Today, it's been 12 years since Hurricane Sandy. On Sunday, our director of resilience, Tyler Taba, WEDG, spoke with Rocco Vertuccio on NY1 News about the progress that has been made since the storm. In this post, Tyler outlines concrete actions that have been taken, from resiliency projects to creation of new government offices and positions to combat climate change. Check out his interview at the link below!
Today marks 12 years since Hurricane Sandy. I spoke with Rocco Vertuccio on NY1 News about what progress has been made since the Sandy displaced and devastated our communities in New York and New Jersey. So much still to be done, but we have made some progress— The East Side Coastal Resiliency Project (ESCR) is moving toward completion, led by the NYC Department of Design and Construction. More than 120,000 residents will be protected by a real signature urban coastal resilience project. ESCR earned Waterfront Alliance's coveted WEDG (Waterfront Edge Design Guidelines) verification. We're thrilled to see projects like these continue to be funded, and strongly encourage prioritizing similar time and investment for communities in The Bronx, Brooklyn, Queens, and Staten Island. Since Sandy, lots of good governance and planning has happened— • The NYC Office of the Mayor now has a permanent office of Climate and Environmental Justice. • The City has a Chief Climate Officer to help lead that office and the broader climate goals. We're lucky to have Rohit Aggarwala's leadership and vision in that role. • The NYC Department of Environmental Protection (NYC DEP) established a Bureau of Coastal Resilience to handle operations and maintenance of the City's coastal resilience projects and portfolio. We're lucky to have Laurian Farrell's leadership and vision in that role. And, the US Army Corps of Engineers has been working on a major infrastructure project, known as the NY-NJ Harbor and Tributaries Study (or HATS). Waterfront Alliance and the #Rise2Resilience Coalition have been working with the Army Corps to advocate for the best solutions to protect our communities from climate change. Check out the full interview here: https://lnkd.in/eEVJEygc