Coastal challengesShould New York Build a Storm Surge Barrier?

By Sarah Fecht

Published 30 October 2019

It’s been seven years since Superstorm Sandy brought the city that never sleeps to a grinding halt. The Superstorm Sandy anniversary also marks seven years since New York started talking about building storm surge barriers to protect itself from future storms. At a recent event hosted by Columbia University, experts discussed a study that is evaluating the feasibility of building storm surge barriers around New York and New Jersey. The panelists also debated whether such a measure is a good idea.

It’s been seven years since Superstorm Sandy brought the city that never sleeps to a grinding halt. High tide and storm surge — the pile of water that built up in front of Sandy as she moved up the coast — combined to bury lower Manhattan under 13 feet of water. Across the five boroughs, subways, highways, and parking garages flooded; homes and businesses were destroyed, and 53 people died. It is estimated that Sandy caused $19 billion in economic damages in New York City alone.

The Superstorm Sandy anniversary also marks seven years since New York started talking about building storm surge barriers to protect itself from future storms. At a recent event hosted by Columbia University’s Sabin Center for Climate Change Law and the Earth Institute, experts discussed a study that is evaluating the feasibility of building storm surge barriers around New York and New Jersey. The panelists also debated whether such a measure is a good idea.

“Most people in the region are unaware of the study, but its results can have major economic and environmental impacts,” explained moderator Michael Gerrard, director of the Sabin Center, during his opening comments. “The Sabin Center felt it’s important to increase public understanding of what is now being examined.”

To kick off the event, Clifford Jones III, district chief of planning for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, outlined the different options that the Corps is looking into as part of the NY and NJ Harbor and Tributaries Focus Area Feasibility study (HATS, for short). The study’s aim is to reduce the threat of coastal storm damage along the coasts of New York and New Jersey and up the Hudson River.

The HATS study is evaluating five options for coastal protection, which range in scope and price. The most intensive option would involve constructing six miles of storm surge gates from Sandy Hook, New Jersey across the bay to Breezy Point, Queens, and along the East River. It would also include 26 miles of floodwalls, levees, and buried seawalls or dunes along nearby shorelines.

Jones said that this option would cost $62 billion, but would theoretically save the city $131 billion in damages and protect about 95 percent of the study area. Other options presented in the study may not cost quite as much, but would offer similar levels of protection.