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The first of several commissions has returned a report to Governor Cuomo about ways to prevent future flooding from storms like Sandy. One plan in the WSJ today is to make miles of marsh and swamp south of the current Battery Park and BPC. The story…
Manufacturing Islands: Superstorm-Protection Plans Weigh the Possibility of Adding Land to the Harbor
Protecting New York City from future superstorms might be a job for artificial islands built in and around its vulnerable harbor.
A preliminary report prepared by the NYS 2100 commission, one of four post-Sandy panels appointed by New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo to envision ways to gird the region against natural disasters, includes a proposal to add islands to the harbor, according to one commissioner familiar with the document. The 170-page preliminary report hasn’t been made public.
On Thursday, Mr. Cuomo discussed specific recommendations from two of the other disaster-preparedness panels, which include training a civilian volunteer corps, preparing National Guard troops for electrical-repair work and requiring gas stations to keep emergency-backup generators.
“We haven’t done any financial analysis but it’s going to be very, very expensive,” Mr. The possibility of protecting the city with artificial islands or other barriers has long intrigued waterfront engineers, who have tinkered with proposals for years. And man-made land has succeeded in the past: The 92-acre Battery Park City neighborhood was generated from excavated land and rocks.