Resilience Plans to Protect Lower Manhattan’s Coastline from Flooding Envisioned
After incurring significant damage in the wake of the 2012 Hurricane Sandy, the Battery Park City Authority (BPCA) had “embarked on a massive effort to reshape the coastline” of the 92-acre waterfront community that it oversees along Manhattan’s Lower West Side. Construction of BPCA’s South Battery Park City Resiliency Project which encompasses Wagner Park is already underway, and upon completion the park will be raised by ten feet with flood protections in place. Recently the state-chartered public benefit corporation released a preliminary glimpse of the early designs behind the North/West Battery Par City Resiliency Project that isn’t expected to be finalized until at least the spring of 2024. Its footprint will begin at North Moore and Greenwich Streets to the North in Tribeca and concludes at South Cove near First Place. BPCA’s ability to leverage funds for infrastructure work through bonds—an approach unique among local government agencies—will help finance the project that is expected to cost in the range of a billion dollars. Construction could break ground in 2025 if approvals avoid any roadblocks; and upon completion, will protect 62 condo and rental buildings, 21 commercial properties, and 19 public buildings of an estimated property value of $7 billion.