Congressman Dan Goldman Requests Funding for Financial District Seaport Flood Prevention
Funds Would Provide for First Steps in Seaport Flood Infrastructure to Protect Against Adverse Impacts of Climate Change
Read the Letter Here
New York, NY – Congressman Dan Goldman (NY-10) requested $2,000,000 in the Fiscal Year 2024 Budget to advance the Financial District-Seaport Flood Mitigation Project. The project area has been historically subject to flooding from frequent storms that result in heavy inland precipitation, necessitating mitigation actions to ensure the future safety of residents, community uses, and businesses alike. These funds will allow New York City to take the first steps in designing critical flood infrastructure to protect affordable housing and small businesses in the area.
“Climate change presents some of the most pressing and existential threats facing our communities today,” Congressman Dan Goldman said. “New York’s coastal communities are uniquely at risk of flooding that causes extreme economic losses, disruption in our public transportation, and the loss of affordable housing. New York City’s coastline neighborhoods are on the front lines of the climate crisis, and I will continue to push for federal climate resiliency investments in the vulnerable communities of downtown Manhattan.”
In recent years, storms flooded critical infrastructure including subways, streets, neighborhood businesses, and residential homes in the area. If no action is taken, repetitive flooding is projected to cause up to $20.3 billion in estimated cumulative total losses to the region between now and the year 2100.
The New York City Financial District and Seaport Climate Resilience Master Plan aims to respond to the increasing hazards posed by climate change, while transforming the waterfront to better serve all New Yorkers for generations to come.
This funding will achieve the first phase of design of the planned flood infrastructure. The design includes a lower level that will protect the Financial District and Seaport from future tidal flooding, permanently raising the shoreline three to five feet above today’s esplanade, an upper level that will be 15 to 18 feet tall to protect against coastal storms and create a continuous high line of protection from The Battery to the Brooklyn Bridge, as well as flood gates to protect from future tidal flooding.
When built out in its entirety, this project will seamlessly integrate flood defense infrastructure into a new multi-level public waterfront open space that will protect the Financial District and South Street Seaport neighborhoods from climate change. The flood defense will also be integrated into the existing city fabric and continue to support the diverse uses on the waterfront that support the city and the region.
###