Mayor Adams and City officials review recent and ongoing resiliency and infrastructure upgrades on third anniversary of Hurricane Ida. Image Credit: Michael Appleton/Mayoral Photography Office.
On September 9, 2024, Mayor Eric Adams celebrated milestones in public infrastructure projects across the five boroughs, including sewer system upgrades and investments. These projects protect New Yorkers’ property and improve New Yorkers; safety in the face of climate change by implementing flood preparedness. This announcement is timely for the third anniversary of Hurricane Ida which brought the heaviest rainfall in New York City’s recorded history and resulted in thirteen deaths.
Sewer System Investments and Upgrades
To address frequent flooding in the Queens communities of Maspeth and College Point the City has installed miles of new sewers and upgraded the system’s drainage capacity. The Maspeth project cost $106 million and involved adding more than a mile of new larger sewers and new water mains. During this project micro-tunneling was used to reduce the construction of this project affecting the local community. The College Point project cost $132 million and added nearly 8.5 miles of new sewers, seven miles of new water mains, and 300 new catch basins.
The Department of Environmental Protection will install slotted manhole covers to serve as an alternate drainage point for street-level water when catch basins become clogged with leaves, debris, or litter.
Concrete medians and porous pavement
The Department of Environmental Protection completed the transformation of three acres of concrete medians in Queens Village into a green infrastructure system that can collect approximately five million gallons of stormwater to reduce flooding.
Beginning next year, concrete medians in the Bronx, Brooklyn, and Queens will be transformed into resilient green infrastructure medians.
Currently, the City is investing $32.6 million to install seven miles of porous pavement along Brooklyn roadways. Porous pavement allows stormwater to pass through and be absorbed into the ground unlike traditional asphalt. This project is expected to be completed in early 2026 and additional porous pavement projects are expected to be conducted in the Bronx, Brooklyn, and Queens.
Rain gardens
The Department of Environmental Protection and the New York City Department of Design and Construction completed more than 900 curbside rain gardens and catch basins across Whitestone, Queens and Crown Heights, Brooklyn. The rain gardens will intercept approximately 58 million gallons of stormwater annually to reduce flooding and sewer backups. To date, the City has built more than 10,500 curbside rain gardens.
Bluebelts
Bluebelts are cost-effective drainage ponds, that reengineer existing wetlands so that they can naturally manage the precipitation affecting streets and sidewalks. Currently a new three-acre Bluebelt is being constructed in Midland Beach located in Staten Island adding to the nearly 100 Bluebelts, most of which are located on Staten Island. This includes last October’s completion of a $110 million expansion of the New Creek Bluebelt in Staten Island.
Flood Sensors
Flood sensors provide New Yorker’s real-time information on street-level flood information through a free online dashboard. This past week, the City installed its 200th sensor in Corona, Queens’ Louis Simeone Park. The Adams administration has a goal of installing 500 floor sensors in areas that are prone to flooding by 2027. This goal was created in response to the effects of Hurricane Ida.
Cloudburst Program
A cloudburst project focuses on handling heavy downpours similar to what was seen during Hurricane Ida. A $24 million Brownsville Brooklyn Cloudburst project is anticipated to begin in the coming months.
The City is currently working on cloudburst projects at NYCHA’s South Jamaica Houses that will capture nearly 3.5 million gallons of stormwater to reduce the amount of water in the sewer system and prevent flooding. This projected is expected to be completed in 2025.
The City received $100 million in federal funds to construct two additional Cloudburst projects in Corona and Kissena. The City has been shortlisted for $100 million that would be used for projects in East Elmhurst and Central Harlem.
Cloudburst projects have been completed in Parkchester-Morris Park, the Bronx, East New York, Brooklyn, East Harlem, Manhattan and St. Alban’s, Queens.
Mayor Adams stated, “Keeping New Yorkers safe is my most important responsibility — and that responsibility includes protecting New Yorkers from the clear and present danger to life and property that flooding poses. Our investments in green and grey infrastructure, as well as flood preparedness, will save lives and prevent billions in property damage, particularly for low-income New Yorkers living in these low-lying areas who simply can’t afford to rebuild following flood after flood. I came into office with a clear focus on public safety and protecting New Yorkers’ wallets, and with climate change continuing to produce more intense and more frequent extreme weather, investments like these are a key part of our public safety and affordability strategies.”
Deputy Mayor for Operations Meera Joshi said, “Fast and furious rainfall means New York City must be — and is being — skillfully creative on how we protect our city. That’s why we are making every square foot do double duty. We’re turning New York into a sponge: small green patches are pretty and absorb gallons of stormwater, ponds and basketball courts provide recreation and hold massive amounts of rainwater, and porous pavement soaks in the water rather than letting it pool and flood. We are completing needed sewer upgrades to address pain points during massive storms like Ida and smaller ‘five-year’ storms that happen with increasing regularity. And we’re doubling down on education and information with FloodNet sensors — because while we make progress on these massive investments, flooding is very much an emergency, and we must protect lives now while we plan for the future.”
By: Chelsea Ramjeawan (Chelsea is the CityLaw intern and a New York Law School student, Class of 2025.)