SANDY’S
DEVASTATION
administration seemed indifferent, Grannis said. If the state had
adopted the recommendations
wholesale, Grannis says, it is unlikely that most the damage that
Sandy wrought would have been
prevented. But he does assert that
it would have given city and state
officials “more time to focus rather than just the week before the
storm was coming.”
“We recognized when we put
this out, obviously all the strategies all have implications, and
for the communities who are
strapped for cash, or have elective
officials who serve on two-year
terms or short terms, it would be
somebody else’s problem.”
With Sandy, he said, “it became
our problem.” Some of the steps the
sea level rise task force suggested,
Grannis said, “are really long range.
How do you move a highway?”
On its own track, the city has
explored long-range climate questions in a new waterfront planning document and a still underreview Waterfront Revitalization
Program, which would require
large projects that need city approval to plan for sea level rise
and storm surges.
But Bloomberg has in general
been skeptical about actually lim-
HUFFINGTON
12.02.12
iting development on the water.
“People like to live in low-lying
areas, on the beach; it’s attractive,” he told a reporter after
Sandy. “People pay more, generally, to be closer to the water,
even though you could argue they
should pay less because it’s more
“WHEN THE CITY
DIDN’T COME FOR
THE PATIENTS,
I FIGURED IT MUST
NOT BE TOO BAD.”
dangerous. But people are willing
to run the risk.”
The city’s progress on adapting
to storm surge risk has so far consisted mainly of smaller steps, like
working with private and public
players to harden the electrical
grid and seal off the subway system against the threat of flooding.
Indeed, the risks faced by New
York’s transit system are well
known, said Jacob. The MTA, New
York City Transit, and Port Authority staff played a part in drafting a 2011 report that includes
Jacob’s storm impact model and
projected the city could lose $48
billion in economic activity from a
subway shutdow