Brooklyn pols seek vital flood mitigation funds

U.S. Rep. Dan Goldman (D-West Brooklyn-Downtown Manhattan) recently joined Congressman Jerry Nadler (D-Manhattan) and seven fellow members of the New York City Congressional delegation in a letter to the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) in support of New York City’s applications for nearly $117 million in funding through the ‘Building Resilient Infrastructure and Communities’ (BRIC) and ‘Flood Mitigation Assistance’ (FMA) grant programs.

In the past few years, several heavy floods have hit Brooklyn, including a historic flood last September, one in 2021 that has been described as the remnant of Hurricane Ida, and one in 2019. Brooklyn has also been hit by major storms such as Hurricane Sandy in 2012, which flooded much of the borough’s coastline; and a year earlier, Hurricane Irene, which produced a storm surge of 4.36 feet at Coney Island.

If awarded, these 10 projects would significantly improve the future of New York City, allowing for “shovel-ready” climate resiliency projects to begin and for the planning of future projects. These capital projects will specifically reduce the impact of climate change and extreme weather events for New York’s most vulnerable communities.

While several of these projects are expected to protect the entire coastline, only one, the “Flood Hazard Scoping Study for Vulnerable Multi-Service Community Centers,” is described as applying specifically to Brooklyn locations. It would explore flood-mitigation studies for five HRA centers in the city, including two in Brooklyn.