Final recommendations by a community panel studying storm resiliency for the east Bronx waterfront are set to be presented at an upcoming open house.
New York Rising, a statewide storm resiliency effort with subcommittees all over the state studying how best to deal with storms like Superstorm Sandy, will see its East Bronx Waterfront planning committee present its findings at Providence Rest on Tuesday, January 13.
The committee making the recommendations is made up of community members representing neighborhoods from a broad swath of east Bronx costal communities, ranging from Harding Park and Clason Point, Ferry Point, Throggs Neck, Locust Point, Edgewater Park, Country Club, and City Island. The meeting will take place at the nursing facility, located at 3304 Waterbury Avenue, from 6:30. to 8:30 p.m.
Three public open houses were held in 2014 to gather ideas, and now there has been a deliberation period where the committee members finalized plans for projects that will see several million dollars spent on storm mitigation projects and studies.
“Next Tuesday, we will be having our fourth and final public engagement meeting; it is an open house,” said Alex Zablocki, New York City regional lead for New York Rising.
“That month-long process of public engagement and deliberation has led to that committee coming up with their final plan. That final plan will include the community reconstruction projects that they will propose to use their $3 million allocation towards implementing,” he said
That plan will be unveiled at the fourth and final meeting, said Zablocki, adding that the project is a community led effort.
While Zablocki could not revel the plans being funded prior to the meeting, conversations with several sources on the east Bronx committee indicate that many of the plans will be much like the 12 that were proposed at the last NY Rising Open House in November.
Among some of the possible projects proposed for funding at that time, and discussed with committee members in interviews, were making three coastal street ends more resilient with new storm protection infrastructure, and fortifying the Edgewater Park firehouse and the Locust Point Civic Center.
NY Rising is backed by Governor Cuomo, and local elected representatives like Senator Jeff Klein, who praised the efforts being undertaken to help recovery in communities affected by Superstorm Sandy and other storms.
“In 2012, in the immediate wake of Superstorm Sandy, I created and co-chaired the Senate Bipartisan Task Force On Hurricane Sandy Recovery, where we focused our efforts on lifting up those communities hit the hardest,” said Klein. “Three years later, the work continues and I’m proud I was able to help secure $3 million in funding for recovery and resiliency efforts here in the Bronx.”
East Bronx Planning Committee member John Doyle said that the public should attend the open house because it is important to see how NY Rising will affect the communities they call home.
“This is the most important meeting of the year, bar none,” he said, adding “This is about everyone coming to the table to see if (the plan and its budget) connects with them and their communities.”
