Climate change and a festival of light
Ten years ago, 44 New Yorkers lost their lives when Hurricane Sandy hit. We suffered a weeklong blackout in downtown Manhattan, and billions in property damage. As we honor the memories of those whom we have lost, we are also embarking on the single largest urban climate adaptation program in the country so we can keep New York City and all New Yorkers safe.
On Wednesday, Oct. 26, we [will break] ground on one of the most important parts of the plan: The Brooklyn Bridge-Montgomery Coastal Resilience (BMCR) Project. This is a system of storm walls and quickly deployable barriers that will rise into place to protect the Two Bridges neighborhood of Manhattan when a storm surge is headed our way. The BMCR project is just one part of the work we will be carrying out in all five boroughs to make sure that we are prepared when the next storm hits.
And New York City is not alone in feeling the catastrophic effects of climate change. From Jakarta, Indonesia to New Delhi, India; from Lima, Peru to Lagos, Nigeria; from Karachi, Pakistan to Port-au-Prince, Haiti, cities are being affected by storms, flooding, and record-high levels of pollution and temperatures. In order to combat these complex problems, we must respond with multi-pronged, holistic solutions.