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The New Normal: Combatting Storm-Related Extreme Weather in New York City.
THE NEW NORMAL:
COMBATING
STORM-RELATED
EXTREME WEATHER
IN NEW YORK CITY
The New Normal: Combatting Storm-Related Extreme Weather in New York City.
2
Executive Summary 3
Extreme Weather Response Task Force 7
Summary of Key Pre-Ida Extreme Rainfall Initiatives 11
Summary of Key New Initiatives & Timeline 13
Ida: City Preparedness & Impact 19
Ida: Emergency Response & Post-Storm Efforts 26
A New Playbook:
• Immediate Actions to Enhance Emergency Preparedness & Response 34
• Keeping New Yorkers in Basements Safe 46
• Long-Term Infrastructure Improvements 50
Common Cause: Working with Partners in Government 58
Table of Contents
Executive
Summary
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The New Normal: Combatting Storm-Related Extreme Weather in New York City.
The New Normal: Combatting Storm-Related Extreme Weather in New York City.
4
On the night of Wednesday, September 1, 2021, Hurricane Ida reached New York City. By the time the storm
hit our city, Ida had been technically downgraded to a “post-tropical cyclone”– a reassurance in name only. To
any New Yorker who experienced Ida’s severity and intensity, it was a frightening lesson in our new reality:
one in which even so-called “remnants” of storms, traveling from thousands of miles away, can be as ferocious
and dangerous as those aimed directly at our city. For the rst time in history, the National Weather Service
(NWS) declared a ash ood emergency in New York City. e storm shattered the record for the most single-
hour rainfall in our city, set only two weeks earlier by another extreme storm, Hurricane Henri. It ooded
streets, subways, and homes. Most tragically, Ida took the lives of 13 New Yorkers.
Less than a decade ago, New Yorkers watched Hurricane Sandy, billed as a “once-in-a-lifetime” storm,
devastate our city and the entire Northeast. In 2017, we saw Hurricane Harvey batter Louisiana and Texas,
becoming the costliest tropical storm in recorded history – and then watched only weeks later as Hurricane
Maria claimed the lives of nearly 3,000 in Puerto Rico. Increasingly, these extreme weather events are the
new normal: part of an undeniable climate crisis that stretches across our entire nation, from droughts in
the Southwest to raging wildres on the West Coast. Climate change isn’t a far-o threat. It is here, it is
real, and it is taking lives. It poses a grave threat to our people and our city, and its costs will not be borne
equally. Just as COVID-19 disproportionately impacted communities with existing social, economic, and
health vulnerabilities, the climate crisis has fallen hardest on low-income New Yorkers and communities of
color. ese communities have experienced decades of disinvestment – and this moment demands prioritized
investments to protect them.
Climate change is a public health, environmental and racial justice priority in New York City. For the past
eight years, we have responded more aggressively than any major city in the nation to tackle the threat of
climate change and protect our people. We have implemented the New York City Green New Deal – investing
$14 billion to ensure a 30% reduction in emissions by 2030, and expanding renewable energy use throughout
our city. We have partnered with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers on initiatives like the Rockaways Atlantic
Shorefront Resiliency Project to protect shoreline communities most vulnerable to storms. And we have
reimagined our city’s coastline through eorts like the Lower Manhattan Coastal Resiliency Projects, working
to create a continuous line of protection against rising sea levels and storms. In the wake of Ida, it is clear we
must go even further – and we will. It is also clear that this cannot be a ght for New York City alone. We will
continue to call on support from partners at the state and federal level.
Key takeaways from this report include:
1. We will educate, train, and acclimate New Yorkers to this new reality. e most impactful step we
can take immediately is making sure New Yorkers understand the new world we are living in. is report
details the ways we will educate people, especially in vulnerable areas, long before storms arrive; enhance
training for rst responders in new facets of emergency response; and acclimate all New Yorkers to a world
where we must regularly prepare for extreme and dangerous storms.
2. We will plan for the worst-case scenario in every instance. In the lead-up to extreme storms, we will act
more aggressively than ever before to alert New Yorkers to the maximum possible impact. is will mean
earlier warnings, more evacuations, and more travel bans — all coordinated by a new senior position at
City Hall, the Extreme Weather Coordinator. As we have seen with blizzards, these City actions set the
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The New Normal: Combatting Storm-Related Extreme Weather in New York City.
stage and drive sharp changes in behavior: encouraging more New Yorkers to stay o the roads, prepare
their homes, and evacuate as needed.
3. We will continue to upgrade storm modeling, tracking, and alert systems. We cannot rely on
antiquated tools to protect our city from modern storms. is report details a plan to build state-of-the-art
storm modeling, a new tiered alert system tailored to at-risk areas, and a modern tracking system that will
monitor dangerous weather throughout the tri-state area and beyond. Federal funding in this area will be
crucial.
4. We will broaden protection for inland communities, not only our coastlines. Traditional concern over
ooding has focused mainly on coastlines, which have been devastated by storms including Hurricane
Sandy. Extreme weather events like Ida represent a new world, where even those far inland are at
signicant risk. is report includes measures to respond to the growing threat these communities face.
5. We will act immediately to protect basement and cellar occupants. Too many basement units in New
York City are unsafe and vulnerable to extreme weather, and therefore cannot be immediately legalized. Yet
we also recognize the role these units play in housing over 100,000 New Yorkers. A long-term solution will
require many years, billions of dollars, and a complete re-imagining of this issue citywide. We must put an
emphasis on what we can do right now to protect these residents. is report details an immediate plan to
identify all basement dwellers citywide, educate them through community voices they trust (in the style of
the City’s historically-successful 2020 Census door-to-door canvassing), and help them put an evacuation
plan in place long before a storm comes.
6. We will continue to prioritize investments in low-income neighborhoods, immigrant communities,
and communities of color. e de Blasio Administration has made racial and economic justice a priority
since Day 1 – bringing opportunity and fairness across the ve boroughs, and investing signicant
resources to build climate resiliency in Black, Brown, immigrant, and low-income communities. Just
like the COVID-19 pandemic, climate change is a racial and economic justice issue. We will continue
to invest in these communities and support them post-disaster – from urgent needs to ongoing access to
mental and physical health care, understanding the signicant toll of the storm on people’s livelihoods.
7. We will re-imagine our sewage and drainage system, and rapidly increase green infrastructure and
cloudburst solutions. We face a massive challenge: the City’s 7,400 miles of sewer pipes were largely
designed a century ago, for a very dierent climate than the extreme one we now face. Completely
recalibrating our sewers for storms like Ida would require a decades-long, potentially $100-billion
investment dependent on federal funding. e city’s ongoing $2 billion system upgrade in Southeast
Queens highlights the serious investment required for a single neighborhood. We must begin the
conversations around these long-term upgrades, from incremental progress to a transformative redesign.
Yet as detailed in this report, we will also make a series of immediate, achievable upgrades to our system
and supplement them with creative drainage solutions using parks, playgrounds, and other public space.
8. New York City’s response can reach even further with funding and support from State and Federal
government. e de Blasio Administration will act immediately and assertively to protect our city. We
will invest resources to educate vulnerable communities, upgrade our infrastructure, and communicate
this very real threat to all New Yorkers. Yet over the long term, our response can be transformational with
the help of our partners at the State and Federal level – from the billions required to transform our sewer
The New Normal: Combatting Storm-Related Extreme Weather in New York City.
6
system to partnership on innovative cloudburst strategies and Bluebelts. Extreme storms are an existential
threat to us all, and long-term solutions will require every level of government in common cause.
e de Blasio Administration will update New Yorkers on the progress of these initiatives consistently through
the end of the administration, with more details to come in each of three upcoming monthly reports.
As of this report’s publication, a rst step for key funding has been proposed in Congress. e proposal
includes support for: an Emergency Watershed Protection Program; U.S. Army Corps construction eorts
against oods and emergencies; low-interest loans to help homeowners, small businesses, and non-prots;
repairs to roads and bridges; and a long-term disaster relief fund. We support this legislation as a critical
immediate step. We also continue to call for further resiliency and extreme weather investments in the nation’s
largest city – ones that will bolster our economy, our communities, and our future. Together, we can and must
turn New York City into a global model of resiliency in the ght against climate change. Lives depend on it.
Extreme Weather
Response
Task Force
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The New Normal: Combatting Storm-Related Extreme Weather in New York City.
The New Normal: Combatting Storm-Related Extreme Weather in New York City.
8
On Friday, September 3, Mayor de Blasio announced the convening of a new Extreme Weather Response Task
Force to explore the City’s response to extreme weather events and address a rapidly changing reality in which
extreme storms like Hurricane Ida are increasingly common. Over the past 30 days, senior leaders across key
City agencies involved in extreme weather response came together, along with outside experts on climate
change and resiliency, to compile a new set of protocols and policies that will protect our city. Individual
teams within the Task Force tackled dierent areas of preparedness and response, and their recommendations
are included in this report.
The Task Force addressed areas including:
• Short-term infrastructure
• Long-term infrastructure
• Basement apartments
• Homeowner and landlord investments
• Flood insurance and outreach
• Preparation and emergency planning
• Subway ooding
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The New Normal: Combatting Storm-Related Extreme Weather in New York City.
• Challenges for both commercial and residential renters
• Messaging and communications strategy to New Yorkers
The Task Force was comprised of leaders across the following agencies:
• Oce of the Mayor, including:
ɽ Mayor
ɽ Every Deputy Mayor in City Hall
• New York City Emergency Management (NYCEM)
• Department of Buildings (DOB)
• Department of Environmental Protection (DEP)
• Oce of Management and Budget (OMB)
• Department of Sanitation (DSNY)
• Department of Small Business Services (SBS)
• Police Department of New York City (NYPD)
• Fire Department of New York City (FDNY)
• Department of Health and Mental Hygiene (DOHMH)
• Department of City Planning (DCP)
• Department of Transportation (DOT)
• Department of Design and Construction (DDC)
• Department of Housing Preservation & Development (HPD)
• Mayor’s Oce of Food Policy (MOFP)
• Mayor’s Oce of Climate Resiliency (MOCR)
• Mayor’s Oce of Housing Recovery Operations (HRO)
• Mayor’s Oce of the Chief Technology Ocer (CTO)
• Mayor’s Community Aairs Unit (CAU)
• Mayor’s Public Engagement Unit (PEU)
• Mayor’s Oce of Immigrant Aairs (MOIA)
The New Normal: Combatting Storm-Related Extreme Weather in New York City.
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e Task Force also consulted and engaged external experts and advocates from a wide variety of relevant elds,
including:
• Emergency Management
• Environmental Justice
• Resiliency
• Government
• Health
is report contains the assessments, strategic thinking, and recommendations of the Task Force.
Summary of Key
Pre-Ida Extreme
Rainfall Initiatives
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The New Normal: Combatting Storm-Related Extreme Weather in New York City.
The New Normal: Combatting Storm-Related Extreme Weather in New York City.
12
While Ida oered the starkest reminder yet of the growing dangers of extreme rainfall, the City and its agencies
have already taken extensive steps to address this challenge. is has been a particular area of focus for the
de Blasio Administration over the past eight years – both in deepening the work of previous administrations
and building innovative new solutions to upgrade the sewer and water capture system. e Department of
Environmental Protection (DEP) is the lead agency for this work.
Each year, DEP invests hundreds of millions of dollars to upgrade the entire City’s drainage system, which
serves both inland and coastal areas. ey are also investing heavily in nature-based solutions – including
constructing more than 70 Bluebelts across Staten Island over the past two decades, ecologically rich and
cost-eective drainage systems that handle runo precipitation. In addition, over the past several years, the
Department has also built more than 11,000 curbside rain gardens, inltration basins, and implemented best
practices in green infrastructure. Innovative stormwater capture projects using what we refer to as “cloudburst”
design are ongoing at NYCHA housing developments – projects designed for large volume events to absorb
water where possible and store excess water safely until the event passes.
ese are only a few of the examples of projects either completed or already underway – yet Ida and extreme
storms of its kind are a reminder we must go even further to protect our city from this growing threat. On the
following pages, you will see both expansions of these eorts, as well as brand-new projects to complement
these initiatives and protect New Yorkers.
Summary of Key
New Initiatives
& Timeline
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The New Normal: Combatting Storm-Related Extreme Weather in New York City.
The New Normal: Combatting Storm-Related Extreme Weather in New York City.
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Project Agency
Owner
Start Completion
Response #1: Immediate enhancements to extreme weather communications.
1. Extreme Weather Coordinator in
Mayor’s Oce
Mayors Oce
(MO)
Immediate Complete
2. Increased mandatory evacuations MO/NYCEM Immediate Ongoing
3. Increased travel bans MO/NYCEM Immediate Ongoing
4. Warning signage DOT/NYCEM Immediate July 2022
5. Updating Early warning system MO/NYCEM Immediate Complete
Improved communication to homeowners:
6. Creating Basement-specic messaging
and alerts
NYCEM Immediate Complete
7. Flooding guidance in DEP
communications
DEP January
2022
Ongoing
8. Developing eld-validated current day
stormwater ood maps
DEP/MOCR Immediate May 2022
9. Expanding Flood Risk and Flood
Insurance Awareness in Inland Areas.
HPD/MOCR 2022 Ongoing
10. Restarting FloodHelpNY in-home
resiliency audits and nancial counseling
programs/retrots for 1-4 family homes
HPD/MOCR 2022 Ongoing
11. Restarting vulnerable multifamily
building resiliency audits under
FloodHelpNY
HPD/MOCR 2022 2024
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The New Normal: Combatting Storm-Related Extreme Weather in New York City.
12. Spreading the word on Zoning for
Coastal Flood Resiliency (ZCFR) law.
DCP Immediate Ongoing
Improved communication in vulnerable communities:
13. “Rainboots on the Ground” NYCEM 2022 2025
Improved communication and support for small business owners & commercial
property owners:
14. Increasing communication pre and
post event
NYCEM/SBS Immediate Ongoing
15. Expanding SBS Business PREP
(BPREP) citywide
SBS March
2022
Ongoing
16. Expanding Small Business Emergency
Grant fund
SBS March
2022
Ongoing
Response #2: Immediate enhancements to storm analysis & data initiatives.
1. Expand the Flood Sensor Network
citywide.
MOCR Immediate 2026
2.Enable real-time crisis information via
drone data collection
NYCEM Immediate Ongoing
3. Citywide map of combined ood risk
and model of all ooding hazards.
DEP/MOCR Immediate 2023
4. Partner with private weather forecasting
service
NYCEM Immediate October 2021
5. Develop a Coastal Flood Vulnerability
Index.
MOCR Immediate 2023
6. Improve projections of future extreme
precipitation
MOCR Immediate 2023
The New Normal: Combatting Storm-Related Extreme Weather in New York City.
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7. Modeling and mapping initiatives based
on Ida to increase readiness
MOCR Immediate 2022
Response #3: Immediate enhancements to city and household infrastructure.
Citywide
1. Accelerating the short-term Stormwater
Resiliency Plan (various projects)
MOCR Immediate 2021
2.Accelerating “high-level” storm sewer
upgrades
DEP Immediate 2023
3.Expanding the porous pavement
program
DEP 2022 2024
4.Increasing catch basin inspection
frequency in commercial areas
DEP 2021 Ongoing
5. Deployable barriers in non-drainage
areas
DEP 2021 Ongoing
6. 20 additional Trust for Public Land
Playgrounds
SCA 2021 2025
7. Expanding NYCHA’s Green
Infrastructure (GI) program to 7
additional campuses.
NYCHA 2021 2031
8. Accelerating additional GI projects
citywide
DDC/DEP Immediate Ongoing
9. Creating a Stormwater Project Delivery
Task Force
DDC/DEP Immediate Ongoing
10. Investigating the impact of all climate
hazards on the City’s social infrastructure
MOCR Immediate 2023
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The New Normal: Combatting Storm-Related Extreme Weather in New York City.
Household
1. Studying expanding backwater valve
installations to prevent sewer backups into
private properties
MOCR/DEP Immediate 2022
2. Oering residents sandbags pre-storm DOT Immediate Ongoing
Response #4: Keeping New Yorkers in basements and cellars safe
1. Creating a database of subgrade spaces
Citywide
MOCR Immediate May 2022
2.Providing enhanced communications to
basement occupants, immediately
NYCEM Immediate Ongoing
3. Enhancing NYPD/FDNY rst
responder readiness for basement
evacuations
FDNY/PD October
2021
Ongoing
5. Contracting trusted CBOs to reach
at-risk residents door-to-door.
NYCEM 2022 2025
6. Finding drainage solutions for
community driveways.
DEP October
2021
2022
7. Build a comprehensive Basement
Apartment Conversion program.
HPD Immediate Ongoing
8. Working group to consider regulatory
changes and programmatic support
MO Immediate Ongoing
Response #5: Long-term infrastructure improvements
1. Improving our legacy sewer system for
the future (various projects)
DEP Immediate Ongoing
The New Normal: Combatting Storm-Related Extreme Weather in New York City.
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2.Continuing the integration of Bluebelts
(various projects)
DEP Immediate Ongoing
3. Tibbets Brook stream daylighting DEP 2023 2025
4. Accelerating the long-term Stormwater
Resiliency Plan (various projects)
MOCR Immediate 2025
6. Providing transformational,
neighborhood-scale stormwater strategies
to “cloudburst” neighborhoods (various
projects).
DEP Immediate 2025
7. Implementing the East Harlem
Cloudburst Resiliency Project.
NYCHA/DEP Immediate 2024
8. Implementing the Wetlands
Management Framework (various projects)
DPR Immediate 2025
9. Adding stormwater green infrastructure
in New York City parks.
DPR Immediate 2025
10. Investigating the impacts of sea level
rise and extreme weather on housing stock.
MOCR Immediate 2023
11. Updating building, electrical,
plumbing, and zoning codes to address
intense precipitation risks and coastal
ooding.
MOCR/DCP/
DOB
Immediate 2025
12. Evaluating stormwater fees. DEP Immediate 2022
Response #6: Working with partners in government
1. Formalizing an MTA Taskforce DEP/DOT/
MTA
Immediate Ongoing
Ida: City
Preparedness
& Impact
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The New Normal: Combatting Storm-Related Extreme Weather in New York City.
The New Normal: Combatting Storm-Related Extreme Weather in New York City.
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New York City Emergency Management (NYCEM) began tracking Hurricane Ida on ursday, August
26, when it was then known as Tropical Depression 9 and anticipated to strike the Gulf Coast. e agency’s
Watch Command consulted the National Weather Service (NWS) multiple times per day to monitor the
weather, and specically this storm.
Based on multiple consultations with the NWS, NYCEM activated the citywide Flash Flood Emergency
Plan on August 30. Activating this plan set o cascading directives for various City agencies and partners, as
they implemented their portion of the plan to deal with the potential for excessive rainfall and rapid ooding.
Outside partners include the National Weather Service, the Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA),
the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey (Port Authority), and utility companies including Con
Edison, PSEG, and National Grid.
Over the course of the next two days, NYCEM continued to lead preparation for the storm through the Flash
Flood Emergency Plan, including: multiple daily briengs with NWS; targeted catch basin cleaning and
maintenance in over 1,000 hotspots across the city, in addition to every highway catch basin; issuing travel
advisories and amplifying public messaging across all channels; and notifying agency partners to be on alert
for downed trees and ooding conditions from the eld.
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The New Normal: Combatting Storm-Related Extreme Weather in New York City.
Wednesday, September 1
On the morning of September 1, NYCEM Commissioner John Scrivani participated in the Mayor’s daily
brieng to prepare New Yorkers, then appeared on local radio and television. NYCEM’s press oce issued a
travel advisory, which was amplied and distributed across many channels and to key stakeholders across the
city, including elected ocials, community boards, and private sector partners. An Advance Warning System
message was also sent to providers who work with individuals with disabilities and access and functional needs.
In the hours before and during the storm, NYCEM issued 30 NotifyNYC messages informing New Yorkers
of:
• e forecast
• Flood and tornado warnings
• Service disruptions
• Road closures and other impacts of the storm
On September 1, NWS also pushed ve Wireless Emergency Alerts (WEAs) in English and Spanish to all cell
phones in New York City:
At 11:45 PM on September 1, the Mayor declared a State of Emergency and issued a travel ban, both am-
plied via social media and NotifyNYC.
ese WEAs, State of Emergency declaration, and travel ban came too late – a challenge shared by gov-
ernments and weather agencies across the tri-state area and beyond. is new moment, in which intense
and life-threatening extreme storms can quickly strengthen, calls for a new set of rules. is report con-
tains immediate, fundamental changes to emergency communications and protocols that will reach New
Yorkers earlier and alert them to the severity of a storm.
9/1/2021 7:34 PM WEA Flash Flood Warning (Considerable) for all of
SI
9/1/2021 8:41 PM WEA Flash Flood Emergency (Catastrophic)
Warning for all of SI
9/1/2021 8:59 PM WEA Flash Flood Warning (Considerable) for all of
BK, BX, MN, QN
9/1/2021 9:06 PM WEA Tornado Warning for the BX & Northern MN
9/1/2021 9:28 PM WEA Flash Flood Emergency Warning
(Catastrophic) for all of BK, BX, MN, QN
The New Normal: Combatting Storm-Related Extreme Weather in New York City.
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Impact on New York City
e remnants of Ida caused record ooding throughout New York City and took the lives of 13 individuals.
Flooding extended to major roadways and into the public transit system, shutting down travel across the City.
As of September 16, the City has received over 4,000 reports of damage to single-family homes, and per data
from Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), the initial damage estimate to New York City is $38
million – a preliminary gure that will rise far higher when damage to citywide infrastructure is taken into
account in the coming months.
Ida’s rainfall intensity was something that our city had never experienced before. Its peak of 3.15 inches of
precipitation per hour was far beyond the 1.5-2 inches per hour capacity of our sewer system. With no room
left in sewers, heavy rainfall accumulated on streets, causing major ooding. is resulted in substantially
more ooding than what the city experienced a little more than a week earlier, when Tropical Storm Henri
delivered about 7 inches of total rain, but more evenly spread over a period of several hours.
Most residential damage in single-family homes (1-4 units) is from ooding in sub- or at-grade space (e.g.,
basements, ground oors). ese damaged properties are located across the city, though concentrated in
Queens, Brooklyn, the Bronx, and Staten Island, with many in lower-income and immigrant communities
with a high percentage of at-risk populations. Unlike some prior storms, the impacts were notably felt inland
rather than in the coastal areas, with the ooding caused by rainfall rather than storm surge.
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The New Normal: Combatting Storm-Related Extreme Weather in New York City.
The New Normal: Combatting Storm-Related Extreme Weather in New York City.
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$
Source: NYCEM GIS, DSNY / GIS Track-It #123147
TS Ida: 311 DSNY Tonnage by Community District
Produced: 11 SEP 2021 11:30
FOR OFFICIAL USE ONLY
DSNY Tonnage by
Community District
Tonnage (as of 9/11)
≤73
≤218
≤461
≤756
≤1543
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The New Normal: Combatting Storm-Related Extreme Weather in New York City.
Impact on the Tri-State Area
New York City was far from alone in facing extreme impact from Ida. Across the tri-state area, cities and
localities saw similar devastation: destroyed homes, ooding across highways and roads, and lost lives.
Remnants of Ida killed more than 40 people across New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and Connecticut,
and left more than 150,000 homes without power. States of emergency remained in eect for days following
the storm. Examples of impact included:
• In southern New Jersey, an EF-3 tornado rising from the remnants of Ida reached peak winds of 150 miles
per hour and destroyed dozens of homes.
• In Lehigh Valley, Pennsylvania, river and stream ooding continued to occur through Wednesday,
September 1, with up to 8 inches reported in some areas.
• In Passaic, New Jersey, the Passaic River breached its banks, displacing sh and other wildlife into the
middle of streets.
• In Newark, New Jersey, Ida brought 3.24 inches of rainfall in a single hour between 8 PM and 9 PM –
shattering the previous hourly record set in 2006 by nearly an inch
Broken rainfall records, devastation across communities, and tragic loss of life – all these impacts are
reminders that our region and nation are confronting a new reality with extreme weather, both in scale and
frequency. Ida has underscored the need for collaboration and planning across city and state lines, along with
signicant aid and resources from the State and Federal government, to prepare for these extreme events and
protect our communities.
Ida: Emergency
Response & Post-
Storm Efforts
The New Normal: Combatting Storm-Related Extreme Weather in New York City.
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27
The New Normal: Combatting Storm-Related Extreme Weather in New York City.
During the storm and in its immediate aftermath, City agencies along with state and federal partners moved
swiftly to help our communities recover and rebuild – an eort that is ongoing nearly one month later.
Agencies worked collaboratively to clean up the city, provide disaster relief services to New Yorkers in need,
and begin the recovery process. Below is a look at key aspects of the emergency response and post-storm
recovery eorts.
Rescues & Towing
e sudden, extreme rain ooded streets and placed many New Yorkers in harm’s way. NYPD ocers assisted
New Yorkers in highly challenging situations, conducting 166 total rescues, including 69 water rescues,
and helping remove more than 800 passengers from MTA trains. e FDNY also played a central role in
emergency response operations, conducting more than 500 rescues in ooded roadways, submerged cars,
subway stations, and buildings across the ve boroughs. During the storm, FDNY performed de-watering
operations in key buildings across the city, including the Richmond University Medical Center on Staten
Island. Before and during the height of the storm, FDNY positioned ve high-water vehicles in vulnerable
areas, which proved invaluable to multiple rescue operations.
Ida’s extreme ooding also resulted in damage to cars across the city, many in low-lying areas. e NYPD
worked with private towing companies to move more than 1,000 vehicles.
The New Normal: Combatting Storm-Related Extreme Weather in New York City.
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Damage Assessment
NYCEM activated the Damage Assessment Task Force and its Damage Assessment Tool to allow New
Yorkers to report damage to their homes and properties through 311. DOB and HPD responded to incidents,
complaints, and referrals from agencies regarding storm damage. is prompted nearly 4,000 damage
inspections by both agencies during the rst week following Ida. As a result of these inspections, DOB
determined 116 structures were not safe to occupy in whole or in part. DOB also referred homeowners
to other agencies as needed. DOB and HPD have temporarily suspended the issuance of nes for illegal
conversions and vacates in order to prioritize storm response – and will continue doing so when performing
inspections related to storm impact through the end of the year.
NYPD sent patrol teams and PEU activated canvassers to check on residents and assess impact and needs.
ese damage assessments determined if there was structural damage to homes, ooded basements, or other
impacts. is early self-reporting helped pinpoint where damage occurred in the city.
In addition, NYCEM used the data collected to coordinate with FEMA and the New York State Division
of Homeland Security and Emergency Services (DHSES) to conduct joint preliminary damage assessments,
which resulted in a Presidential Major Disaster Declaration in all ve boroughs for Public Assistance and every
borough but Manhattan for Individual Assistance. ese programs allow FEMA to help fund the emergency
response and the repair and recovery for the impacted residents. Per FEMA data, the initial citywide
damage from Ida is $38 million – a gure that will greatly rise in the coming months as damage to citywide
infrastructure is fully evaluated. is gure also excludes private insurance claims.
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The New Normal: Combatting Storm-Related Extreme Weather in New York City.
Outreach & Canvassing
PEU has launched a large-scale canvassing operation, including going door-to-door to people’s homes, texting,
and making phone calls to inform New Yorkers of services and resources available to them. Outreach teams
brought together PEU canvassers and an additional 200 canvassers from the City’s COVID-19 Test & Trace
Corps and City agencies.
As of this report, their combined and ongoing eorts have resulted in:
• A phone program that has made 486,399 calls to New Yorkers in aected areas, resulting in 34,447 live
conversations in the hardest-hit neighborhoods
• A text outreach campaign to over 200,000 households in impacted zip codes
• A door-knocking program that has reached 29,536 households, resulting in 4,859 live conversations in
the hardest-hit neighborhoods
• Assistance to 732 New Yorkers lling out a FEMA application
• Assistance to 80 households signing up for the GetFood relief program
is practice should and will be codied for future Administrations. ere is no substitute for local,
community-based responses in preparation for storms and other extreme weather.
The New Normal: Combatting Storm-Related Extreme Weather in New York City.
30
Cleanup, Debris & Suspensions
Many homes, businesses, and buildings experienced ooding and damage from this extreme rain event, most
of which occurred in basements and other below street level areas. As a result, the City mobilized multiple
operations and resources to assist with the cleanup eort.
DSNY launched an aggressive debris cleanup eort, including:
• Adding supplementary trucks to routes to pick up storm-damaged debris from residents
• Conducting debris removal operations on an around-the-clock basis, returning to storm-aected
neighborhoods and blocks repeatedly as homeowners and residents continued to clear out their ooded
homes
• Deploying dumpsters in the areas with the highest concentration of damage
To ease the burden of scheduling bulk pick up, DSNY waived rules regarding trash set-out so residents
could bring their trash to the curb at any time, rather than wait for their regular collection schedule. It also
suspended enforcement of sidewalk cleaning regulations, and in coordination with DOT suspended Alternate
Side Parking for seven days, from September 2 to 8, allowing those with damage to focus on recovery.
Ultimately, DSNY collected more than 18,600 tons of debris.
Additionally, an Emergency Executive Order issued by Mayor de Blasio authorized the recently formed City
Cleanup Corps (CCC) to enter homes in targeted areas and assist residents with debris removal. Since the
authorization, CCC has gone into the neighborhoods hardest hit by Ida and helped lead a rapid clean-up
eort – removing an estimated 71,600 trash bags of debris to keep streets clean, and bringing a sense of relief
to households trying to return to normal.
Service Centers
In coordination with State and Federal agencies, NYCEM coordinated the opening of service centers in each
borough. e service centers – staed by City agencies, nonprot partners, the State, and FEMA – enable
aected residents to receive a wide range of resources and information, including but not limited to: shelter
needs; social service benets available; mental health care; food distribution; damage assessment guidance;
dewatering information; American Red Cross assistance (e.g., clean-up kits, cash cards); and cleaning and
debris management assistance to homes and businesses. Service centers will remain open as long as there is
a need and have already seen more than 3,000 households to date. All services have been available online
through www.nyc.gov/Ida, which has seen over 66,000 visits as of September 19.
Inspections for Homeowners
DOB performed nearly 4,000 inspections in response to reports of damage from members of the public
through the Damage Assessment Tool, accessed through 311. Inspections were conducted expeditiously to
determine if structures were damaged. As a result of these inspections, DOB determined that 116 structures
were not safe to occupy in whole or in part. In addition to conducting inspections of self-reported damage,
DOB responded to 311 complaints and referrals from other agencies regarding damage.
DOB is also an ongoing participant in the service centers established in every borough to assist members of
the public with issues related to damaged structures, conducting repairs, and guidance regarding the ling of
permits.
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The New Normal: Combatting Storm-Related Extreme Weather in New York City.
Home Repair Assistance Programs
Beginning September 28th, the City will put plumbers and electricians on retainer to prioritize Ida-aected
homes for critical repairs to make homes safe. Homeowners can use the city’s list to ensure priority service.
All work will be paid for by the homeowner using their own or FEMA funds. Additionally, the city will also
work to reimburse homeowners for costs for critical repairs above the amount they received from FEMA.
Housing Maintenance Code Enforcement for Tenants
HPD has inspected premises involved in approximately 5,000 complaints from tenants reporting damage to
hot water systems, roof damage, leaks and mold (not all of which were necessarily Ida-related). In addition to
notifying owners to correct any conditions identied as needing repair, HPD is conducting emergency repairs
on immediately hazardous conditions where necessary so that tenants in multi-family buildings can remain in
their apartments.
Sewer & Catch Basin Cleaning
As they do before every major storm, DSNY, DEP, and DOT cleaned 1,000 catch basins in hot spots and
every catch basin on highways. While the clogged catch basins did not further exacerbate the issues caused by
immense rainfall during Ida, DEP has inspected and conducted rigorous enhanced cleaning of catch basins
throughout the city following the storm, including going to known problem areas identied by (or post) Ida.
Relief Services, including:
• Basement Pumping
Many homes experienced ooding in their basements or cellars from the storm. Water entered these
premises from street runo; overtopped rivers/streams, primarily in the Bronx; groundwater inltration,
primarily in Queens; and water coming up through plumbing xtures in basements, as water seeks its own
level. Property owners with standing water were oered pumping support via the City’s Dewatering Task
Force, coordinated by NYCEM and DEP. Less than 100 homes and businesses requested this service as
many New Yorkers used pumps they already owned.
• Emergency Sheltering (Hotels)
HPD and NYCEM have connected displaced residents with the American Red Cross for emergency
hotel services, extending the stay for weeks beyond the usual three days for people displaced due to a re
or vacate. As of publication of this report, 298 households and 842 New Yorkers have received hoteling
following the storm.
• Food Trucks & GetFood
NYCEM provided emergency food for residents aected by the storm in coordination with the DSNY,
the Department of Social Services (DSS), Department of Parks and Recreation (Parks), and the MOFP.
In order to reach those in need, the City leveraged the COVID-19 home delivery GetFood program, and
also placed food trucks and distributed prepared meals in impacted communities. A total of 257,764
meals have been distributed as of September 24.
The New Normal: Combatting Storm-Related Extreme Weather in New York City.
32
Support for Small Businesses
SBS rapidly supported small businesses hit by the storm by activating its emergency response protocols,
including:
• Sending its Emergency Response Unit (ERU) door-to-door to: visually assess the impact of Ida; help
businesses record and report damage; manage communication from rst responders and enforcement
agencies; and expedite government and utility processes.
• Working daily with community partners, including Business Improvement Districts (BIDs), Chambers
of Commerce, industry associations, elected ocials, and others to ensure eorts were coordinated and
comprehensive.
• Providing one-on-one support, technical assistance, and information to business owners and communities
through its Small Business Hotline (1-888-SBS-4NYC).
• Connecting businesses to legal support for commercial leases.
Support for Immigrants
Like the climate crisis as a whole, Ida’s impact was disproportionately felt by low-income and immigrant
communities in our city. is includes an estimated 5,100 undocumented immigrants who have been aected
by Ida, from property damage to a total loss of living quarters. Immigrants face a more challenging path to
qualify for FEMA’s Individual Assistance (IA), including undocumented immigrants who are ineligible for
relief.
Led by MOIA, the City has launched immediate support for these communities, including:
• Contracting community-based organizations (CBOs) to support with relief eorts –including
organizations already providing COVID-19 relief, the New York Immigration Coalition, and the
Excluded Worker Fund
• Providing a legal training on the FEMA application for CBOs
• Creating a direct relief fund, in coordination with the State, for immigrants aected by Ida who are
ineligible for FEMA assistance
Permit Fee Waivers (Emergency Executive Order)
On September 7, Mayor de Blasio signed Emergency Executive Order 235, directing DOB and DEP to waive
fees associated with various permits or applications needed by property owners for storm damage repair. e
Emergency Executive Order recognizes that as part of the recovery after Ida, property owners will require
permits, lings, inspections, and applications associated with the repair work.
To assist property owners, DEP waived fees associated with asbestos abatement. DEP also waived the protocol
which, under normal circumstances, requires individuals to submit their permit for asbestos abatement seven
days in advance of the start of work – allowing teams to begin work immediately. Finally, DOB waived fees
relating to electrical permits, construction document ling fees, permit ling fees, and special fees.
33
The New Normal: Combatting Storm-Related Extreme Weather in New York City.
Coordination of Information & Agency Actions
NYCEM activated its Emergency Operations Center (EOC) on September 1, which remains activated as of
this report. e EOC exists as a locus for information-sharing and interagency coordination for the partners
to address immediate concerns, maintain situational awareness, and prepare for future needs. e EOC works
across agency partners to track data and manage operations related to the response of Ida.
Coordination with FEMA
Finally, as part of the Presidential Major Disaster Declaration, FEMA will provide assistance to New York City
through multiple programs. is includes funding to help repair and restore damaged facilities, reimburse
the City for emergency protective work, and support those in need. Insurance is the rst line of protection
for a homeowner or renter to cover losses from an emergency. When underinsured or uninsured losses occur,
residents can seek FEMA assistance.
e City is working closely with FEMA and New York State to recoup costs incurred for the response to the
storm and repairing all damage. Impacted residents can receive additional assistance by registering with FEMA
online or at a Disaster Recovery Center, co-located with the City’s service centers. Based on the individual’s
circumstances, FEMA can provide aid with housing, damaged household items, and under- or uninsured
losses.
FEMA Benefit Eligibility Description
Public Assistance Government and
some private
nonprots
Covers costs for debris removal, life-saving emergency
protective measures, and restoring public infrastructure
Individual Assistance –
Rental
Homeowners and
renters
Financial assistance to rent alternate temporary housing
if displaced
Individual Assistance –
Home Repair
Homeowners Financial assistance to make the damaged home safe,
sanitary, or functional
Individual Assistance –
Other Needs
Homeowners and
renters
Financial assistance for uninsured disaster-caused
expenses (e.g., repair or replacement of personal
property and vehicles)
Individual Assistance
– Clean and Sanitize
Assistance
Homeowners and
renters
One-time payment up to $300 to clean, sanitize,
remove carpet, etc.
Individual Assistance –
Legal
Homeowners and
renters
Free help with disaster-related legal issues
A New Playbook:
Immediate
Actions to
Enhance Emergency
Preparedness
& Response
The New Normal: Combatting Storm-Related Extreme Weather in New York City.
34
35
The New Normal: Combatting Storm-Related Extreme Weather in New York City.
Ida was likely the most destructive extreme rainfall event in the city’s recorded history. Yet it is far from the last
of its kind. e New York City Panel on Climate Change (NPCC) anticipates that by the end of the century,
the city could experience as much as 25 percent more annual rainfall than today, and 1.5 times as many days
with more than one inch of rain. e intensity of rainfall is also increasing, with more rain falling in a shorter
amount of time. ese types of high intensity “cloudburst” rain events – sudden, heavy downpours where a
high volume of rainfall occurs in a short amount of time – can exceed the capacity of New York City’s sewer
system.
New York City must make immediate investments to prepare for the impacts of extreme weather, while
focusing on marginalized communities which continue to be disproportionately harmed by climate change.
e City will implement immediate changes that fall into the three categories below: enhancing our analysis
of dangerous storms; enhancing our communication and preparedness citywide, including tailored messaging
to both homeowners and commercial property owners; and making immediate enhancements to our
infrastructure.
1. Immediate enhancements to extreme weather
communications.
We are in a new moment. We must take every kind of extreme weather communication the City has
traditionally done and supercharge it – using every tool at our disposal to more aggressively prepare, warn,
and protect communities in harm’s way from extreme weather events. New Yorkers will immediately see the
following tools put in place:
• Implementing an Extreme Weather Coordinator in the Mayor’s Oce. As storms like Ida become
the new normal, we face a climate in which all kinds of extreme weather — from hurricanes to blizzards
to extreme heat — are more common, more dangerous, and more likely to quickly intensify. is
moment calls for a new kind of response, with full coordination across city agencies and clear, urgent
communications to New Yorkers. ese eorts will now be overseen by a central leader at City Hall,
who will work closely with NYCEM and other frontline agencies to lead and organize extreme weather
response. is Emergency Weather Coordinator will be designated by the Mayor. Starting immediately,
the Deputy Mayor for Administration will be the rst to serve in this role.
• Increased mandatory evacuations. Whenever the forecast indicates a high degree of likelihood of
considerable or catastrophic Flash Flooding, NYCEM will work with the Mayor’s Oce to preemptively
declare a State of Emergency and issue a mandatory evacuation of basement apartments, with a goal of
issuing the evacuation at least six hours in advance , or as early as possible. e language will tell residents
of basement apartments and employees working below grade that they must move to a higher oor in
their building and, if they are unable to move to a higher oor in their building, that they should proceed
to facilities that the City will identify in each neighborhood based on the forthcoming HPD survey of
basement apartment locations. ese locations will likely be police stations, re stations, EMS stations,
CBOs, and other existing locations that are open and staed 24x7. e public will be alerted to these
emergency orders via mayoral press conference, press release, Notify NYC, and Wireless Emergency
Alert (WEA) and supplemented, to the extent possible, by door-to-door canvassers. e issuance of a
mandatory evacuation will also activate the city’s emergency shelter network.
The New Normal: Combatting Storm-Related Extreme Weather in New York City.
36
• Increased travel bans. Whenever the forecast indicates a high degree of likelihood of considerable or
catastrophic Flash Flooding, NYCEM will work with the Mayor’s Oce to preemptively declare a State
of Emergency and issue a travel ban. Depending on the specics of the forecast, the travel ban may (a)
restrict vehicles from the road, similar to winter weather travel bans OR (b) be a full shelter-in-place where
New Yorkers are directed to remain indoors for the pendency of the order and not walk on sidewalks, use
subways, etc. e public will be alerted to these emergency orders via mayoral press conference, press
release, Notify NYC, and WEA.
• Warning signage to drivers at 100 ood-prone roadways citywide by next July. DOT will add
permanent signage at major roadways that often ood during storms. e signage will warn drivers that
an upcoming stretch of roadway is prone to ooding in the event of bad weather, and urge them to avoid
the area. By July 1, 2022, the beginning of the next hurricane season, DOT will have added signage at 100
ood-prone locations.
NYCEM will also immediately enhance its communications with a more aggressive early warning system. e
system will be scaled to storm severity and tailored for residents living in a basement or at ground level. It will
start with notications that urge residents to “prepare,” and scale up by informing them they must “move to
higher ground” or “evacuate.” Messaging and actions will be tied to both NWS products and existing plan
triggers. NYCEM will incorporate lower thresholds for more specic and frequent outreach and messaging to
the public. For example:
• e NYC Flash Flood Plan is activated when the forecast calls for rainfall rates of one inch per hour for
an hour. When this occurs, NYCEM will release a travel advisory with enhanced preparedness messaging,
including advising those in basement apartments to move to higher ground, which will be amplied to
the public and all partners.
• 36-48 hours prior to a potential event, NWS may issue a Flash Flood Watch, indicating ~50% condence
that a system may have impacts to the region. Previously, this would only trigger a NotifyNYC
notication with basic information regarding the hazards (e.g., highway ooding) and preparedness action
(e.g., prepare for power outages). Now, revised messages will include direction for people who live in a
basement or at ground level to prepare to move to higher ground.
• As forecaster condence increases and Flash Flood Warnings are issued, instructions for people who live
in basement apartments will be scaled up to “Move to high ground” (Flash Flood Warning) to “Evacuate
now” (Flash Flood Warning labeled Considerable or Catastrophic, rare and for events of unusual severity).
• Travel bans will be considered for any level of a Flash Flood Watch.
• Wireless Emergency Alert (WEA) messages will include messaging for basement evacuation and travel
bans.
• Mayoral press actions will also be tied to these thresholds (e.g., social media and daily press conference for
Watches with moderate condence, television and radio for Warnings with increased condence.)
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The New Normal: Combatting Storm-Related Extreme Weather in New York City.
In collaboration with the local NWS, NYCEM will monitor the National Weather Prediction Center
excessive rain products, which have a longer lead time ahead of a weather event.
• A “Prepare” Notify NYC may be sent out for forecasts with 10-20% condence.
• A “Prepare” Notify NYC will be sent out for forecasts with 20-50% condence.
• A Hazardous Travel Advisory would be considered.
• A “Move to High Ground” Notify NYC will be issued for forecasts with over 50% condence. A travel
ban is also likely at this level.
The New Normal: Combatting Storm-Related Extreme Weather in New York City.
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39
The New Normal: Combatting Storm-Related Extreme Weather in New York City.
Improved communication for homeowners:
• Providing basement-specic messaging and alerts through NYCEM. e City will update regular
NYCEM guidance immediately with information tailored to homeowners with basement apartments.
is information will be available in a variety of formats and languages online, available at any time.
Before and during extreme storms, previous City emergency plans did not include evacuations of inland
basements for ooding risks. ese emergency plans will now call for inland basement evacuations.
NYCEM will also implement new citywide ash ood messaging – alerting any New Yorker who may be
at or below ground level (or has renters, family, or friends in these units) with increasing urgency to move
to higher ground. ese changes are one step in a larger strategy to protect basement units and dwellers,
found in more detail later in this report.
• Including ooding guidance in DEP communications. e City will additionally provide specic
ooding guidance in DEP bill inserts starting in January 2022, reaching homeowners with key
information and instructions.
• Developing eld-validated current day stormwater ood maps. By May 2022, the City will make
baseline ooding maps available so that property owners can take protective measures.
• Expanding Flood Risk and Flood Insurance Awareness in Inland Areas. While past extreme events
like Hurricane Sandy devastated our coastline, Ida made clear that we are in a new moment where inland
neighborhoods face a growing danger. e City must help re-educate New Yorkers living inland on this
new danger, and part of that is protecting property owners and renters against nancial devastation in the
event of a ood disaster.
Understanding the real limitations some face around getting insurance, the City will take signicant steps
to help more know their options. HPD and MOCR will work with partners at FEMA and the Center for
New York City Neighborhoods (CNYCN) to overhaul targeting of the ood insurance outreach campaign,
FloodHelpNY.org, to now reach inland communities as well. is site is a resource for ood insurance and
ood risk mitigation strategies customized for owners and renters in 1-4 family buildings. In part because
of this resource, New York City consistently retains higher ood insurance enrollments than other areas in
the state. Property owners in New York City with ood insurance received an average payment of $68,000
after Hurricane Sandy. In contrast, those without insurance received an average of $3,685 in FEMA
Individual Assistance.
• For 1-4 family buildings: Restarting FloodHelpNY in-home resiliency audits and nancial
counseling programs, and subsidizing cost-eective ood retrots. Originally funded through Sandy
disaster recovery programs and operated by CNYCN, FloodHelpNY oered highly eective in-home
engineering inspections and nancial counseling sessions for property owners in certain ood prone
neighborhoods impacted by Sandy. While funding for these programs has since concluded, the City will
now restart these audits and programs – including subsidizing cost-eective ood retrots for 1-4 family
buildings, which will stabilize the existing housing stock in ood-prone areas. is initiative will be
augmented by the backwater valve study described below.
• For large, vulnerable multifamily buildings: Restarting FloodHelpNY building audits and
operational trainings, and subsidizing cost-eective ood retrots. After Sandy, Enterprise
Community Partners developed physical building assessments and training programs for building sta
The New Normal: Combatting Storm-Related Extreme Weather in New York City.
40
and supervisors, all targeted to managing building operations for climate risks and extreme weather.
Several vulnerable NYCHA and Mitchell Lama multifamily buildings did not receive benets under the
post-Sandy Build It Back program and still have ood retrot programs pending. e City will restart
these trainings, and subsidize ood retrots in the most vulnerable buildings.
• Spreading the word on Zoning for Coastal Flood Resiliency (ZCFR) law. While Ida showed the
increasing danger faced by inland communities, we must continue to help homeowners on our shorelines
build resiliency. ZCFR, adopted by the City Council in May 2021, makes it easier for New Yorkers to
protect their homes against coastal ooding and rising sea levels. It allows residents in the City’s oodplain
to:
ɽ Relocate their basement spaces above grade – without making residents choose between losing a
portion of their home or basement unit to retrotting
ɽ Use generators, batteries, and other energy storage systems on their properties without encountering
zoning constraints
Finally, ZCFR set up a framework to allow the City to fast-track the post-disaster recovery process
in certain cases through a zoning text amendment – lifting zoning constraints on a temporary basis.
ese provisions can help New Yorkers as they recover from Ida, and the City will conduct targeted
outreach to ensure homeowners are aware of their options.
Improved communication in vulnerable communities:
• “Rainboots on the Ground.”
NYCEM is in the process of growing a Citywide Strengthening Communities program that will maintain
partnership with over 60 networks of CBOs over the next three years. Similar to the City’s historically
successful 2020 Census eort, in which community organizations canvassed door-to-door to drive
awareness and action, the City will contract and train CBO teams to conduct door-to-door canvassing
of at-risk apartments across the city, especially basement units. ey will highlight the impending threat,
advise of evacuation, and provide the closest refuge location.
Improved communication and support for small business owners &
commercial property owners:
• Before and after extreme weather events:
Pre-Weather Event: City agencies, led by SBS, will deeply engage with small businesses and help them
prepare for this new reality. e City will lead an eort to educate storefront owners on ood preparation
— such as elevating sensitive equipment and inventory – that play a crucial role in helping a business
survive. In coordination with NYCEM, SBS will also share critical information related to extreme weather,
commercial leases, and business interruption.
Post-Weather Event: SBS will conduct outreach citywide, sharing best practices on insurance
documentation, Federal, State and City resources, and mediation/legal services.
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The New Normal: Combatting Storm-Related Extreme Weather in New York City.
• Expanding SBS Business PREP (BPREP) citywide to help small businesses better prepare for
emergencies.
Created after Hurricane Sandy, the SBS Business Preparedness and Resiliency Program (BPREP) helps
small businesses prepare for emergencies and enhance the resiliency of their operations, assets, and
physical space. e program oers emergency preparedness workshops and webinars, on-site risk
assessments, and online resources on best practices. Certied experts in resiliency and emergency
preparedness are available to consult one-on-one with small business owners to help them reduce loss and
maintain control during any disruption. e City will fund an expansion of this program in March 2022
to reach an additional 2,040 businesses citywide.
• Expanding the City’s Small Business Emergency Grant Fund.
e City will fund grants up to $5,000 for businesses aected by emergency weather and other disasters.
Previous federal funding severely limited how money could be used and which businesses could apply.
is new commitment by the City will ensure that more funds are available to more businesses, with less
paperwork and delay, starting in March 2022. To facilitate this, the City will also create a new public rule
to allow for speedy and eective deployment of nancial support for small businesses in the event of an
emergency.
2. Immediate enhancements to storm analysis & data
initiatives.
e City’s ability to prepare and respond to future extreme weather events hinges on how well we can
determine the extent and magnitude of ood impacts, as well as our modeling of stormwater infrastructure
capacity. We will make signicant investments to:
• Expand the Flood Sensor Network citywide. MOCR, working in partnership with the Oce of the
CTO, DEP, NYCEM, DOT, and NWS, will expand the City’s nascent ood sensor network to provide
real-time depth data in high-risk locations. ere is signicant potential in integrating this data into real-
time situational awareness, alerts, future forecasting, and long-term planning. For example, this data can:
ɽ Feed into an early warning system throughout the city, informing road closures or travel bans
ɽ Create electronic and variable signage to notify drivers of potential roadway hazards, reminding
travelers to plan ahead or use an alternate route
ɽ Alert communities on emergency preparedness and response, including real-time mitigation measures
like sandbags and removal of valuables from basements.
ɽ Identify areas that most urgently need post-storm assistance
ɽ Validate existing ood models and better hone predictions
ɽ Inform long-term stormwater resiliency planning
• Enable real-time crisis information via drone data collection. NYCEM will begin conducting post-
storm assessments using drones to send real-time information back to the City’s emergency response
agencies, allowing agencies to understand on-the-ground conditions immediately. is information can
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42
inform emergency response decisions and post-storm actions, such as determining where to send rst
responders after initial deployment and prioritizing areas for cleanup and repair.
• Integrate ood maps and improve citywide models of combined ood risk. Extreme rainfall, higher
seas, and higher water tables can have a compound eect. Current ood maps and models depict these
climate-related hazards separately. Future ood risk cannot accurately be mapped or modeled without a
precise and up-to-date depiction of present-day ood risk under existing conditions. A comprehensive
map including coastal ooding, stormwater and groundwater modeling is needed. e City will create an
integrated map to visualize the cumulative or compound eect of weather and climate hazards.
To improve those maps, we will also integrate stormwater, coastal ood, and groundwater models. Key
questions include where and when surface inundation occurs, the performance of outfall tide gates, and
the need for pumping and/or storage. is model will approach all these questions through data analysis,
and will take into account current and future tidal elevation, as well as the infrastructure already in place
(e.g., pipe sizes, layouts). e resulting framework will help the City and private partners identify key
infrastructure investments that need to be made, and help City agencies determine the most eective use
of City resources.
• Hire a private weather meteorology & forecasting company to supplement NWS. NYCEM is in the
process of hiring a private weather forecasting vendor, which will: provide a “second opinion” on what the
City hears from NWS; build local forecasting down to the neighborhood level; proactively alert the City
of any potential triggers being reached; and develop custom forecasts/products on demand, with access to
data and models NWS does not have. A solicitation for bids has already been issued, and provided bids are
received, NYCEM will select a vendor the week of this report.
• Develop a Coastal Flood Vulnerability Index. e Heat Vulnerability Index used by the NYC
Department of Health and Mental Hygiene is an essential tool that helps the City protect communities
from the Urban Heat Island Eect through increased and accessible information, resource allocation,
outreach, and services in vulnerable neighborhoods. A similar tool for coastal ood vulnerability would
integrate information about coastal climate hazards with data on vulnerable populations to help guide
resource allocation, outreach, and services to priority neighborhoods. MOCR, in coordination with
relevant agencies, will develop a Coastal Vulnerability Index.
• Improve future projections of extreme precipitation. e Stormwater Resiliency Plan, released in May
2021, outlines the City’s approach to managing the risk of extreme rainfall. e plan addresses emergency
response as well as accounting for increasing rainfall in our infrastructure, and laid out 17 initiatives
for reducing risk to extreme precipitation over 10 years. However, the record-breaking rainfall events
that have occurred just this summer since the Plan’s release have demonstrated the need to accelerate its
implementation. e City has accelerated these 17 initiatives, which have been captured as dedicated
commitments in other areas of this report. Additional immediate actions include:
To ultimately develop and/or improve future IDF curves, the City will develop climate modeling and
engineering analysis of future precipitation and produce future probability curves. We expect that
preliminary IDF curves will be completed by mid-2022, which can begin to inform planning, with
nal projections to follow in mid-2023. Engineers will then use these projections to develop technical
specications on the intensity, duration, and frequency of dierent rainfall scenarios.
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The New Normal: Combatting Storm-Related Extreme Weather in New York City.
Finally, the City will undertake specic modeling initiatives to improve readiness, including:
• Bringing in data from the high-water marks of Ida, as well as ood sensors to map the extent of Ida’s
ooding
• Using ood depth data, along with the City stormwater maps, to help the City improve its stormwater
models and understand ooding vulnerabilities
• Improving stormwater models by calibrating the results to known ood extents and depths experienced
during Hurricane Ida. With the improved stormwater models, we will update the extreme and moderate
stormwater maps and add a baseline stormwater map. Finally, we will model additional rainfall scenarios
and implementation strategies to improve emergency response and inform stormwater investments.
3. Immediate enhancements to city and household
infrastructure.
CITYWIDE
• Accelerating the short-term Stormwater Resiliency Plan. e Stormwater Resiliency Plan, released
in May 2021, outlines the City’s approach to managing the risk of extreme rainfall. e plan addresses
emergency response as well as accounting for increasing rainfall in our infrastructure, and laid out 17
initiatives for reducing risk to extreme precipitation over 10 years. However, the record-breaking rainfall
events that have occurred just this summer since the Plan’s release have demonstrated the need to
accelerate its implementation. e City has accelerated these 17 initiatives, which have been captured as
dedicated commitments in other areas of this report. Additional immediate actions include:
ɽ Expand pre-storm mitigation areas as part of the Flash Flood Emergency Plan informed by the
Stormwater Flood Maps in 2021, and analyze locations of critical facilities and assets for exposure to
extreme rainfall by 2022
ɽ Establish a framework to identify the most vulnerable “cloudburst” neighborhoods by the end of
2021 that considers equity factors, existing green space, location of existing infrastructure and historic
waterways.
e City will also continue to advance the longer-term priorities of the Stormwater Resiliency Plan, as
detailed later and throughout this report.
• Accelerating “high-level” storm sewer upgrades. e City’s current sewer system is limited to 1.75
inches of rain per hour. Completely redesigning the system to prepare for intense storms in the future and
accommodate double that amount (3.5 inches of rain per hour) would be a signicant undertaking. It
would require: doubling the size of 7,400 miles of sewers; signicantly enlarging 490 regulator chambers;
doubling the capacity of 95 pumping stations; and making the shoot connections from all 148,000 catch
basins larger. e estimated cost for this project would be $100 billion, and would hinge on receiving
signicant Federal funding.
We can and must examine these kinds of long-term redesigns, as well as more incremental measures. In the
meantime, we can immediately begin adding supplementary “high-level” storm sewers just below the street
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level that can play a signicant role in alleviating ooding. e City will accelerate projects in College Point
and Southeast Queens to install these sewers.
• Adding 50 acres of porous pavement in the East Bronx. Porous pavement is another method for
preventing rainfall from overburdening sewers. is concrete pavement is designed with small holes to
allow rainfall to soak in, rather than running o onto streets and into catch basins. DOT and DEP have
successfully led a pilot program, and now will expand porous pavement to vulnerable areas in the East
Bronx — turning approximately 50 acres of roadway into porous pavement, thereby reducing millions of
gallons of runo annually into the sewer system.
• Increasing catch basin inspection frequency in commercial areas. While ooding during Ida was
due to the immense volume of rain, not clogged catch basins, regular catch basin cleaning is a key way
to reduce ooding due to storms. e primary cause of blocked catch basins is street litter, which often
occurs along heavily-tracked commercial avenues and boulevards. e City will inspect these basins at
least twice per year and clean them when needed.
• Empowering residents with deployable barriers in non-drainage areas. e City will purchase barriers
that oer mitigation for nuisance ooding for homes that experience ooding in non-drainage areas (e.g.,
private streets.) Commercial products like ood control buckets and ood bags are easy to install and will
not require engineering or technical skills by homeowners to operate.
• Implementing Trust for Public Land Stormwater Management Playgrounds. is partnership
between the School Construction Authority (SCA) and DEP funds the Trust for Public Land (TPL) to
reconstruct school playgrounds with green infrastructure solutions. ese “greening” practices include
site-appropriate features that absorb, delay, and treat stormwater, including: permeable pavement; green
roofs; bioswales; and rainwater catchment systems. ese playgrounds help manage runo, mitigate
ooding and pollution downstream, and provide green spaces that make our city more livable and resilient.
ese playgrounds have a strong track record: in the 49 green infrastructure playgrounds implemented
to date, 40.9 million gallons of stormwater per year have been captured. e City will work with TPL
to implement 20 sites over the next 4 years and will explore expanding the partnership to NYCHA
playgrounds over the next year.
• Expanding NYCHA’s Green Infrastructure (GI) program. NYCHA has already made signicant
resiliency investments in partnership with DEP, and now has the opportunity to implement innovative
stormwater management solutions on their campuses — from cloudburst strategies to rain gardens to
permeable pavement. e City will fund eorts for seven sites, prioritized from those with Ida impacts.
• Accelerating additional GI projects citywide. Green Infrastructure assets include a variety of innovative
interventions, like rain gardens and permeable pavement to manage stormwater runo by absorption and
other methods to divert wet weather runo before it enters the City’s sewer system. e GI program is
typically area-wide, enabling it to have an impact in a relatively broad geographic area.
Current projects focus on parts of southern Brooklyn in the Owl’s Head wastewater treatment plant
drainage area; Westchester Creek and Bronx River Watersheds in the South Bronx; and parts of Southeast
Queens. DDC will apply the recently-authorized design-build construction method to the entire existing
Green Infrastructure program pipeline to shave approximately two years from a typical project schedule.
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• Creating a Stormwater Project Delivery Task Force. DDC’s Blueprint for Construction Excellence
demonstrated that ecient project delivery requires constant oversight and interagency collaboration to
streamline burdensome bureaucratic processes. In order to reprioritize and quickly deliver on an extreme
ood area plan, DDC, DEP and its oversights will convene a standing Task Force to address delays caused
by typical design processes, environmental assessments, permitting, land-use, and federal clean water
requirements.
• Investigating the impact of all climate hazards on the City’s social infrastructure. Libraries, senior
centers, recreation and community centers, and shelters provide trusted communal space and critical
services to millions of New Yorkers each year, and thousands during extreme weather events. Years of
underinvestment have left these structures – as well as the communities and specic populations they
serve – vulnerable to intensifying climate impacts. MOCR will convene a Citywide Taskforce, comprised
of Public Libraries, Parks, the Department for the Aging (DFTA), DOHMH, DHS, HHC, and ACS to
analyze and develop recommendations about how critical assets and programs can be upgraded, repaired,
and increase overall climate resiliency. Specically, the recommendations should focus on how City
assets can serve as cooling centers, provide public programming and community space to residents, and
provide temporary housing for vulnerable populations, including people in correctional facilities. All
recommendations will be made by 2023 and updated regularly.
HOUSEHOLD
• Expanding backwater valve installations to the most vulnerable residential topologies to prevent
sewer backups into private properties. Backwater valves reduce the likelihood of raw sewage backups
into basements. is fall, MOCR, with the support of NYCEM, DEP, HPD, and DOB, will conduct a
study to nd the neighborhoods across the city that can benet most from backwater valve installations –
depending on building type, where the neighborhood is in the sewer network, and ood risk. Once that
study is completed, the City will identify a specic number of buildings in 5 priority neighborhoods to
conduct outreach and oer installations. ese installations will be completed before the next hurricane
season.
• Providing sandbags to residents citywide ahead of storms. Sandbags oer a simple but eective way to
prevent or reduce ood water damage, acting as a wall that can form the rst layer of defense or re-route
water around, instead of through, buildings. DOT is immediately procuring 10,000 sandbags to gauge
interest and need citywide for residents in 1-4 family homes. We will continue to scale up to eventually
100,000 to support these at-risk residents, and will have distribution sites across all ve boroughs ahead of
storms.
A New Playbook:
Keeping New
Yorkers in
Basements and
Cellars Safe.
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The New Normal: Combatting Storm-Related Extreme Weather in New York City.
While the immediate actions outlined previously will play a critical role to protect all New Yorkers against
extreme weather events, the City must also address a challenge made tragically apparent during Ida: protecting
occupants of basement and cellar units. 11 of the 13 New Yorkers who lost their lives during the storm were in
basement or cellar units across our City.
Background
e City estimates that at least 100,000 New Yorkers live in 50,000 or more illegal basement apartments. e
majority of the illegal basement apartments are in Queens, Brooklyn, and the Bronx. ese units present an
incredibly complex challenge. Most basement apartments were built without City oversight and are unsafe
because ceilings are too low; egress is limited; there is insucient light, air, and ventilation; they are located
too close to fuel storage and boilers; and they have dangerously improper electrical systems. Because of those
dangers, immediate legalization of every basement unit isn’t safe for New Yorkers. Yet because of the need for
aordable housing, basement apartments remain an important part of the city’s housing stock.
In 2019, as part of ongoing eorts to grow the stock of aordable housing, the City launched a Basement
Conversion Pilot Program to explore the feasibility of converting basements in East New York into legal
and safe apartments. Some code requirements were eased for participants in this closely monitored pilot
program, with the hope of learning as much as possible about how to safely convert them to legal apartments.
Requirements were changed, for example, for ceiling height, natural light, means of egress, and sprinklers. e
pilot also allowed for waivers of DOB and DEP fees, and HPD launched a technical assistance and nancing
program to assist owners in the Pilot program. Owners of eligible buildings in Community Board 5 that
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met the physical and nancial criteria were selected to participate. e program, which is still underway, is
demonstrating just how dicult and costly converting basements in East New York into legal apartments will
be.
Just over 100 homeowners completed the detailed home assessment for the pilot out of the nearly 8,000
potentially eligible homeowners contacted to discuss the program. Additionally, the ground beneath East
New York is particularly hard to excavate, a process that is often required to make basement ceilings at least
7’6” tall. Excavation costs contributed to overall high costs for converting basements in the East New York
pilot, with most conversions estimated to cost $275,000 to $375,000. It’s possible, however, that the pilot is
not representative of the city, and there is a pathway to basement conversions in other areas that will be less
dicult and costly.
Immediate Steps
is is an incredibly complex problem, and there is no overnight answer that will make the 100,000 people
in illegal basement apartments safe from ooding and other risks. Yet change must occur – and the City will
begin that process immediately by:
1. Creating a database of subgrade spaces Citywide.
Resolving this issue in a way that protects every New Yorker will take time. e City’s rst step will be to
work across relevant agencies to create a database of subgrade spaces, including those that may be used as
basement apartments, so that the City can quickly and proactively alert property owners and tenants of
potential ood risk. Work on this database will begin immediately and will be completed by May 1, 2022,
ahead of next hurricane season.
2. Providing enhanced communications to basement occupants, immediately.
As detailed in the previous section, all NYCEM guidance will be updated with information tailored to
homeowners with basement apartments. Using our database, we will conduct communications outreach
to these occupants.
3. Enhancing NYPD/FDNY rst responder readiness for basement evacuations.
e NYPD will begin annual drills of basement evacuations in October 2021, ensuring that its rst
responders are prepared with a detailed plan to aid those needing to evacuate. It will also change
policies and procedures to focus on the growing threat of inland ooding, as well as coastal ooding.
Additionally, FDNY will enhance its preparation for basement and inland ooding, which supplements
the Department’s existing storm preparation. is includes an active review of department facilities to
assess the need for hardening infrastructure against ash ooding. It also includes updating department
ood maps to better anticipate the possibility of ash ooding. is will enable FDNY to more eciently
pre-position resources and improve emergency responses and evacuations in ash oods, including
basements and subterranean spaces.
4. Contracting trusted CBOs to reach at-risk residents door-to-door.
As referenced earlier in the report, NYCEM is already in the process of building a program to partner with
over 60 networks of community organizations. Similar to the City’s historically successful door-to-door
canvassing around the 2020 Census eort, which leaned heavily on CBOs known and trusted in their
neighborhoods, we will again contract and train these canvassers to go door-to-door in high-risk basement
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The New Normal: Combatting Storm-Related Extreme Weather in New York City.
apartments throughout the city. Canvassers will highlight the impending threat, advise of evacuation, and
provide the closest refuge location for residents.
5. Finding drainage solutions for community driveways.
Several community driveways, which are below-grade alleys behind residential streets that provide access
to basement-level garages, are in low-lying areas that were signicantly ooded during Ida. Over the past
few decades, many of these garages have been converted into living spaces. DEP has since been working
with property owners to connect their driveway dry wells to nearby city sewers. Construction is expected
to begin on the rst set of driveways in East Elmhurst on October 4, and work will soon begin on 40
additional driveways in 5 low-lying areas. All will be completed in the next 6 months, in advance of the
2022 hurricane season.
6. Build a comprehensive Basement Apartment Conversion program.
e City will also aggressively build a program that expands basement conversions to additional New York
City neighborhoods, working with homeowners to make basements safer. Much of the work to navigate
between existing conditions and legal basement apartments has already been done for the initial pilot. To
move the conversion issue forward, the City must assess both where the pilot can be expanded to provide
a more representative estimate of cost and other barriers to conversion, and where in the city conversions
could occur with the lowest ood risk.
Additionally, the City will engage a working group to consider further regulatory changes and programmatic
support that could facilitate the safe conversion of basement apartments.
A New Playbook:
Long-Term
Infrastructure
Improvements
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The New Normal: Combatting Storm-Related Extreme Weather in New York City.
In addition to the immediate steps detailed in this report, the City must also address larger, structural issues –
ones that get at the root of the challenge with extreme weather and provide long-term strategies to protect our
communities. ese include:
1. Improving our legacy sewer system for the future.
e City’s 7,400 miles of sewer pipes were largely designed a century ago and are performing to that historic
standard. However, it is clear the climate of the future will be dierent than the past. ere are improvements
that the City can make now that will start to prepare the drainage system for the future, including:
• Incorporating projected future rainfalls into DEP’s drainage planning by 2025. DEP’s drainage planning
will evaluate the proposed sewer systems performance for the projected future rainfall to see if o-line
storage systems can be developed as part of the plan.
• Supplementing the existing sewer system with a variety of tools, including high-level storm sewers, storm
sewer extensions, green infrastructure and cloudburst solutions, retention basins, permeable pavement,
and Bluebelts.
• Investing to support areas that face unique risks. For example, many areas in Southeast Queens are
particularly vulnerable to rainfall-based ooding. To address this vulnerability, DEP, along with DOT and
DDC, are currently engaged in a massive, $2.24 billion buildout of the sewer system there to alleviate
ooding and improve the quality of life for residents and businesses.
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52
• Accelerating the entire sewer replacement cycle by 61%.
• Continuing to invest hundreds of millions of dollars each year to upgrade the entire City’s drainage system,
which serves both inland and coastal areas. DEP’s 4-year capital plan includes new investments, on top of
existing investments, of $2.1 billion for new and replacement hard pipes (including Bluebelts) and $350
million for green alternatives.
• Assessing adaptation strategies for sewer outfalls along the shoreline to account for sea-level rise.
Assessment to be completed by 2023 and incorporated into capital planning.
• Investing in DEP upgrades to storm sewer outfalls. Outfalls are the very end of sewer pipes at the point of
discharge into local waterways. ese upgrades will support stormwater conveyance as sea levels rise.
• Adding capacity to the system to improve water quality in the harbor, which will help reduce quality of
life complaints, meet the economic growth needs of the city and ensure the long-term capacity of our
infrastructure. DEP will do so by rehabilitating current sewers, constructing storm, sanitary and hi-level
storm sewers, and constructing Bluebelts.
2. Continuing the integration of Bluebelts.
Bluebelts are ecologically rich and cost-eective drainage systems that naturally handle the runo
precipitation that falls on our streets and sidewalks. ese projects preserve natural drainage corridors
including streams, ponds, and wetlands, and enhance them to perform their functions of conveying, storing,
and ltering runo precipitation or stormwater. In addition to reducing urban ooding and improving the
health of local waterways, Bluebelts provide open green space for their communities and diverse habitat for
wildlife since they are not constricted by closed pipes or underground infrastructure like traditional storm
sewers. As New York City prepares for rising sea levels and heavier rains due to climate change, Bluebelts oer
a natural and eective solution for stable and sound stormwater management.
Currently, the city has nearly 75 separate Bluebelts integrated into the drainage system on Staten Island – a
number that continues to grow as part of the expansion of the Mid-Island New Creek Bluebelt. e City
will continue to look for opportunities across all boroughs to invest in these projects, as the Bluebelt concept
expands beyond the typical in-stream or in-wetland soltuions used successfully in Staten Island. Bluebelts
could receive signicant Federal funding under the proposed Emergency Watershed Protection Program
legislation.
3. Using other innovative processes like stream daylighting.
Stream daylighting is a process by which buried rivers and sewers are uncovered and routed above ground
again. is can be an extremely useful tool in areas like Van Cortlandt Park in the Bronx. Decades ago, a
system was installed to allow the lake to drain into city sewers. Yet this method has reduced sewer capacity
that could otherwise be used for neighborhood drainage during a storm – an issue that was made clear during
Ida when parts of the Major Deegan Expressway ooded with multiple feet of water. e City is constructing
a Tibbetts Brook project that will re-route the lake overow into a man-made brook that will empty into the
Harlem River, rather than into the sewer system.
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4. Accelerating the long-term Stormwater Resiliency Plan.
Immediate actions are included as part of the City’s “short-term” plan and throughout this report. Additional
long-term initiative acceleration includes:
• Developing and adopting future rainfall intensity projections by mid-2022; this will be led by MOCR,
NPCC, and DEP.
• Developing and implementing a new drainage standard, where hydraulically feasible, using new intensity
projections that account for climate change in the planning and design of future drainage investments,
including Long-Term Control plans by 2023. DEP will also propose expansion of on-site retention
systems through the City Administrative Procedures Act by 2023.
5. Providing transformational, neighborhood-scale stormwater strategies to “cloudburst”
neighborhoods.
A “cloudburst” refers to a sudden, heavy downpour where a high volume of rainfall occurs in a short amount
of time. In 2017, DEP performed a Cloudburst Planning Study in partnership with MOCR and other
City agencies that identied preliminary sites for cloudburst design strategies. Cloudburst stormwater
management strategies are a mix of gray infrastructure, which are structures such as dams and roads, and green
infrastructure, which are natural systems like forests and wetlands.
ese cloudburst strategies are designed for extreme events – helping absorb water where possible and storing
excess water safely until the event passes, while providing amenities and open space. is takes pressure o
the sewer system where this water would traditionally ow. By the end of 2021, DEP will select 10 at-risk
neighborhoods for implementation of cloudburst design strategies in partnership with MOCR, NYCHA,
DOT, Parks, and other City agencies. Initial neighborhoods for consideration include areas in Southeast and
Central Queens, Northern Staten Island, and the Southeast Bronx. All priority cloudburst neighborhoods will
begin work the rst quarter of 2022, and the rst four neighborhoods will be completed in 2025. e City
will aggressively pursue Federal & State funding support for the remainder.
A comprehensive strategy will be developed for each neighborhood to identify stormwater ow paths in at-risk
areas, considering both physical vulnerability (topography, subsurface conditions, land use, recent and historic
complaint and damages data, etc.) and socioeconomic factors (income, demographics, access to existing green
space). DEP will develop community outreach strategies to create awareness of these neighborhood strategies
and identify opportunities for implementation. Neighborhood strategies will outline a variety of mitigation
techniques:
• In the short term, the rst “line of defense” will be water retention in streets and open spaces to reduce
volume along these ow path by implementing green infrastructure including porous pavements,
inltration basins, and rain gardens along streets and medians.
• e second “line of defense” will be storage along the ow paths and in at-risk areas. is will be a hybrid
green-gray approach that will re-route on-site and street runo to detention- and retention-based features.
• Recognizing that not all ooding can be mitigated, neighborhood strategies will explore housing and
building-level mitigations (for example, ood retrots, backow prevention, re-grading, roof leak repairs,
and acquisitions).
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• Innovative technologies that consider the whole water cycle, including stormwater capture and wastewater
reuse, will also be used to create capacity in the sewer system. ese technologies are currently being
implemented throughout the city to divert ows from sewers and treat it for benecial purposes such as
irrigation and other non-potable uses such as maintaining water levels in ponds/lakes in parks.
• Other partners such as CUNY (e.g., Brooklyn College, York College), MTA (e.g., diverting pumped
water from sewer) will also be considered, along with expanding stormwater capture and reuse projects on
private land though public-private collaborations.
At NYCHA’s South Jamaica Houses in Southeast Queens, DEP will implement a “Water Square” inspired by
Rotterdam by restoring a basketball court and lowering it below the surface, creating space to store stormwater
below and above the court. is project will provide storage of 300,000 gallons of stormwater during high
intensity rain events. is project will begin in 2022 and be completed by 2023.
At Central Park, DEP is leading eorts to recirculate stormwater in the park’s northern waterbodies that will
reduce ow from the Harlem Meer to the combined sewer on 5th Avenue by an estimated 150 million gallons
per year and increase system capacity. At Prospect Park, DEP is also leading a valve replacement project that
will allow lake levels to be lowered to reduce ow to the combined sewer before high intensity rain events
to create additional capacity. In addition, DEP is utilizing a public-private partnership approach to provide
grants and bill discounts to private property owners for wastewater and stormwater capture and recycling —
including $13 million in grants to 33 private properties, and up to $10/gallon for certain water recirculation
projects that reduce potable water use. More opportunities like these will be identied through the cloudburst
neighborhoods eorts.
6. Implementing the East Harlem Cloudburst Resiliency Project.
While Manhattan experienced less impact from remnants of Ida than other boroughs, the City will continue
to advance key resiliency initiatives here. NYCHA and DEP will advance a project to reduce extreme
precipitation risk at Clinton Houses in East Harlem, identied through the Vision Plan for a Resilient East
Harlem (published in 2020). is project will utilize green infrastructure and “cloudburst” infrastructure to
supplement the existing drainage system. NYCHA and NYC Parks will work with DEP to look for additional
feasible locations. is project will be completed in 2024.
7. Implementing the Wetlands Management Framework.
NYC Parks’ Wetlands Management Framework outlines a comprehensive approach to managing the city’s
streams, freshwater wetlands, and coastal wetlands. e framework calls for investments in wetlands and
stream restoration and management as well as funding for land acquisition for conservation, ensuring
wetlands and streams have adjacent natural land for storm-related ooding, and for marsh migration when
sea-levels rise. Its implementation will protect against storms and ooding, store ood waters, improve air and
water quality, cool the city, and store carbon.
Priority wetland restorations include:
• Hammond Cove Shoreline Restoration in the Bronx. is project will improve the condition of fringe
marsh at the small inlet of Hammond Cove, in the rogs Neck neighborhood of the Bronx. Salt marsh
restoration projects improve coastal wetland health and resiliency. Restoration and enhancement strategies
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The New Normal: Combatting Storm-Related Extreme Weather in New York City.
include sediment placement, excavation of historic ll to create new marsh and expand marsh migration
opportunities, and re-construction of eroded marshes and erosion protection at the water’s edge. is
project will help increase the resiliency of degraded wetlands and absorb stormwater from landside
ooding, as well as provide storm surge wave attenuation and reduce erosion during coastal ooding.
• Hurricane Sandy buy-out properties in Ramblersville, Queens. Salt marsh restoration will occur across
multiple lots in Ramblersville/Howard Beach where houses were demolished and property is being
transferred to NYC Parks directly or through transfer in other neighborhoods. ese projects will restore
former house lots located in a residential neighborhood to healthy marsh and adjacent upland that
can help absorb street runo and help store and detain ood ows from the land side as well as daily
inundation from tidal creeks in this low-lying area. is project is estimated to be completed by 2025.
• Harlem River Shoreline Restoration at Bridge Park South in the Bronx. is project will result in stable,
re-vegetated shoreline along several hundred feet of the Harlem River that were not included in the
current phase of design and Bridge Park south restoration. e shoreline is impacted by outfalls that get
backed up during coastal ooding and cause overow and erosion of the shoreline, as well as drainage
from the bridges to the north and south of the park. is project is estimated to be completed by 2025.
8. Adding stormwater green infrastructure in New York City parks.
e City will retrot parks to reduce impervious area and direct stormwater to rain gardens and vegetated
bioretention systems to help reduce park and street ooding at six sites across the Bronx, Queens, and Staten
Island. As observed during Ida at Van Cortlandt Lake, existing infrastructure cannot manage the increasing
pace and intensity of heavy rain events.
Green infrastructure installations will mitigate stormwater impacts such as in-park and adjacent street
ooding, as well as impacts to downstream waterbodies (such as erosion, nutrient and pollutant loading)
during major storms and everyday high intensity rain events. ese systems can also be sized to accommodate
larger storms, and their benets for the city’s wetlands, lakes, and streams will build up by slowing down and
ltering ows on more typical storms. Six priority sites in Staten Island, Queens and the Bronx are expected to
be completed by 2025.
Additionally, Parks will explore lowering the water levels in lakes to divert water. Parks will coordinate with
DEP in these instances to identify how much water to pump down.
9. Investigating the impacts of sea level rise and extreme weather on housing stock.
Chronic oods and extreme temperatures will signicantly impact the city’s housing stock and transform
fundamental components of urban neighborhoods. e Mayor’s Oce will lead key City agencies such as
HPD, DEP, EDC, DCP, and DOB to assess with residents, building managers, developers, lenders, and
community organizations the climate risks facing neighborhoods – with a particular focus on the needs of
renters, property owners, Low-to-Moderate-Income (LMI) residents, and communities of color.
After identifying the risks and needs of the city’s housing stock, the City will produce recommendations
for climate adaptation including: the development of new and augmented programs to: reduce risk
exposure; increase risk awareness; provide retrot assistance; develop buyout assistance; explore climate
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migration opportunities; identify post-disaster housing recovery needs; and consider regional housing and
transportation mobility needs from coastal neighborhoods.
10. Updating building, electrical, plumbing, and zoning codes to address intense
precipitation risks and coastal flooding.
e City’s Building Code contains rigorous ood resilient design requirements within the coastal oodplain,
but not in inland ood prone areas. DOB, DCP and MOCR will identify building and zoning code strategies
that promote ood resilience in upland locations subject to increasing stormwater oods and continue to
improve regulations governing coastal ood risk.
Proposed code changes for existing buildings could include:
• Requiring exterior damp/waterproong of basement, slabs, and seal penetrations
• Requiring backwater valves
• Requiring sump pump installation
• Increasing mandatory permeable surface requirements
• Requiring installation/relocation of electrical service from basements and cellars
• Requiring the addition of an escape window
• Requiring the installation of a water alarm
• Requiring installation of ood shields
Retrotting existing buildings to withstand future weather extremes will be expensive. While the city’s
building code must keep pace with safety standards, the City will also pursue multiple nancing tools and
incentives, some of which require authorization by the state legislature as described below.
Proposed code changes for new buildings could include:
• Requiring exterior damp/waterproong of basement, slabs, and seal penetrations
• Requiring backwater valves
• Requiring sump pump installation
• Increasing stormwater detention capacity and increasing design ow of stormwater design
• Increasing mandatory permeable surface requirements
• Requiring installation/relocation of electrical service from basements and cellars
• Requiring installation of vapor intrusion barrier
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• Requiring installation of a water alarm
• Requiring a foundation with a French drain
In addition, DOB, DCP, and MOCR will work with the City Council to integrate sea level rise into the City’s
building code, as described later in this report.
11. Evaluating stormwater fees.
e City will evaluate the benet of charging a fee to owners of properties with large paved surfaces of asphalt
and/or concrete, which generate signicant stormwater runo. Such fees will disincentivize non-porous
surfaces and reduce local ooding.
Common Cause:
Working With
Partners in
Government
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Solving a crisis of this magnitude requires coordination and cooperation across city and state lines – City
government working with partners from the New York City Council, New York State, and the Federal
government. As New York City recovers from Ida and combats extreme storms and weather, we are grateful for
the support of FEMA and will continue to count on their partnership and funding towards city repairs and
future mitigation.
Yet there are also other critical ways we can work together at all levels of government – from new legislation to
funding support to allowing our city to protect ourselves in the best way possible. e following are critical
steps the City urgently calls for:
CITY COUNCIL
e Task Force has identied two crucial steps the City Council can take, in partnership with City agencies, to
immediately improve resiliency and bolster long-term preparedness for extreme weather:
1. Including sea level rise in the building code.
Since Sandy, the City Council and DOB have heightened the level of ood protection required by building
code to account for growing risk. However, these incremental improvements do not account for sea level
rise or the expanding reach of the oodplain that will put New Yorkers and their property at risk in coming
decades. MOCR supports legislation mandating incorporation of sea level rise into Appendix G of the
building code through the adoption of future ood risk maps.
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2. Codifying a permanent, City-funded Oce of Climate Resiliency.
It is time to develop a standalone climate resiliency oce through a charter revision to demonstrate a
continued commitment to long-term climate adaptation. In light of recent storms and the increase in the
frequency and intensity of natural disasters, it is clear that now is the time to elevate this work and address the
growing capacity and resources we need to combat the impacts of climate change. e newly chartered oce
should complete a citywide assessment of climate hazards and resiliency strategies and launch community
engagement and resiliency planning processes for the most vulnerable neighborhoods.
NEW YORK STATE
e de Blasio Administration has worked closely and collaboratively with the new Hochul administration,
both in response to Ida and on other signicant initiatives. We look forward to continuing that work in the
coming weeks and months as we build a more resilient New York. e following items represent signicant
steps we can take together to protect New Yorkers:
1. Formalizing an MTA Taskforce.
In an eort to enhance interagency coordination to address ash ooding in the transit system, the City
will renew and formalize a partnership between its agencies and the Metropolitan Transportation Authority
(MTA), creating a Flash Flood Task Force in the next month.
Coordination on ood mitigation measures between the MTA and City agencies such as the Department of
Environmental Protection (DEP) and Department of Transportation (DOT) has occurred over the years, but
with varying frequency. Post-Ida, meetings have already resumed. e Flash Flooding Task Force will optimize
interagency coordination with regular meetings to address a host of immediate, short-term and long-term
needs to eectively mitigate ooding issues following signicant storm events.
e task force will examine measures the City can take to improve infrastructure around subways, as well
as examining every possible way the MTA can harden assets and create more protection. It will focus on
measures to address water entering underground infrastructure from the street level, the sewer system, and
at grade. It will also focus on addressing street ooding that will impede the right-of-way for buses and other
vehicles. e task force will identify priority stations to perform joint inspections thereby allowing a better
understanding of the root causes of ooding at those particular locations and how physical interventions
could be rapidly deployed.
Regular information-sharing will ensure that inspection results that conrm ooding issues related to grading,
curb reveal, and lack of catch basins can be addressed through either short-term solutions or longer-term
capital projects. In addition, information on projected future ooding locations in inland areas will allow
better planning and prioritization of mitigation measures at additional locations. Lastly, the task force will
develop ways to enhance communications leading up to, during and after a signicant storm event, which will
help with rapid response to unexpected conditions that may arise.
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2. Advancing legislation for an expansion of the Green Roof Abatement.
Green roofs have vegetation that absorb rainwater, provide insulation, and control storm water runo to
reduce the burden on municipal sewer systems.
e current Green Roof Abatement provides a one-year benet of $5.23 per square foot for the installation
of a green roof, subject to a cap of $200,000 per tax lot or the total cost of the property taxes for that year.
To qualify, at least 50% of roof space must be covered by a green roof, and the property must meet other
eligibility criteria. Properties in certain designated community districts may qualify for a benet of $15 per
square foot. e City will seek legislation to expand the Green Roof Abatement by:
• Adding 11 community districts in presidentially-declared major disaster areas and other recent signicant
storm events to the current 15 districts that may take advantage of the enhanced abatement of $15 per
square foot
• Increasing the dollar cap allocated to the abatement from $1 million to $10 million to better calibrate the
benet to industry estimates for green roof installation costs
• Allowing the green roof abatement to be granted irrespective of a property’s receipt of other property tax
exemptions and abatements
Consistent with current procedures, DOB would determine eligibility and approve the application and DOF
would administer the benet by applying the abatement to the subject property’s tax bill.
3. Adopting legislative reforms to kick-start housing retrots.
Amendments to the Private Housing Finance Law (PHV) would enable HPD to assist owners of multi-family
and 1-4 family homes with retrots, resiliency improvements, and/or basement legalization. Currently, HPD’s
ability to help lower-income homeowners nance repairs is hampered by the statutory limit on loan amounts.
Removing this limit would enable HPD to provide a lifeline to distressed homeowners through programs like
HomeFix, and open a path to: nancing basement conversions, providing lower income homeowners with
additional income, and oering tenants more aordable housing options. e City is working to advance
a bill package that would amend various aspects of the PHFL, including loan limits, restrictions on eligible
borrowers, and uses, which would be necessary to eectively address the nancing needs of lower income
homeowners and owners of multi-family buildings that house lower income New Yorkers.
4. Advancing legislation for a Flood-Safe Home Improvements Abatement for low-income homeowners.
e City will seek State legislation to create a partial property tax abatement to help low-income homeowners
and small building owners to recoup a portion of costs for making capital upgrades to address ooding-related
issues.
e Flood-Safe Home Improvements Abatement would reduce property taxes for eligible 1-to-3 family
low-income homeowners or owners of buildings with fewer than 10 units for the eligible costs of
improvements made to increase ood resiliency. In general, the abatement would cover costs related to making
buildings more ood resistant as may be required by the New York City Building Code. Examples of eligible
improvements may include new waterproong, installation of sump pumps, the addition of backwater valves,
and other ood mitigation upgrades or repairs.
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e benet would be calculated based on a percentage of the estimated cost for each ood mitigation measure
according to a schedule of applicable industry rates. Unused portions of the abatement in year one would
be carried forward for up to ve years. e Flood-Safe Home Improvement Abatement would be granted
irrespective of a property’s receipt of other property tax exemptions and abatements.
5. Pushing for the passage and full funding of key resiliency projects.
New York State reauthorized the Environmental Bond Act of 2022 as part of the 2021-2022 State budget,
which will provide $3 billion to reduce pollution, upgrade water and wastewater infrastructure, preserve
farmland and open space, create capacity for locally managed ood buyouts, equip municipalities to acquire,
manage and steward ood-prone lands towards resilient and sustainable uses that serve community needs, and
help communities prepare for ooding, rising seas, and extreme heat. Additionally, Governor Hochul recently
suggested increasing the amount of the Environmental Bond Act of 2022 to $4 billion in light of the recent
extreme weather events. e Bond Act will now go to voters for approval on the November 2022 ballot. is
is a critical source of funding for stormwater management projects, coastal protection, wetlands restoration
and acquisition, and reforestation and tree planting to combat extreme heat.
Additionally, there are billions of dollars in unfunded mandates, including a signicant project to reduce
sewage overows into Newtown Creek under the Combined Sewer Overow Long Term Control Plan. We
will continue calling on the State and Federal governments to fully fund such projects.
6. Revising the Multiple Dwelling Law to facilitate legalization of basement apartments.
Currently, if a two-family home with an illegal basement seeks to legalize that apartment, the legalization
would trigger provisions of the Multiple Dwelling Law (MDW) that would signicantly add to the cost of
conversion. As the City expands the Basement Conversion Pilot Program, we will work with New York State
to determine whether MDW amendments are appropriate to encourage legalizations. e City and State
should also explore the potential of a Basement Conversion tax credit.
7. Mandating Meaningful Flood Risk Disclosures.
While sellers are required to disclose whether the property is in a oodplain, the penalty for non-disclosure
is a $500 credit toward the purchase price at closing. As such, New York’s existing ood disclosure law has
historically made it dicult for buyers to learn about a property’s ood risks. erefore, the State should
amend the New York State Real Property Law to require meaningful enforcement of ood hazard disclosures
for real estate transactions. Enforceable disclosures should state whether the property is located in a ood zone,
provide any history of ood damages, and whether ood insurance is required on the property. A provision
of the amendment should also cover the needs of renters considering a home in the oodplain. Legislation
passed in the New York State Senate in 2021 but still needs to pass in the Assembly.
8. Expanding the NYC Property Assessed Clean Energy (PACE) program to include resiliency retrots.
Given the City’s experience with recent extreme weather events and the likelihood of future climate risks,
there is an urgent need to fortify existing buildings so they can resist damage, protect occupants, and allow
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New Yorkers to quickly return to their homes and workplaces after a shock. Authorizing the use of PACE
loans for resiliency improvements will help building owners prepare their buildings for the harsh eects of
global climate change. is would require the State to amend Article 5-L of the General Municipal Law to
authorize a municipal sustainable energy loan program, also known as PACE, to provide loans to real property
owners for the installation of resiliency improvements on existing buildings located within the municipal
corporation. Many states allow PACE for both energy eciency and resiliency improvements, including
Alabama, California, and Florida.
While some resiliency improvements may not yield immediate nancial returns to a property owner, the
National Institute of Building Sciences estimates that resiliency retrots have a longer-term average benet of
$11 for every $1 invested. Resiliency retrots can reduce nancial losses due to property damage and cleanup
costs; limit business disruptions and loss; mitigate safety risks to residents; employees and the community;
enable swifter returns to business and employment after an event; and may limit liability for damages to
others.
FEDERAL GOVERNMENT
e de Blasio Administration has also worked closely and collaboratively with the Biden Administration and
federal agencies including FEMA in response to this storm. e following steps, both through legislation and
reforms to agency protocols, will be crucial to helping New York City recover and strengthen resiliency:
1. Passing the Ida disaster relief package.
As of the publication of this report, legislation that would provide $28.6 billion in disaster relief nationwide
has been proposed, as part of the continuing resolution to fully fund the Federal government through
December 3. is is a critical rst step towards making New York City whole. e most tragic consequences
of Ida include lives lost and homes made uninhabitable from dangerous ash oods – and the City needs
Federal Ida disaster relief to be directed to storm-impacted homeowners and renters living in ood-prone
homes. Housing recovery programs would prioritize housing stability and enable storm survivors to reduce
their exposure to future ood risks through building retrots, repairs, housing mobility options (including
voluntary buyouts and rehousing assistance), and other strategies. e currently proposed legislation also
would provide longer-term investments in our city’s infrastructure, including Bluebelt funding and highway
repair.
2. Passing the American Families Plan.
e American Families Plan is a landmark piece of Federal legislation that would take signicant steps to curb
the eects of climate change, both in New York City and nationwide. It would protect critical infrastructure,
make new investments to defend vulnerable communities in our city, help the City and agencies maximize the
resilience of land and water resources, and further advance us towards clean energy. Its passage would mean
key funding for New York City in this the ght against climate change.
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3. Incorporating stormwater ood mitigation into the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA)
planning framework.
Currently, the EPA’s Integrated Planning Framework does not adequately balance the need to invest in
stormwater mitigation for both water quality and ood mitigation – which results in disproportionate
spending. Existing EPA regulatory frameworks should incorporate watershed-scale solutions focusing on
community benets, ood mitigation, and climate resiliency rather than water quality alone.
4. Revising the EPA State Revolving Fund (SRF) to include stormwater funding.
After Hurricane Sandy, Congress appropriated $600 million in SRF zero-interest funds for New York
and New Jersey, which led to DEP receiving $161 million toward the implementation of the Wastewater
Resiliency Plan. Given the frequency of these extreme storms, similar funding should be made available on a
dedicated, ongoing basis.
5. Easing the permit process for sewer buildouts.
e EPA, as well as NYS DEC, currently have an extensive permitting process along with stringent water
quality requirements for sewer buildouts. is has similarly slowed the process of building these critical pieces
of infrastructure at a time the City must move quickly. Both entities should ease the permit process to allow
the City to more quickly make improvements.
6. Reforming the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP).
Over the past decade, legislative changes to the National Flood Insurance Act have caused premiums to rise
signicantly year over year, making ood insurance unaordable for an increasing number of Americans.
e City has long been advocating for signicant legislative reforms to the NFIP to increase aordability
for low-income households, including by increasing aordability through income-based assistance and
enhancing mitigation options.
7. Reforming Federal funding to support resiliency.
FEMA should increase funding for mitigation programs broadly. Specically, the City supports full funding
of the Building Resilient Infrastructure and Communities (BRIC) program, which is designed to be used
in advance of a disaster. Increased BRIC investments would save taxpayers money in the long term by
substantially lowering the damages and costs associated with future disasters and allow for more proactive
planning and preparedness.
Several additional improvements should also be made:
• First, FEMA should allow for factors such as health benets to be included as part of BRIC’s cost
benet analysis. Currently FEMA uses property values to determine allocations, which means wealthy
neighborhoods end up with more funding after a disaster and there is an over-emphasis on loss-aversion
versus rebuilding and developing thriving neighborhoods. is reform could be one part of a larger eort
to standardize BCA across all Federal resiliency funding to reduce duplication and ineciencies.
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• Second, FEMA should increase the percent of funds eligible to be used for non-project grants (e.g.,
Planning; Community and Capacity Building). is would enable cities to develop new projects for
future funding.
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is report was produced by the oce of the Deputy
Mayor for Administration in collaboration with the
City agencies and Mayor’s oces presented within.
CONTRIBUTORS
Emma Wolfe
Molly Schaeer
Jerey Sutton
Vincent Sapienza
Kaitlyn Richter
Jainey Bavishi
John Scrivani
Benjamin Krakauer
Megan Pribram
Susanne DesRoches
Erika Jozwiak
Carrie Grassi
REPORT DESIGN
Amanawil Lemi
Caty Bartholomew
Tom Brennan
