Long -awaited Red Hook Coastal Resiliency Project starts

For a long time, the project will include a series of flooding walls and other measures that are intended to protect the low -lying neighborhood against flooding on the coast.

By Kirstyn Brendlen, Brooklyn Paper

Civil servants on Tuesday broke the land on the years of the years of the Red Hook Coastal Resiliency Project, a series of flood walls and other measures intended to protect the low -lying neighborhood against floods on the coast.

The $ 218 million project will be along the outer edges of the neighborhood, with almost 1.5 miles of flood walls and eight -usable flood gates along parts of Columbia and Ferris streets in the vicinity of Atlantic Basin and on streets with beard and reed. A number of local streets will be rebuilt and increased to 3 feet, an attempt to offer passive flood restriction in a neighborhood that is only a few feet above sea level at the lowest point.

“The Red Hook Coastal Resiliency Project will offer meaningful protection against storm floods caused by climate change,” said Dep Commissioner Rohit Aggarwala during Tuesday’s groundbreaking ceremony. “It is designed to improve rainwater management and sustainability while retaining the neighborhood character of Red Hook.”

Surrounded by water on three sides, Red Hook is vulnerable for both rainwater floods and coastal sticks.

The area was destroyed by Superstorm Sandy in 2012 as flood water flooded Most of the neighborhoodKilling 44 people and destroying dozens of houses and companies. In 2021, Hurricane Ida destruction on Red Hook, just like the remains of Hurricane Ophelia in 2023.

Since climate change ensures that the sea level rises and occurs more often, more intense storms, the problem is only expected to deteriorate. The project is not designed to stop floods from a storm that is as intense as Sandy, a “100-year storm” with a chance of 1 percent to act in a certain year, but to protect against the more frequent, less serious “10-year storms”.

Where implemented, the project protects against flood water up to 10 feet above sea level. “Passive” elements – the street grade and flooding walls, which will rise to 5 feet long, will offer constant protection against floods up to 8 feet above sea level.

The flood gates, tucked away when they are not in use, will be used during larger storms and can stop floods at a maximum of 10 feet above sea level. New York City Emergency Management and the mayor will work to determine when the gates should be used on a storm base, Aggarwala told Brooklyn Paper and Dep Crews will use Red Hook to manually raise the gates.

“There is no important time than to do this now,” said Aggarwala. “A few years ago, the Federal Government New York City again classified from the moderate climate zone on the coast to the subtropical climate zone – a reminder that although we have stayed in the same place, our climate has changed to the extent that it actually moved us a few hundred kilometers to the south.”

The project was first thrown by the then citizens Michael Bloomberg in 2013, after Sandy, and was officially commissioned by Bill de Blasio in 2015. Design, community outreach and layers of approvals took years. In 2021, the city hoped -up The project would start in 2024.

In addition to flood protection, the improvements will add 1.2 miles of protected bicycle tracks to the Brooklyn Waterfront Greenway, the Waterkantpark in Ikea upgrades and todd triangle at the Red Hook -Balvelden overhaul. Sewers are also upgraded with extra capacity for rainwater.

The construction is expected to be completed in 2028.

Karen Blondel, an old resident of Red Hook and president of the Red Hook Houses West Tenant Association, said that the project is a “vital investment” in the safety and stability of the neighborhood.

“This project is more than just flood protection,” she said. “It’s about protecting our houses, our companies and our families. It’s about building stronger infrastructure, creating a more sustainable future and ensuring that Red Hook is prepared for the challenges that lie for us.”

But some residents are skeptical. Although the project surrounds large parts of the neighborhood, the areas outside the flood walls – such as Van Brunt Street Vast Street and the supermarket of Food Bazaar – will remain largely unprotected.

“There is nothing wrong in this street,” said the local artist Deborah Ugoretz, barting Van Brunt Street to the large brick buildings that house dozens of companies and artist studios.

She felt that the city “completely ignores an area that desperately needs new flood restriction.” Some locals fear that companies outside The flood wall is flooded more seriously because water will be stopped through the wall and will be back to the coastline.

Aggarwala said that the project had to make the wish of the neighborhood to access to the water balance with his need for flood protection. Areas have been left unprotected, he said, but they had to be considered in context with the needs of the entire neighborhood.

“I think it is the reality of climate change, and in particular resilience on the coast,” he said. “We will not be able to protect every location in New York City.”

The city has previously offered a voluntary buyout and relocation Programs damaged by Hurricane Sandy and is planning to launch another Similar program As part of Planyc.

“The world is changing around us, and some things are just in the wrong place,” said Aggarwala.

Note from the editors: a version of this story originally ran in Brooklyn paper. Click here To see the original story.

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