East Side Flood Barrier Design Overhauled By City

EAST VILLAGE, NY — The city recently announced major changes to a 2.4-mile flood barrier designed to prevent the Lower East Side from inundating with water during severe storms.

The barrier is part of the city's East Side Coastal Resiliency Project, which stretches from Montgomery Street up to E. 25th Street, with a series of walls, berms, levies and green spaces. The city's alterations shook up 70 percent of the design for a speedier timeline of one year and raises portions of East River Park, but nearly double the project's costs, according to Mayor Bill de Blasio's office.

“The goal is the same and this design is actually an enhancement of that goal,” said First Deputy Mayor Dean Fuleihan. “The Department of Design and Construction came to the conclusion that [the project] could be done in a better, quicker way — and it’s working.”

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Lower Manhattan was deluged by Hurricane Sandy’s floodwaters, leaving scores of businesses wrecked and residents without power. In the wake of the storm, the Obama administrated forged Rebuild by Design and tasked the group with hosting competitions to urge innovative flood protections that would be eligible for federal funding.

In 2014, the organization selected a flood barrier system for Lower Manhattan called the Big U and slated $335 million from the Department of Housing and Urban Development for the first leg of the project.

Over the last four years, the city has collaborated with private design firms including Bjarke Ingels Group, Mathews Nielsen Landscape Architects and One Architecture, and locals in community meetings to hash out the design.

The Lower East Side stretch is the first phase of the ambitious proposal that aims to boost the waterfront 16 feet above sea level to shutout flood waters — Hurricane Sandy's storm surge was 14 feet.

Plans initially called for flood protections along FDR Drive at a cost of $760 million. The new design shifts flood barriers closer to the water and physically elevates East River Park at an estimated cost of $1.4 million.

Officials aim for shovels to hit the ground by the spring of 2020 and for the project's completion by the summer of 2023. By moving the flood barriers closer to the water front, some six months will be shaved off the timeline. FDR Drive will no longer have to be partially closed and the switch allows materials to be brought in by barge.

The plan also includes a reimagining of the 40-acre East River Park with a slew of new sporting fields.

City officials will present the new design to local community boards and elected officials for input this fall.

Image courtesy of the Mayor’s Office of Recovery & Resiliency