A 500-year flood mitigation plan, the Coler Berm Project brought out mostly negative comments at a meeting on Thursday. Following are some of them, but the deal is not done. Later today, the public gets to weigh in.
by David Stone
The Roosevelt Island Daily News
After SuperStorm Sandy put much of Coler’s operations out of commission from intense flooding, the need for upgrading protection became obvious. While planning has dragged on for years, it has now reached a final plateau. Health & Hospitals developed a comprehensive proposal for consideration by all stakeholders.
The 500-year flood plan is a FEMA requirement.
Points of View: The Coler Berm Project
“We’re happy to have had this informative conversation yesterday. It was a healthy exchange with Coler residents, staff and key representatives from our Community Advisory Board and Residents’ Council who are all passionate, critical voices in the community,” Health & Hospitals Director of Public Affairs Rafael Domínguez told The Daily.
“We have a virtual community visioning session coming up on Monday, June 10th from 6-7pm” he added, “that’s open to the general public and we hope to continue collecting valuable feedback from Roosevelt Islanders for this project.”
What they are saying…
The Berm Project, which envisions towering earthen barriers that can hold back the East River from monstrous flooding, was seen as an overreach by some who attended.
One Coler resident who was present when SuperStorm Sandy, the remnants of a hurricane, pummeled New York City, recalls that the flooding did not come from tides over the seawalls. Water surged into Lighthouse Park to the north, but damage to the facility came from below.
Saltwater rushed into Coler’s basement from the abandoned steam tunnel forming the east seawall. Critical functions were crippled, of course, but that’s already been addressed. Investments have moved infrastructure equipment upstairs where flooding is much less likely.
But esthetics matter…
Long an advocate for Coler’s residents, Judith Berdy appealed to the proposed berm’s impact on living conditions.
“There is no reason to force a plan on Coler to build to a higher flood mitigation standard than the 100 or 200 year ones,” she said in a public response. “To protect the building by enclosing it wails and massive hills would do nothing but make it an isolated structure.”
“This is not the way that you protect a home. Coler is the permanent home to over 500 persons, many of whom are permanently disabled and cannot leave their units or the campus. Being in this structure that has vast views of the river and outdoor activities is most important to the residents’ and staff’s well-being.
“It is time to go back to the drawing boards, come up with a reasonable solution and then propose it to the Coler community and Island residents,” she concluded.
And more Berm objections…
As others noted, if completed as currently projected, the berm wipes out dozens of trees and radically changes Lighthouse Park. Instead of a wide open space with unobstructed river views, the park resembles a fortress.
For most observers, it’s overkill, a massive overreaction to an unlikely event.
But you can think about the 500 year plan this way: If environmental initiatives do not reverse climate change this century, our ancestors won’t be around to worry about it in the 26th. The 500-year plan imagines a dystopian world that could never survive for that long.
Join the streaming event this evening, or if you can’t, share your thoughts here. Coler’s planners are listening.
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