Lower Manhattan Coastal Resiliency (LMCR) refers to a range of

climate change adaptation Climate change adaptation is the process of adjusting to the effects of climate change, both current and anticipated.IPCC, 2022Annex II: Glossary öller, V., R. van Diemen, J.B.R. Matthews, C. Méndez, S. Semenov, J.S. Fuglestvedt, A. Reisinger ...

strategies of coastal management to address impacts on the city in the wake of the extensive Hurricane Sandy flooding of 2012. A more localized alternative to the New York Harbor Storm-Surge Barrier">Effects of Hurricane Sandy in New York">Hurricane Sandy flooding of 2012. A more localized alternative to the New York Harbor Storm-Surge Barrier, it has some continuity with the centuries-long Lower Manhattan expansion trend and seeks to compensate for the historical loss of Ecosystem service#Buffer zones, wetland buffer zones, and would be integrated into the Manhattan Waterfront Greenway.

History

After Sandy, Governor

Andrew Cuomo Andrew Mark Cuomo ( , ; born December 6, 1957) is an American politician and lawyer who served as the 56th governor of New York from 2011 until his resignation in 2021. A member of the Democratic Party and son of former governor Mario Cuomo, ...

and Mayor

Michael Bloomberg Michael Rubens Bloomberg (born February 14, 1942) is an American businessman and politician. He is the majority owner and co-founder of Bloomberg L.P., and was its CEO from 1981 to 2001 and again from 2014 to 2023. He served as the 108th mayo ...

differed on their preferred infrastructure responses, with Cuomo favoring a storm barrier to protect the entire estuary, and Bloomberg localized protection for Lower Manhattan inspired by

Battery Park City Battery Park City is a mainly residential planned community and neighborhood on the west side of the southern tip of the island of Manhattan in New York City. It is bounded by the Hudson River on the west, the Hudson River shoreline on the nor ...

. Several studies have been commissioned since, including the BIG U from

Bjarke Ingels Group Bjarke Ingels Group, often referred to as BIG, is a Copenhagen, New York City, London, Barcelona, Shanghai, Oslo, Los Angeles, Zurich, and Bhutan-based group of architects and designers operating within the fields of architecture, product, lands ...

for a semi-circle of

berms A berm is a level space, shelf, or raised barrier (usually made of Soil compaction, compacted soil) separating areas in a vertical way, especially partway up a long slope. It can serve as a terrace road, track, path, a fortification line, a b ...

that would allow small-scale controlled floods, in contrast with the more ambitious seawall proposals. Their 2014 plan largely involved constructing a series of

in Lower Manhattan, inland from the shoreline. but has been deemed inadequate in parts and too costly to maintain. Bloomberg's 2013 concept of "

Seaport A port is a maritime facility comprising one or more wharves or loading areas, where ships load and discharge cargo and passengers. Although usually situated on a sea coast or estuary, ports can also be found far inland, such as Hamburg, Manc ...

City" has been replaced by the FiDi-Seaport plan, as part of the wider LMCR initiative by the De Blasio administration. It updates the BIG U with more substantial

land reclamation Land reclamation, often known as reclamation, and also known as land fill (not to be confused with a waste landfill), is the process of creating new Terrestrial ecoregion, land from oceans, list of seas, seas, Stream bed, riverbeds or lake ...

that could be funded and finished, avoiding the occasional temporary flooding of the earlier plan and its maintenance costs. Initial plans focused on landfilling and building up

East River Park East River Park, also called John V. Lindsay East River Park, is public park located on the Lower East Side of Manhattan, administered by the New York City Department of Parks and Recreation. Bisected by the Williamsburg Bridge, it stretches ...

, where construction began in 2022. In 2022, the Battery Park City Authority announced plans to demolish and rebuild Wagner Park in Battery Park City as part of the LMCR project. A groundbreaking for a LMCR barrier at

Battery Park The Battery, formerly known as Battery Park, is a public park located at the southern tip of Manhattan#Manhattan Island, Manhattan Island in New York City facing New York Harbor. The park is bounded by Battery Place on the north, with Bowling ...

took place in May 2024.

References

{{Financial District, Manhattan Climate change adaptation Environmental issues in New York City Government of New York City Hurricane Sandy Lower Manhattan Proposed buildings and structures in New York City Climate change policy in the United States

History

See also

References