DEC Releases Coastal Plan for New York City

Under a state-funded plan, coastal green infrastructure will increase resiliency along the Hudson River estuary shoreline and coastal areas of New York City, New York State Department of Environmental Conservation Commissioner Joe Martens announced yesterday.

The New York City Mayor’s Office of Recovery and Resiliency and Department of City Planning is jointly managing the project.

“Governor Andrew Cuomo has a clear vision for creating resilient communities in New York State and DEC’s Hudson River Estuary Program making this vision a reality through this plan,” Commissioner Martens said. “This project demonstrates how to re-imagine resilient coasts while also improving the ecology of our coastal waters. The plan will help protect coastal communities, provide habitat to help sustain our fisheries and provide opportunities to connect New Yorkers to their local waterfront.”

Coastal green infrastructure strategies create, restore or emulate the ability of natural coastal features to reduce erosion and mitigate storm surge, wave action and still-water flooding associated with coastal flood events.

The research plan examined six coastal green infrastructure strategies:

– constructed wetlands and maritime forests;

– constructed reefs;

– constructed breakwater islands;

– channel shallowing;

– ecologically enhanced bulkheads and revetments; and

– living shorelines.

The study confirms that these nature-based strategies reduce storm-surge and erosion and also have valuable ecological benefits. Constructed wetlands and maritime forests, and constructed breakwater islands also reduce everyday erosion from waves and wakes.