Battery Park City Resiliency
In 2012, Superstorm Sandy made landfall, leading to more than 100 fatalities and $70 billion in damages across a dozen states. In New York City alone, the storm resulted in 44 lives lost, millions of traumatized residents, billions of dollars in property damage, and extensive loss of income and productivity. While Battery Park City fared better than many other affected areas of New York City, the neighborhood nevertheless sustained millions of dollars of flood-related damage to its most vulnerable assets. Since Superstorm Sandy, the Battery Park City Authority has advanced major resiliency efforts to protect both Battery Park City and other inland areas.
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The South Battery Park City Resiliency Project (SBPCR) and the North/West Battery Park City Resiliency Project (NWBPCR) serve as critical components of the City of New York’s overall Lower Manhattan Coastal Resiliency Project (LMCR), an integrated coastal protection initiative aimed at reducing flood risk due to coastal storms and sea level rise in Lower Manhattan. LMCR spans the Lower Manhattan coast and seeks to increase resiliency while preserving access to the waterfront and integrating with public space. The SBPCR and NWBPCR (together, Battery Park City Resiliency, or BPCR) components of LMCR feature a contiguous flood barrier system over 7,900 feet in length, stretching from the Battery, north along the Esplanade of Battery Park City, and terminating at a high point above the Design Flood Elevation at Greenwich Street in Tribeca.
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Battery Park City and the inland area of Lower Manhattan protected by BPCR contain approximately 25,000 residents, approximately 61,000 jobs, and $15.96 billion in property value. Property in the protected area spans 63 residential condominium and rental buildings, 22 commercial buildings, and 20 public buildings including parking facilities, schools, and places of worship. Without district-scale resilience investments, millions of dollars of chronic property damage, business disruption, and residential displacement could undermine the forces behind the area’s historically robust real estate market. The potential risks of inaction, therefore, far outweigh the costs involved, making coastal resiliency is a smart and necessary investment in our city’s future.