Quantcast

The DNAinfo archives brought to you by WNYC.
Read the press release here.

City and State Commit $100M to Red Hook Flood Protection System

By Nikhita Venugopal | December 17, 2014 2:26pm
 A child stands astride his bicycle on a flooded street in Red Hook after Hurricane Sandy caused extensive damage in the area on October 30, 2012.
A child stands astride his bicycle on a flooded street in Red Hook after Hurricane Sandy caused extensive damage in the area on October 30, 2012.
View Full Caption
Spencer Platt/Getty Images

RED HOOK — City and state governments are allocating $100 million toward strengthening Red Hook against future flooding, officials said.

Gov. Andrew Cuomo and Mayor Bill de Blasio are seeking ideas through a "Request for Proposals" to study and design an “integrated flood protection system” in the neighborhood.

The aim is “to make the waterfront community more resilient and better protected against future storms,” officials said in a statement Tuesday.

Possible features of the new system include raising streets, making buildings more resilient, improving drainage and pumping facilities and a combination of raised developments and partially deployable floodwalls, which are temporary measures that can be erected in anticipation of disastrous weather forecasts.

The Red Hook flood protection system — which, when completed, will occupy a total of 370 acres — will cost roughly $200 million, and city and state officials are setting aside $50 million each for initial steps. The city and state also received an initial grant from the FEMA Hazard Mitigation Grant Program.

Red Hook saw “unprecedented flooding” during Hurricane Sandy in 2012, Mayor Bill de Blasio said in a statement.

The hope is that the system will shield buildings in Red Hook, such as the NYCHA Red Hook Houses, that were severely flooded during the storm.