NYC flood defense plan advances, but completion years off
After ocean waters poured into Lower Manhattan during Superstorm Sandy, experts began dreaming up a solution: A U-shaped barrier of earthen berms, walls and gates that would keep floods out and the nation’s financial capital dry.
Now, more than three years later, a version of that idea has stacked up more than $600 million in backing, including a $176 million shot in the arm from the federal government last week. But it is still hundreds of millions of dollars and several years away from being finished.
“We’ve been full steam ahead,” said city resiliency director Daniel Zarrilli, “knowing that we don’t really know how long we have before these things need to be in place.”