By ANGELINA BANEK
A school yard in the Bronx has recently received a makeover. It has gone from a paved lot with only a small playground structure, to a colorful space with trees, a running track, and even a gazebo with a green roof. It also has the capacity to absorb more than 800,000 gallons of stormwater annually.
Welcoming the project, the NYC Playgrounds Program Director for Trust for Public Land, Mary Alice Lee, said that the redesign will benefit neighbors of the project, who will be able to visit the park. This includes 47,143 Bronx residents who live within a 10-minute walk of the playground. Importantly, Lee said, the project also helps absorb floodwater.
“Parks are essential for the health of all New Yorkers, and this new community space is a key part of our work to close the park equity gap and increase climate resiliency,” said Lee. “In addition to serving the entire neighborhood with quality park space, this schoolyard will give students the opportunity to learn and play outdoors, while its green infrastructure features will absorb millions of gallons of stormwater that would otherwise flood our city streets.”
The Bronx Latin Campus is just one example of Green Infrastructure in the city. There are a number of similar projects aiming to mitigate flood water, which New York is becoming increasingly concerned with as extreme weather events occur more and more frequently. Other examples of Green Infrastructure in the city include rain gardens designed to absorb rainwater on city sidewalks, permeable pavements that allow for water to be absorbed in the ground, and rain barrels that catch stormwater.
But although the city is developing various projects, climate experts warn it is still not yet fully prepared for extreme flooding events.
“New York City’s state of preparedness is only as good as its physical and social infrastructure,” said Louise Yeung, Chief Climate Officer for the New York City Comptroller’s Office, in an April 22, 2024 press release. “Sadly, the woefully low number of NotifyNYC subscribers, out-of-order catch basin cleaning trucks, and emergency sewer repairs indicate that we’re already behind the tide of the next extreme rainfall event. New Yorkers will be safer if we’re able to better manage and communicate how the City is handling weather emergencies.”
Tropical storms pose a real threat to NYC, and in recent years have even caused deaths among vulnerable groups within the population. In August of 2021 Hurricane Ida unleashed a record-breaking downpour on the City of New York. Thirteen lives were lost in the city as a result of the storm, and most of the victims lived in basement apartments.
During the storm, the city experienced 3.5 inches of rain per hour, which is double NYC’s sewer capacity of 1.75 inches per hour.
More recently, on September 28, 2023, Tropical Storm Ophelia caused extreme flooding throughout the city. According to the National Environmental Satellite, Data, and Information Service, the storm caused “flood water coursing through streets and into basements, schools, subways, and vehicles throughout the nation’s most populous city.” Twenty-eight people needed to be rescued during the storm, and unlike in Ida, there were no reported deaths.
After Ophelia, Gov. Kathy Hochul said the extreme weather indicated that the state would need to prepare for a “new normal” of these recurring events. One way the city is responding to extreme flooding is by creating green infrastructure that absorbs and mitigates stormwater, such as the Bronx playground.
The Department of Environmental Protection’s NYC Green Infrastructure Program aims to provide local flood resiliency. Green infrastructure practices, the DEP said, are designed to slow down, absorb, and filter stormwater by capturing it at the source before it can enter the sewer system or contribute to flooding.
Other examples of Green Infrastructure in the city include rain gardens designed to absorb rainwater on city sidewalks, permeable pavements that allow for water to be absorbed in the ground, and rain barrels that catch stormwater
Dr. Kenneth A. Gould, a Brooklyn native whose research specializes in sociology of the environment, has extensively studied urban sustainability and coastal urban policies and is knowledgeable about the city’s plans to respond to flooding.
In the past, Dr. Gould recalls speaking with people that would attribute Hurricane Sandy to “an act of God,” and something they hoped would never happen again.
“Unlike when somebody gets hit with a hurricane in Florida, they know that’s going to happen again. Alright, so even though we got hit with Sandy, I think people think that’s a one off and they won’t have to worry about it long after again,” Dr. Gould said.
Dr. Gould emphasized it is not if, but when, the city gets another storm of a large magnitude.
“When we get the next ‘Sandy,’ then people may start going, ‘oh this is a thing that happens in New York now, and we have to really think about it,’” he said.
Dr. Gould has noticed this shift is already starting to happen and events like recent major precipitation and the recent fires in Prospect Park have “raised people’s consciousness” about future threats of similar occurrences.
One particular infrastructure project Dr. Gould has been following is the Rockaway Beach Resiliency Construction Project.
This project was launched in 2020 and is a part of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers’ (USACE) $336 million Atlantic Shorefront Resiliency Project which aims to “protect and strengthen the Rockaway community.”
The initiative, projected to be completed in 2026, includes 14 new stone groins, and the repair of five others, and the construction of a dune system. These groins are rock structures that extend out into the ocean and are designed to trap sand and reduce erosion.
“They will support sand accumulation, allowing for wider beaches, less erosion, and better protection from storms when complete,” the NYC Parks department shared in a press release.
“That’s all to protect the boardwalk, which is a cement boardwalk which was meant to be a seawall that they built after Sandy, but now we’re expecting sea level rises and storm surges to be even worse than that. So, this is the second layer of sea barriers that we’re building along the Rockaway,” Gould said.
Dr. Gould noted the complexity the multi-million dollar projects bring to the city, as they drive up the value of real estate in these zones.
“I think in the long run it’s a bad idea,” he said. “And what that does is then encourage developers to come down and build more buildings behind the sea wall.”
The Lower East Side Coastal Resiliency Project is another initiative also making strides in protecting the city against flooding while including elements that help the community access open space along the waterfront.
The ESCR project, the first step in the City’s plan for a larger coastal protection system in Lower Manhattan, is constructing a flood protection system across 2.4 miles of the lower east side, which includes parts of the FDR drive. The system includes raised parkland, creating floodwalls, and floodgates. It will span from E 25th Street to Montgomery Street.
“While the project is being designed as a stand-alone “compartment” to reduce flood risk between East 25th Street and Montgomery Street, it will tie-in with complementary initiatives in Lower Manhattan, including the Lower Manhattan Coastal Resiliency, Resilient Neighborhoods Study, Con Edison Resiliency, Hospital Row Investments, and NYCHA Resiliency,” The ESCR Community Engagement Team said.
ESCR has multiple community-driven education programs associated with the project. This includes the ESCR to YOUR school program, which aims to spread awareness about the project, and tabling events. They feel that generally, most community members are ready for the change because of their personal experience with previous flooding events.
Besides flood prevention, the project includes other elements that will benefit the surrounding community, including planting areas and green-roof buildings designed to collect stormwater.
While New Yorkers may not be as familiar with natural disasters as people from other parts of the country, like Floridians who frequent hurricanes or Californians who experience large wildfires, the city is fighting against time to adapt its infrastructure before the next mass flooding event.