After nearly a decade of ignoring warnings about the type of disaster witnessed this week, New York City and State officials may no longer be able to push off implementing drastic plans to safeguard the city from rising seas and super storms.
David W. Chen and Mireya Navarro consider the options for "major infrastructural changes" available to public officials as they confront the reality that what were once considered "100-year" storms may now occur fairly frequently.
"Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo said the state should consider a levee system or storm surge barriers and face up to the inadequacy of the existing protections," report Chen and Navarro. "The Cuomo administration plans talks with city and federal officials
about how to proceed. The task could be daunting, given fiscal
realities: storm surge barriers, the huge sea gates that some scientists
say would be the best protection against floods, could cost as much as
$10 billion."
"Under a proposal put forth by the Storm Surge Research Group
at Stony Brook University in 2004, large portions of the city could be
protected by three movable barriers installed at the upper end of the
East River near the Throgs Neck Bridge, under the Verrazano-Narrows
Bridge and at the mouth of the Arthur Kill between Staten Island and New
Jersey."
"Still," say Chen and Navarro, "some experts consider the barriers a last resort, and urge more modest changes, including subway floodgates."
Despite the renewed focus on the need to plan for disaster prevention, and not just response, "[w]hat scientists, who have devoted years of research to the subject, now
fear most is that, as soon as the cleanup from this storm is over, the
public will move on."
FULL STORY: For Years, Warnings That It Could Happen Here

Planetizen Federal Action Tracker
A weekly monitor of how Trump’s orders and actions are impacting planners and planning in America.

Chicago’s Ghost Rails
Just beneath the surface of the modern city lie the remnants of its expansive early 20th-century streetcar system.

Amtrak Cutting Jobs, Funding to High-Speed Rail
The agency plans to cut 10 percent of its workforce and has confirmed it will not fund new high-speed rail projects.

Ohio Forces Data Centers to Prepay for Power
Utilities are calling on states to hold data center operators responsible for new energy demands to prevent leaving consumers on the hook for their bills.

MARTA CEO Steps Down Amid Citizenship Concerns
MARTA’s board announced Thursday that its chief, who is from Canada, is resigning due to questions about his immigration status.

Silicon Valley ‘Bike Superhighway’ Awarded $14M State Grant
A Caltrans grant brings the 10-mile Central Bikeway project connecting Santa Clara and East San Jose closer to fruition.
Urban Design for Planners 1: Software Tools
This six-course series explores essential urban design concepts using open source software and equips planners with the tools they need to participate fully in the urban design process.
Planning for Universal Design
Learn the tools for implementing Universal Design in planning regulations.
Caltrans
City of Fort Worth
Mpact (founded as Rail~Volution)
City of Camden Redevelopment Agency
City of Astoria
City of Portland
City of Laramie