(task) A Message from the Mayor's Office of Recovery and Resiliency

NYRS, Northern Manhattan RN, Canarsie RN, Rockaway RN

4 cover

resilience, climate change

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>> Greetings,
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>> Last month, Mayor Bill de Blasio announced <http://nyc.us3.list-manage.com/track/click?u=d436eec9cf4fc0c86cdc71517&id=4e92d2be90&e=995e90c341> the release of the New York City Panel on Climate Change (NPCC) 2015 report, Building the Knowledge Base for Climate Resiliency <http://nyc.us3.list-manage1.com/track/click?u=d436eec9cf4fc0c86cdc71517&id=3960598aff&e=995e90c341>. For the first time, the NPCC has provided the city with climate projections through 2100 for temperature, precipitation, and sea level rise, representing advancement in the science. New topics covered in the report also include public health, with a focus on extreme heat events and coastal storms, and enhanced dynamic coastal flood modeling, which incorporate the effects of sea level rise.
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>> Based on this best available science, the City continues to move forward on its comprehensive resiliency program, which includes strengthening the city’s coastal defenses, upgrading buildings, protecting infrastructure and critical services, and making neighborhoods safer and more connected. At the same time the City is leveraging these investments in recovery and resiliency initiatives to create jobs for New Yorkers who need them the most, with a focus on residents of Sandy-impacted areas.
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>> This NPCC report highlights what many New Yorkers already know: New York City is vulnerable to a range of impacts from extreme weather, including rising temperatures, precipitation, heat waves, sea level rise, and coastal storms. Climate change is only increasing those vulnerabilities.
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>> Some highlights from the report:
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>> Temperatures increasing between 4.1°F to 5.7°F by the 2050s, between 5.3°F to 8.8°F by the 2080s, and between 5.8°F to 10.3°F by 2100
>> Precipitation increasing between 4% to 11% by the 2050s, between 5% to 13% by the 2080s, and up to 19% by 2100
>> Heat wave increasing from 2 to 6 per year by the 2080s
>> Sea level rising between 11” and 21” by the 2050s, between 18” and 39” by the 2080s, and between 22” and 50” by 2100, with a worst case projection of up to 6’ by 2100
>> Coastal storm flooding risks, with sea level rise by 2100, doubling the 100-year floodplain and increasing the impact of higher frequency flooding events
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>> These projections, as alarming as they are, largely assume that we don't act to mitigate these risks. The good news, of course, is that we as a city are continuing to act to reduce the impact of these changes in the city’s climate. In September 2014, Mayor de Blasio made a bold commitment to reduce the city’s greenhouse gas emissions 80% by 2050, making New York City the largest city in the world to make that commitment. The City is leading by example by retrofitting all public buildings with any real energy use by 2025, and working with the private sector to incentivize - and mandate if necessary - their own retrofits.
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>> It also remains critical that we continue to adapt our city to the risks of extreme weather and climate change. That’s why in April 2014, Mayor de Blasio created a first-ever Office of Recovery and Resiliency (ORR) to expand and accelerate the City’s climate resiliency program. And why we are continuing to move forward on a variety of physical, social, and economic resiliency measures, based on the best available science, across the city.
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>> Working in partnership with a wide array of community partners and other stakeholders across the five boroughs, the City is pursuing a multi-layered strategy that will protect against a range of vulnerabilities. We are strengthening coastal defenses, upgrading buildings, protecting infrastructure, and making neighborhoods safer through a series of physical, social, and economic resiliency initiatives. For the full plan, visit nyc.gov/resiliency <http://nyc.us3.list-manage.com/track/click?u=d436eec9cf4fc0c86cdc71517&id=ddd0231d99&e=995e90c341>.
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>> To date, here are some of the highlights from that program:
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>> Strengthening Coastal Defenses
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>> Secured nearly half of the required $3.7 billion to implement the city’s first phase coastal protection plan, including $415 million from the Rebuild by Design resiliency competition
>> Launched preliminary design work on the Lower East Side to implement a $335 million flood protection system
>> Replenished over 4.15 million cubic yards of sand and dunes on city beaches in the Rockaways and Coney Island, in partnership with the US Army Corps of Engineers
>> Constructed over 26,000 linear feet of dunes on Staten island
>> Repaired 10,500 linear feet of bulkheads around the city
>> Broke ground on a $25 million beach nourishment and t-groin project in Sea Gate
>> Secured over $15 million from the Department of Interior for nature-based resiliency projects, in support of projects in Jamaica Bay and the Bronx River
>> Initiated major coastal protection feasibility studies, including at Coney Island Creek, the Gowanus Canal, Southern Manhattan and Newtown Creek
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>> Upgrading Buildings
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>> Secured $108 million from FEMA to make resiliency investments at a Coney Island public housing complex, with more expected at other locations
>> Published Retrofitting for Flood Risk, a guide by the Department of City Planning for building owners grappling with new building codes, zoning guidance, and changing flood insurance realities
>> Updated the city’s building codes, including 16 new local laws to account for vulnerabilities related to extreme weather and climate change
>> Launched NYC : RISE, a resiliency technology competition to match innovative technologies with small businesses
>> Coated more than six million square feet of building roofs with reflective paint with NYC Cool Roofs to address the climate change risks associated with urban heat.
>> Supported the Housing Recovery Office, which is rebuilding and elevating thousands of homes across the city
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>> Protecting Infrastructure
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>> Secured over $1.6 billion for resiliency upgrades at Coney Island Hospital, Bellevue Hospital, Staten Island University Hospital, and others
>> Reached agreement with ConEdison to ensure that $1 billion in resiliency investments are made to protect critical system assets from future climate change impacts
>> Advocated for PSE&G to make investments in climate resiliency in the Rockaways
>> Convened a regional liquid fuels roundtable, with support from the Columbia Center for Global Energy Policy, bringing together partners in government and the private sector to evaluate opportunities to strengthen regional resiliency in the liquid fuels supply chain
>> Invested in green infrastructure, stormwater management and bluebelts across the city to reduce flooding impacts and protect water quality
>> Supported the MTA and Port Authority in their efforts to protect our regional transportation assets
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>> Making Neighborhoods Safer
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>> Launched, with the Department of City Planning, ten Resilient Neighborhood studies to evaluate land use as a tool for promoting neighborhood resiliency
>> Secured reforms to the National Flood Insurance Program, and launched two flood insurance affordability studies
>> Provided more than $33.5M in grants and loans to close to 200 businesses through the Hurricane Sandy Loan and Grant Program, in addition to the $23.4 million in loan and grant assistance to more than 650 businesses through relief programs immediately following Sandy
>> Established NYC Citizen Corps to bring together volunteer programs, community-based organizations, the private sector, and government to promote preparedness at the local level
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>> And this work is far from done. Here are a few examples of new projects underway in 2015:
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>> Investing over $100 million in shoreline improvements, such as bulkheads, revetments, and living shorelines, targeted toward the lowest-lying neighborhoods in the city
>> Designing and implementing a $100 million integrated flood protection system for Red Hook
>> Designing and implementing a $60 million double dune system for Breezy Point
>> Implementing, with the Department of Small Business Services, a new technical assistance program to advise small businesses on resiliency investments and operational support
>> Piloting an innovative mitigation banking proposal at Saw Mill Creek in Staten Island
>> Launching a task force to evaluate how to better involve community-based organizations into long-term resiliency planning
>> Initiating the first-ever, comprehensive regional resiliency analysis of New York City’s food supply chain network, in collaboration with the New York City Economic Development Corporation
>> Kicking off community engagement and preliminary design in Hunts Point, with funds to develop resiliency investments to strengthen the food distribution center
>> Advancing major coastal protection investments, in partnership with the US Army Corps of Engineers, in Staten Island, the Rockaways, and Jamaica Bay
>> Launching an urban heat island working group, with support from The Nature Conservancy, to advance the science supporting investments to mitigate heat impacts in the city
>> Supporting long-term resiliency planning at the Science and Resilience Institute at Jamaica Bay, a collaboration with the federal government and a CUNY-led consortium of academic institutions
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>> On behalf of Mayor de Blasio, thank you for being part of New York City’s effort to prepare for the future. We look forward to continuing our work together to build a stronger, more resilient New York.
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>> Thanks,
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>> Dan
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>> DANIEL A. ZARRILLI, PE | Director
>> NYC Mayor's Office of Recovery and Resiliency
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