2 new associate commissioners to lead coastal resiliency project

Department of Design and Construction appointed How Sheen Pau and Joseph Lione to oversee resilience construction in Brooklyn, citywide

October 28, 2022 Brooklyn Eagle Staff

Associate Commissioner for Coastal Resiliency How Sheen Pau. Photo courtesy of the NYC Department of Design and Construction

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The city Department of Design and Construction (DDC) announced Friday the nomination of two new Associate Commissioners of Coastal Resiliency: How Sheen Pau and Joseph Lione. Their positions are a component of major shoreline protection programs across the five boroughs, including the Brooklyn Bridge-Montgomery Coastal Resilience project and the Red Hook Coastal Resiliency.

Associate Commissioner for Coastal Resiliency Design How Sheen Pau has worked for the DDC since 1996 and has 30 years’ experience working in city construction. She was named the Associate Commissioner of Design (infrastructure) in 2018. Pau managed the risk assessment for the replacement of the city’s road, water and sewer systems.

“Our coastal resiliency design is a very complex process and incorporates numerous concepts as we implement flood protection,” said Associate Commissioner for Coastal Resiliency Design How Sheen Pau.

Pau’s past work includes the East Side Coastal resiliency project, a $1.5 billion expansion that helped provide floodwater protection for over 110,000 Manhattan residents. Pau has also supervised complex projects, like green street infrastructure and rain gardens, as well as public plazas like Times Square, Columbus Circle and Montefiore Plaza. She holds a B.S. and M.S. in Civil Engineering from the City College of the City University of New York.

“These projects are located adjacent to large areas of coastline, so we seek to build on access to the water without cutting communities off from their coastlines. We have to design not just for the shoreline but also to address inland flooding that may occur in protected communities from intense rainfall.”

Associate Commissioner for Coastal Resiliency Construction Joseph Lione. Photo courtesy of the NYC Department of Design and Construction

“We have to consider factors such as sight lines and strategically place gates and other access points in those areas in order to preserve neighborhood character. We need to listen to residents and respond to their needs and concerns. There’s much more to it than just building a floodwall.”

Associate Commissioner for Coastal Resiliency Construction, Joseph Lione, has over three decades of experience working at different multimillion dollar infrastructure projects around the city, both for the DDC and the Economic Development Corporation. He has also worked for the Governors Island Partnership and private developers.

Lione’s work is highly applicable to the coastal resiliency initiative, as he has experience in street reconstruction, pipe and tunneling rehabilitation, pumping station construction and wetland restoration.

“Climate change is real and coastal resiliency projects are a growing and very specialized part of DDC’s portfolio,” said DDC Commissioner Thomas Foley.

“Each one of these projects is cutting edge and has never been constructed before in North America so it’s important we have a specialized team to build the experience we need to be successful. Associate Commissioners Pau and Lione are well qualified to tackle this challenge, which puts them at the forefront of climate change response nationwide.”