V I S I O N 2 0 2 0NYC COMPREHENSIVE WATERFRONT PLAN

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OCT. 28, 2010

V I S I O N 2 0 2 0NEW YORK CITYCOMPREHENSIVE WATERFRONT PLAN

VISION 2020 – Six Goals• Expand public access to the waterfront and waterways and enliven the

waterfront with attractive uses.

• Support economic development on the working waterfront.

• Restore degraded natural waterfronts and protect wetlands and shoreline habitats and improve the environmental quality of our waterbodies.

• Enhance the public experience of the blue network by expanding waterborne transportation, in water recreation, and water-oriented educational and cultural activities.

• Increase the city’s resilience to climate change and projected sea level rise.

• Increase efficiency of waterfront construction and operations.

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Project Schedule

Bronx Workshop, May 12th

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Resilience Planning Already Underway

• PlaNYC (2007)• New York City Panel on Climate Change

– Climate Risk Information (2009)– Climate Change Adaptation in New York City: Building a Risk

Management Response (2010)• NYC Climate Change Task Force

– Critical infrastructure assessment (forthcoming)

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Implication of Climate Change

The Natural Waterfront

The Working Waterfront

The Public Waterfront

The Mixed-Use Commercial and Residential Waterfront

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Potential Strategies for Building Climate Resilience

• Retreat• Protection• Accommodation• Other

– Insurance– Event response and emergency management– Innovative strategies

Photo courtesy Architecture Research Office

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Evaluating Strategies

• Risk-based approach that considers costs and benefits• Identify research needed to evaluate the effectiveness of each

strategy• Benefits and drawbacks of each approach

– Consequences for other parts of the City and region– Public access– Ecological health– Co-benefits

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Draft Recommendations

Conduct a citywide strategic planning process for climate resilience:

• Outreach to a range of stakeholders, highlight efforts to assess the risks, costs, and potential solutions for building climate resilience.

• Outline an ongoing risk-based planning process that can take advantage of new information and projections as they become available .

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Sample of Draft Recommendations

Explore a range of options that can be used where appropriate to protect against sea level rise and storm surges:

• Design waterfront infrastructure with anticipation of sea level rise.

• Explore changes to building codes and zoning for waterfront areas to improve resilience of new buildings to coastal flooding and storm surges.

• Create structural protection measures to protect waterfront areas and utility and transportation infrastructure from water damage.

• Identify strategies for retrofitting of existing buildings to protect from flooding.

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Planning for Resilience

Building resilience can be the impetus for transforming the waterfront in ways that can

make the city not only more resilient but also more healthy, prosperous, and livable.

V I S I O N 2 0 2 0NYC COMPREHENSIVE WATERFRONT PLAN

This

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pre

pare

d fo

r the

New

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k S

tate

Dep

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ent o

f Sta

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nds

prov

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und

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11 o

f the

Env

ironm

enta

l Pro

tect

ion

Fund

MACOORA

OCT. 28, 2010