WINNERS "REBUILD BY DESIGN". Interboro, BIG, OMA, SCAPE, PP/Olin, MIT

HUD is allocating approximately $920 millionto New York, New Jersey, and New York City to begin implementation of the winning projects that will make the region more environmentally and economically resilient. This funding was included in HUD’s most recent allocation of approximately $2.5 billion in Community Development Block Grants- Disaster Recovery (CDBG-DR) for the Sandy region.

The winning proposals come from six interdisciplinary teams representing some of the best planning, design, and engineering talent in the world. These inventive proposals are a blueprint for how communities can maximize resilience as they rebuild and recover from major disasters. HUD chose the winners for their excellence in design and resilience and their engagement with local communities. These ideas will serve as a model for how we can mitigage the effects of climate change and natural disasters in communities throughout the Sandy region, the United States, and the world.

The six teams with winning proposals are:

• The BIG Team – The BIG U (East River Park) - Manhattan
• The Interboro Team – Living with the Bay (Slow Streams) - Nassau County, Long Island
• MIT CAU+ZUS+URBANISTEN – New Meadowlands - Little Ferry, Moonachie, Carlstadt, Teterboro
• OMA – Resist, Delay, Store, Discharge - Hoboken, Weehawken, Jersey City
• PennDesign/OLIN – Lifelines - Hunts Point, South Bronx
• SCAPE/Landscape Architecture – Living Breakwaters -Tottenville, Staten Island

The $920 million is being awarded to New Jersey, New York, and New York City to assist with implementation of winning proposals in these areas:

Winning Proposals

The BIG Team - The BIG U (East River Park) - Manhattan

The BIG proposal presents a protective system around Manhattan’s edge, driven by the needs and concerns of the community. Building on the New York City Special Initiative for Recovery and Rebuilding (SIRR) report, the BIG Team married infrastructure investments with a community approach.

The overall proposal protects ten continuous miles of low-lying geography that comprise an incredibly dense, vibrant, and vulnerable urban area. The proposed system not only shields the city against floods and stormwater, it also creates and provides social and environmental benefits to the community through an improved public realm.

CDBG-DR funds will be used to implement the first phase of the proposal along the Lower East Side, creating a ‘bridging berm’ at the East River Park. The bridging berm provides robust vertical protection for the Lower East Side from future storm surges and rising sea levels. The berm also offers pleasant, accessible routes into the park, with many unprogrammed spots for resting, socializing, and enjoying views of the park and river. Both the berms and bridges will be wide and planted with a diverse selection of salt-tolerant trees, shrubs, and perennials to create a resilient urban habitat.

OMA – Resist, Delay, Store, Discharge - Hoboken, Weehawken, Jersey City

The comprehensive urban water strategy developed by the OMA Team provides protection along all of the Hoboken waterfront and parts of Weehawken and Jersey City. It deploys programmed hard infrastructure and soft landscape for coastal defense (resist); policy recommendations, guidelines, and urban infrastructure to slow rainwater runoff (delay); a circuit of interconnected green infrastructure to store and direct excess rainwater (store); and water pumps and alternative routes to support drainage (discharge). The objectives are to manage water for both severe storms and long-term growth; enable reasonable flood insurance premiums through the potential redrawing of the FEMA flood zone following completion; and deliver co-benefits that enhance the cities and the region.

Jersey City, Hoboken and Weehawken are susceptible to both flash flooding and storm surge. CDBG-DR funds will support the first phase of the proposal that provides a comprehensive approach for Hoboken that recognizes the density and complexity of the urban area, brings together a diverse community of beneficiaries, and defends the entire city, its assets, and citizens.

HUD funding for this project is intended to incentivize additional public and private investment by reducing risk and driving down  insurance premiums. this investment provides a unique opportunity to create a new form of public-private financing mechanism that is locally-driven but participated in by multiple levels of government as well as investors and property owners. Such a “Flood Development Corporation” or “Resilience District” model would create real financial savings for a variety of stakeholders as a result of infrastructure improvements and other resilience measures.

The Interboro Team – Living With the Bay (Slow Streams) - Nassau County, Long Island

The Interboro teams proposal presents a comprehensive, regional resiliency plan for Nassau County’s South Shore. The plan consists of a variety of elements which provide a range of integrated adaptive measures that keep Nassau County residents safe, while adding to the economic, ecological, and social quality of the region.

CDBG-DR funds will implement the “Slow Streams” element of the proposal. The areas around Southern Nassau’s north-south tributaries are threatened both by surge water flooding and storm water inundation. The proposal will address these threatsthrough a set of interconnected interventions, transforming the Mill River into a green-blue corridor that stores and filters water, provides public space, and creates room for new urban development. These river corridor improvements will also address other challenges such water quality, ecological recovery, and aquifer recharge.

MIT CAU+ZUS+URBANISTEN– New Meadowlands - Little Ferry, Moonachie, Carlstadt, Teterboro

The New Meadowlands project articulates an integrated vision for protecting, connecting, and growing this critical asset to both New Jersey and the metropolitan area of New York. The first phase of their proposal focuses on Little Ferry, Moonachie, Carlstadt, and Teterboro. By integrating transportation, ecology, and development, the project transforms the Meadowlands basin to address a wide spectrum of risks, while providing civic amenities, and creating opportunities for new redevelopment.

CDBG-DR funds will be used for the first phase pilot area to restore water-absorbing wetland and reduce flooding in Sandy-impacted communities. The project includes the creation of additional wetlands and a multi-purpose berm that will provide flood protection to the many residents of the community damaged by Sandy flooding.

SCAPE/Landscape Architecture– Living Breakwaters- Tottenville, Staten Island

Funding for the Scape proposal is to build out the entire Tottenville section of the Living Breakwaters project which will reduce risk, revive ecologies, and connect educators and local students to the shoreline, inspiring a new generation of harbor stewards and a more resilient region over time. The in-water solution will reduce wave action and erosion, lowering risk from heavy storms by designing “reef street” micropockets of habitat complexity to host finfish, shellfish, and lobsters. The proposal examines how and where it can most effectively protect communities. This living infrastructure will be paired with social resiliency frameworks in adjacent neighborhoods. Through the Billion Oyster Project and an associated network of programmed water hubs, local schools will be empowered with science, recreation, education, and access to the water.

PennDesign/OLIN –Lifelines,  Hunts Point, South Bronx

Hunts Point is the hub of the region’s food supply chain and a local living-wage employment center in the poorest Congressional district in the country. The PennDesign/OLIN proposal sets out four strategies: Integrated and Adaptable Flood Protection systems to safeguard the whole neighborhood and create public amenities along the Hunts Point waterfront; Leadership efforts to build capacity for social resilience; a Marine Emergency Supply Chain to enhance the waterways as critical infrastructure; and Cleanways to improve air quality.

CDGB-DR funds for this proposal are not for full implementation, but for continued robust planning and study related to the future of the food market and a small pilot/demonstration project (to be selected/identified by the City). This will enable the process to continue and incorporate whatever investments the private sector and the City commit toward improvements and implementation in the future.