Rendering of proposed flood resiliency infrastructure./Image Credit: DDC, Parks, DOT, DEP, and Mayor’s Office of Resiliency/CPC

The project is predicted to protect over 110,000 Lower Manhattan residents from flood and storm impacts. On September 23, 2019, the City Planning Commission voted to approve two applications regarding the East Side Coastal Resiliency Project which addresses coastal flood vulnerabilities in Lower Manhattan. The project area is bounded by East 25th Street to the north, Montgomery Street to the south, and the East River to the east. The area runs along the FDR Drive and adjacent parks such as the East River Park and Stuyvesant Cove Park. The Department of Transportation, Department of Environmental Protection, Small Business Services, and Department of City Administrative Services are the applicants.

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Image Credit: Michael Appleton/Mayoral Photography Office

The project will include the expansion of the Lower Manhattan shoreline and four capital projects devoted to the resiliency of Lower Manhattan neighborhoods. On March 14, 2019, Mayor Bill de Blasio announced the Lower Manhattan Coastal Resiliency (LMCR) Project. The project is one of the City’s responses to the aftermath of Hurricane Sandy. Hurricane Sandy was a turning point for the City to tackle infrastructure resiliency. Hurricane Sandy resulted in $19 billion of devastation for the City and particularly impacted Lower Manhattan. The storm resulted in power outages and flooding in homes, businesses, and tunnels. Since Hurricane Sandy, the City has worked to assess Lower Manhattan’s climate change impacts and risks and analyze coastal protection options for the area’s 3.3-mile shoreline. (more…)

Both Mayor Bill de Blasio and Senator Chris Murphy addressed economic disparity and the necessity of a long-term vision and cooperation of local leadership in strengthening the New York Metropolitan region’s infrastructure and economy. The Regional Plan Association held its 24th Annual Assembly at the Waldorf Astoria Hotel on April 25, 2014. The RPA is a non-profit that seeks to promote planning for economic competitiveness, quality of life, and long-term sustainability in the larger New York metropolitan region, comprising of northern New Jersey, southern New York State, and western Connecticut.  The RPA is currently working on its fourth regional plan since 1929, which will offer a guide for the area’s long-term responsible growth, sustainability, and infrastructure improvement. The last regional plan was published in 1996. (more…)

Regional Plan Association event featured a variety of discussions on how the New York metropolitan region might face climate change, tackle transportation advancements. The Regional Plan Association, a non-profit urban research and advocacy organization, focuses on planning for economic competitiveness, quality of life, and long-term sustainability in the region that includes New York City, Long Island, Westchester and Orange counties, western Connecticut and northern New Jersey. On April 19, 2013, the Association held its 23rd Annual Assembly to discuss the challenges the region faces, and to plan a livable, sustainable, and economically strong future for the area. The Association recently commenced work on its regional plan, which will be the fourth since the organization’s inception in 1929. The plan will address climate change, deteriorating infrastructure, population increases in urban centers, and the lack of affordable housing, among other issues.

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Qiana Mickie, the new Director of the newly launched Mayor’s Office of Urban Agriculture. Image Credit: Mayor’s Office of Urban Agriculture.

On September 23, 2022, Mayor Eric Adams announced Qiana Mickie will serve as director of the newly created Mayor’s Office of Urban Agriculture. (more…)