10/29/2013
By Ivan Pereira
Mayor Michael Bloomberg spent most of the day marking the Superstorm Sandy anniversary by showing off the work done to fortify the city’s coastal communities.
Bloomberg toured sites in the Rockaways, Staten Island and Coney Island and said those neighborhoods are more prepared to handle Mother Nature. Of the 59 short-term projects that will storm proof those areas, 75% are completed so far, according to the mayor.
“If another storm like Sandy ever approaches our shores it will find a far different city than the one Sandy left behind,” he said.
Flooding was a major problem in those areas and the projects look at ways to guard the shorelines from rising tides.
In Jamaica Bay, work has started on new bulkheads that include tidal gates in Staten Island, new sand dunes were replaced in hard hit beaches, and in Coney Island a feasibility study is underway to look into levees.
Cas Holloway, the deputy mayor of operations, said the projects were funded partially by some of the $1.77 billion federal aid the city received this year and predicted they will gain more steam as the additional funding comes in over the next few weeks.
“The response and results we see one year later have been unprecedented,” he said.
In June the mayor released a 257 point plan to storm proof that he hopes will be implemented as soon as possible. Bloomberg said he is confident his successor will continue to push for those plans but added he wouldn’t get involved if they took different routes.
“The next mayor doesn’t need me second guessing them,” he said.
