NEW YORK – The city is promoting a newly completed construction project that will protect Queens homes and businesses from climate change.
Rising flood water were a problem for several blocks along the wide canalbut people hope those concerns have now been washed away.
Phase 2 of the Broad Channel project completed
On Friday, the city announced the completion of the second phase of what is being called the Broad Channel Project, which involved raising the elevation of four streets in the area and adding new sewers and catch basins to the roadways. The design will drain the water homes and businesses surrounded by Jamaica Bay.
“Climate change is real and its effects are being felt across the city, but perhaps in no other place than Broad Channel are those effects so profound,” said Alfonso Lopez, commissioner of the Queens city Department of Environmental Protection.
Experts say Broad Channel is one of the lowest-lying areas in the city.
The city completed the first phase of the project in August 2020. The total cost for the two phases came at a price tag of nearly $97 million, but came in nearly $4 million under budget. Local politicians say the money will stay in the community.
“[What we did] Once we knew it was going to be in budget, we’re going to work with the city to make sure they put it in another block on the other side that also has a really big flooding problem,” said Assemblywoman Stacey Pheffer Amato.
Last year the project received an Envision Verified Award for its sustainability features.
“You can relax and take it easy”
Neighbors tell us their streets are built on swamps, making the area prone to flooding, which happened even during construction.
“It was never built at a high altitude and since then the sea level has risen. We’ve had several cases of flooding where people lost their cars and children couldn’t go to school,” said resident Dan Mundy. .
Bob Eckert lives on West 15th Road, one of the newly constructed streets.
“We shouted to each other, ‘Time to move the cars.’ You had to move the cars, the tide is rising,” he said.
But he can now call his neighbors for a friendly chat.
“You can relax and take it easy,” he said.
Johannes Dias
