biggest threat when it comes to flooding in Hunters Point is not necessarily storm surge but simply a rising water table due to climate change and intense wet weather, which the USACE’s proposal fails to acknowledge.

Fortunately, Sechrist also assures that most of the USACE’s proposals are unlikely to come to fruition due to the successful advocacy of the community in conjunction with other groups such as the Newtown Creek Alliance and North Brooklyn Parks Alliance. The plan is still in the early stages and is subject to much change before its projected construction start date in 2030.

Photo: Rendering of storm surge barrier at mouth of Newtown Creek (130 foot opening) via CREME design, by the Newtown Creek Alliance. http://www.newtowncreekalliance.org/hats2023/.

The East Side Coastal Resiliency Project, a City and Federally funded project designed to protect lower Manhattan from climate change impacts such as storm surge and sea level rising. This project has been in questionable disputes with community members, activists and local individuals. 

The project is a response to the severe damage caused by Hurricane Sandy in 2012, which presented  the vulnerability of New York City’s coastal areas to extreme weather events. 

While the project is designed to be sustainable, the rebuilding of 2.4 miles of the East River Park for floodwalls, flood gates, berms and a raised park has caused controversy. 

“We’re not looking for no solution, if we were convinced that this was the only solution and that you were doing a good job, we wouldn’t be here,” Tommy Leob, an activist with The East River Action states. 

The complex history of this project  began with the city and the community collaborating on a resiliency plan.  It quickly resulted in New York City going dark without anyone’s knowledge for about 6 months, until they then came up with their own plan without the knowledge, or participation of the community. 

This new plan destroys all 56 acres of the park, tears down 1,200 trees and rebuilds the entire park for 1.5 billion dollars, a significant increase from the original plan’s price of 750 million dollars. 

In addition to the costly and environmental impacts of the project, health effects have also been a concern to the community. With the ongoing construction, air quality has also been an issue with constituents, as well as the action group LES Breathe, which monitors the real time air quality of the park. Furthermore, the health impacts of post reconstruction were found to be a concern. The new park not only destroys all vegetation, but plans on using synthetic turf which Tommy states to be linked to certain cancers. In a park that is used by thousands of people daily, ranging from all ages, these health impacts are unknown and not transparent in the city’s plans. 

The East Side Coastal Resiliency Project, failed to keep their community informed of the plan and further withheld information. On January 23, 2019 DDC commissioner Lorraine Grillo apologized for the lack of engagement of the new construction plan which is currently taking place.  Activists, community members and even nearby businesses were affected and continue to be affected by this sudden plan. Gabby, a member from the Lower East Side Ecology Center which can no longer hold their compost site on the East River states, “this is genuinely heartbreaking and frustrating.” 

The East Side Coastal Resiliency Project, unfortunately left individuals unhappy and determined to make changes with the project plan. With the anticipated end date of the project being 2026, the delays which have already been made apparent within the project could delay it even further. However, despite the controversy both sides want to prevent climate change effects coming from the Lower East Side after experiencing Hurricane Sandy, however activists want a more environmental, healthier and transparent plan.

https://www.nycgovparks.org/planning-and-building/planning/neighborhood-development/east-side-coastal-resiliency

https://ny.curbed.com/2019/1/24/18195342/manhattan-east-side-coastal-resiliency-city-council-hearing

https://eastriverparkaction.org/2020/10/15/les-breathe/

https://www.6sqft.com/east-river-flood-protection-plan-gets-the-green-light-from-nyc-council/

The Wildwoods is a collection of five municipalities that includes North Wildwood, West Wildwood, Wildwood, Wildwood Crest, and Diamond Beach, all which run along the southern Jersey shore. During the warmer months, the Wildwoods is known as one of the most popular tourist destinations in New Jersey, meaning that tourism is critical for revenue, but aside from that time of the year, the area is still home to thousands of full-time residents who are closely tied to the ocean. 

However, North Wildwood’s beach has been slowly eroding, becoming narrower by the year, posing threats to locals and the future of the township. At the forefront is Mayor Patrick Rosenello, who has been battling the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection (NJDEP) since the beginning of his tenure in 2014. Rosenello alleges that the state has been very difficult with providing aid and approving coastal restoration initiatives that has led him to no option other than defying orders and proceeding with projects such as dune repairs. After so many years of spending the town’s personal funds, North Wildwood sued the state for $21 million just two months ago, claiming this is how much was “…spent over the past decade on trucking sand in as part of an ultimately futile effort to hold back the waves” (Parry). In retaliation, the NJDEP sued North Wildwood for $12 million one month ago for unapproved projects. 

But why is this the case? Why is the NJDEP being as difficult as Mayor Rosenello claims they are if coastal restoration is so vital for the town’s safety and economy? One of the largest contributors to the current situation is that, following superstorm Sandy, the state and Army Corps of Engineers spent approximately $800 million on shore protection, but the Wildwoods, which encompass one of the only three free beaches in the state, received three-tenths of one percent of those funds. As a result, Rosenello asserts “…North Wildwood took the actions [it] took because of the failure of the state of New Jersey to…handle their responsibility, which is shore protection. We are trying to fix the problem that they caused, and because that brought attention to their failure, they…took these ridiculous enforcement actions.” Unfortunately, Caryn Shinske, NJDEP’s press officer, and Michele Kropilak, manager of the NJDEP’s Bureau of Coastal and Land Use Compliance and Enforcement, have declined to provide any commentary, stating they are unable to do so because this is an ongoing litigation. 

To understand why North Wildwood received three-tenths of one percent of the funds, Rosenello explains that one has to go back to 1962, where there was a powerful storm that destroyed many areas along the shore and triggered a long series of federal and state replenishment projects up through the 90s’. However, during this period, “…the Wildwoods had the largest beaches in the state of New Jersey, actually had the widest beaches on the East Coast. And so getting the Wildwoods into one of those federal projects was never a priority…[but] that began to change in the mid 1990s [when the] North Wall in particular began to lose beach” (Rosenello). The problem is that by this point, Rosenello asserts, the procedures and regulations to kickstart a project had become too troublesome to make any progress, which leads back to today’s battles. The state has “…known for 25 years that [the] North Wall would [need] to…be in one of these projects, and they’ve dug their feet until it became an absolute crisis, which is where it is right now” (Rosenello). 

One of the projects Rosenello executed without state NJDEP approval is half a mile of steel sheet bulkheads as replacements to where the eroded dunes were. If such bulkheads weren’t installed, “city blocks would be gone and tens, if not hundreds of millions of dollars worth of public and private infrastructure wouldn’t be washed out the sea” (Rosenello). This development is actually what makes up the majority of the fines the NJDEP placed on North Wildwood. Nonetheless, Rosenello confidently believes that his resilience was the right path, for otherwise lives would’ve been endangered, public and private property destroyed, and recreation/tourism severely impacted. 

On the notion of tourism, it’s another important perspective to consider because of how significant it is to the Wildwoods. Ben Rose, Director of Marketing and Public Relations of the Greater Wildwoods Tourism Authority, was able to provide his insights on the whole situation from this perspective. While these struggles have been occurring for years, the Wildwoods as a whole experienced record-breaking tourism in 2021 and 2022, with 2022 being the best year yet. Most of this success is attributed to COVID-19, for the Wildwoods saw a significant increase in tourism volume because all those who would’ve flown for vacation during the pandemic ended up traveling locally to the Wildwoods. 

However, tourism for specifically North Wildwood is a matter of sustainability, for the rest of the Wildwoods has not experienced beach erosion. Rose explains that for years the township has been pumping sand from the inlet canal onto the beach at a massive cost, or trucking sand from Wildwood, where beaches are actually growing by about 30 feet yearly. However, this is an incredibly costly and unsustainable solution that has reached a critical point where this can no longer continue and is a burden on taxpayers, which ties back to the NJDEP not acting urgently enough on this situation. A permanent solution is needed “…as far as affecting tourism. All of the rental properties and all of the hotels that are directly opposite the beach [will be] affected…because people will no longer be able to just walk straight down to the beach and enjoy…the beach [and] ocean there” (Rose). 

Overall, North Wildwood has yet to experience negative effects in tourism, but rather the opposite. However, the key word is ‘yet’. Every single year, North Wildwood’s beach is replenished after storms, ready just in time for the tourist season. The tourists come, everything looks picturesque and perfect, but an immense amount of costly work had to be done beforehand. The time has arrived where in an imminent summer, visitors will not come to the beaches that they once knew, and North Wildwood’s reputation will cease to exist, unless, of course, the NJDEP takes rapid action to address this urgent matter.