New York officials on Thursday marked one year since the torrential rains and raging floods of Hurricane Ida left 13 dead across the city, mostly in Queens.
Mayor Adams and Gov. Hochul both commemorated the solemn anniversary at separate events but offered little in the way of progress in making basement apartments safer or the city more resilient against future storms.
“This is not a one year change. This is a sustained change that we have to do,” Adams said as he touted minor mitigation efforts, including the construction of 2,300 new curbside rain gardens.
“These rain gardens are more than just plantings,” he said during a press conference in South Ozone Park, Queens. “They are a strong defense against flash flooding. These are strategically located in areas where we know historically we’ve had flooding.”
Adams and city officials also boasted about a fledgling data collection program, known as “FloodNet,” meant to provide real-time information on storm surges and rainfall via sensors. At the moment, 29 out of a planned 500 sensors are online.
Long-term fixes like overhauling outdated sewers or bringing the city’s basement apartments up to code are still in the works, officials said.
Rohit Aggarwala, Adams’ chief climate officer, noted that some large-scale protection projects are underway in flood-prone Queens neighborhoods like Woodside, Maspeth, Middle Village and Broad Channel. However, most of those projects are not expected to be completed until at least 2023 or even 2024.
Aggarwala added that a comprehensive plan for long-term solutions is due to be released early next year, while acknowledging storm protection is not an overnight fix.
“It will not be easy or immediate. We have a lot of work to do,” he said.
Illegal basement dwellings became a flashpoint in the wake of Ida as the majority of those killed were trapped in subterranean apartments when the waters rose.
Adams expressed little interest in reviving a “census” meant to keep a tally of basement units, which started and stalled under former Mayor Bill de Blasio, and said he is focused on legalization efforts.
However, a bill to do just that never even came up for a vote earlier this year in Albany.
Earlier this week, City Comptroller Brad Lander proposed a separate measure that would establish a city board to assess the safety of existing basement apartments and provide a path to legalizing below-ground units.
According to the Comptroller’s office, there are about 424,800 basement and cellar apartments in one-to-three-family homes across the five boroughs and roughly 10% of those units are currently at risk of flooding.
Hochul, meanwhile, spoke about the impacts of climate change and the increased frequency of severe weather while honoring Queens residents who stepped up to assist neighbors in the wake of the storm last year.
“Ida was Mother Nature at her fiercest,” the governor said during the Elmhurst event. “As you’ve seen too often, in the State of New York, all of these 100-year events, or 500-year events or 1,000-year events they seem to be occurring with more regularity.
“I’m not buying these 100-year events… I’m saying our climate has changed,” she added.
Earlier in the week, Hochul announced the release of a proposed action plan by the Governor’s Office of Storm Recovery meant to strengthen the resiliency of communities hardest hit by the storm and still recovering from flood damage, bolstered by $41.2 million in federal funding.
Sen. Jessica Ramos (D-Queens), who joined Hochul at the Elmhurst event, lamented the glacial pace of infrastructure improvements in the wake of Ida.
“There’s a lot of work to do, there’s a lot of money and numbers being thrown about,” she said. “And we’re all wondering when do we see the material change that we need in order to save our people and save our homes.”
Following the Queens ceremony, Hochul took a trip on a state-owned helicopter to Ulster County, where wildfires have ravaged parts of Minnewaska State Park.
Currently, more than 200 firefighters, bulldozer operators, pilots, and other professional staff and volunteers are working to contain the fire that is currently estimated at 160 acres in size.
“New York State is not known for the expansive and destructive wildfires seen out West, but they do occur and continue to be a danger, especially with the increase of drought-fueled climate change impacts that require us to be prepared for all types of extreme weather,” the governor said.
