Rainfall from Hurricane Ida in Sept., 2021
Crain’s asked business owners and residents in at-risk neighborhoods their questions about flooding and how they can make their communities more resilient to climate change. Here, Crain’s answers some of your quandaries, with help from researchers and policy experts.
Leonel Ponce, acting academic director of Sustainable Environmental Systems at the Pratt Institute, said familiarizing yourself with your community board and local planning efforts is an important first step. “Trying to get as much access to your community board to understand what is happening and what’s being planned is a key component,” Ponce said. “But I also think it’s understanding what those community-based organizations are working on, and have there been community-based plans in your area?”
That starts with assessing the risks flooding poses to your business. Familiarize yourself with the city’s stormwater flood map and find out if you’re in an evacuation zone. Create an emergency plan that safeguards your operations and employees, and don’t forget to sign up for the city’s emergency alert system, Notify NYC. If you don’t already have it, purchase flood insurance. It’s also important to take physical measures to reduce your flood risk, including hiring a plumber to install a backwater valve that blocks the sewers from backing up. Seal cracks, loose doors and windows and any other points of entry water could gush through. “The question is what can you do now to survey your existing structure to ensure you’re protected against heavy rainfall?” said Randy Peers, president and CEO of the Brooklyn Chamber of Commerce.
For starters, this city guide and checklist offers actionable tips for businesses on how to prepare ahead of a flood. The city’s Rainfall Ready plan is another resource you’ll want to review. The city runs a free Partners in Preparedness program that supports organizations in prepping their facilities, employees and services for emergencies, including floods.
The passage of the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act and the Inflation Reduction Act have made billions of dollars available for resiliency and climate adaptation. It is a matter of city and state officials advocating for those dollars. New Yorkers will have the opportunity to vote on the Clean Water, Clean Air, Clean Jobs Bond Act at the polls in November. If the ballot initiative is passed, the state will invest $4.2 billion in climate mitigation and adaptation projects, water infrastructure, the restoration of key habitats, among many other climate-friendly efforts.
For many experts, the city’s green infrastructure program is at the top of that list. The term is a catchall for projects that use or mimic natural systems to prevent heavy rains from overwhelming the city’s stormwater system. Rain gardens, or planted areas that soak up precipitation, and permeable pavements, such as porous concrete, are two types of green infrastructure you’ve probably walked by or on without realizing it.
Construction is underway in Red Hook, Brooklyn to make parks capable of soaking up flood water and heavy rainfall
Amy Chester, managing director of Rebuild By Design, said the benefit of green infrastructure is that every dollar spent goes beyond soaking up rain. “It has social benefits because it might be investing in new parkland. It has health benefits because green infrastructure helps clean the air and helps cool the temperature,” she said. That’s also true for the city’s Bluebelt program, which maintains 75 natural drainage corridors on Staten Island, including streams, ponds and wetlands to store and filter runoff from storms.
One way to do that is through the city’s green roof retrofit program. The program is designed to encourage private-property owners to essentially create rooftop gardens with soil and drainage. The city accepts grant applications for the conversions on a rolling basis. Building owners can also apply for a one-time property tax abatement for structures that have green roofs.
The biggest challenge to protecting these tenants is legalizing unregulated units. An estimated 100,000 New Yorkers live in 50,000 such apartments that lack safety oversight from the city, such as ensuring proper exits, light and air. State legislation was on the table in Albany that would have allowed the city to move toward legalizing basement units, but it failed to gain traction during the spring. Without a legal framework, the city lacks a full picture of precisely how many people live in basement apartments, which makes trying to evacuate vulnerable tenants ahead of a flash flood a challenge. “Our elected officials need to push harder to legalize underground basement apartments that could [safely house] thousands of people across the five boroughs,” said Maritza Munoz, housing program director at Woodside on the Move, which provided support to tenants displaced by Hurricane Ida.
We don’t really have one—not yet anyway. Tashawn Brown, a spokesperson for the city’s Office of Emergency Management, explained: “The city does not maintain a flash flood evacuation plan due to the unpredictable and potential widespread nature of the hazard. Unlike coastal storms, flash floods don’t provide much advance warning.”
It’s a mixed bag. Since Superstorm Sandy, the Metropolitan Transportation Authority has spent $7.6 billion on repairs and resiliency projects to shore up vulnerable infrastructure, including some $350 million toward movable flood controls to block station entrances, sidewalk vents, manholes and other subway entry points. The problem, an MTA Inspector General’s Office audit found, is that the way transit officials manage that equipment is disorganized, lacks planned deployment routes and poorly trains crews to install those protections.
Staying current is easy with Crain's news delivered straight to your inbox, free of charge. Click below to see everything we have to offer.
Don't miss the chance to get the biggest news first! Stay connected to New York business news in print and online
Crain’s New York Business is the trusted voice of the New York business community—connecting businesses across the five boroughs by providing analysis and opinion on how to navigate New York’s complex business and political landscape.
685 Third Avenue New York, NY 10017 (212) 210-0100