CLICK HERE - Newsletter - August 2014

PlaNYC is the sustainability and resiliency blueprint for New York City. Together with our collaborators – the agencies, organizations, and New Yorkers who make this plan a reality – we have made significant progress in just a few years:

• The cleanest air in 50 years
• 865,000 trees and five million square feet of reflective rooftop added to our urban landscape
• Building codes upgraded to prepare for floods, wind, and extreme weather
• 19% reduction in carbon emissions since 2005, well ahead of our goal to reach 30% reduction by 2030

A changing climate, a growing population, aging infrastructure, and an evolving economy with increasing inequality pose challenges to our city’s success and quality of life. Recognizing that we determine New York's future by how we shape our response to these challenges, PlaNYC includes actions to mitigate climate change while also preparing for the risks it presents, ensuring quality of life for generations of New Yorkers to come.

queenslibrary.org/resiliencesurvey -

The Queens Library is creating a resource guide and workshop series for disaster preparedness and resilience. Your response to this survey will help us create a resource guide and workshop series that serves our customers in Broad Channel, Howard Beach, and the Rockaways.

You may skip or not answer any questions you prefer not to answer. The survey will take approximately 15 minutes to complete. At the end, you may enter your email for a chance to win $200. 

Thank you for sharing your thoughts!

(READ COMPLETE ARTICLE)

Image: Eleni Kalorkoti

nytimes.com - by David J. Hayes - July 17, 2014

STANFORD, Calif. — AFTER years of hype, renewable energy has gone mainstream in much of the United States and, increasingly, around the world. . .

. . . But many communities that need small-scale renewable energy remain out in the cold — literally and figuratively.

In Alaska, for instance, the vast majority of the more than 200 small, isolated communities populated primarily by native Alaskans rely on dirty, expensive diesel fuel to generate their electricity and heat.

(READ COMPLETE ARTICLE)

submitted by Joe Browder

Offsetting carbon emissions by conserving ocean vegetation

thebluecarbonproject.com

What is Blue Carbon?

The problem: The growing emission of carbon dioxide from a wide range of human activities is causing unprecedented changes to the land and sea. Identifying effective, efficient and politically acceptable approaches to reduce the atmospheric concentration of CO₂ is one of society’s most pressing goals.

Prepared by the Homeland Security Studies and Analysis Institute (HSSAI) for the Department of Homeland Security Science & Technology Directorate, September 30, 2013
homelandsecurity.org

CLICK HERE - The Resilient Social Network: @OccupySandy #SuperstormSandy (103 page .PDF report)

Acknowledgements

The Homeland Security Studies and Analysis Institute (HSSAI) would like to acknowledge the numerous individuals from government, the private sector, the not-for-profit sector, and the Occupy Sandy volunteers who generously granted time for interviews.

Particularly, HSSAI would like to thank Dr. Michael McDonald, Megan Fliegelman, Meghan Dunn, and Jill Cornell for providing points of contact and documentation. They greatly assisted the task team in the development of its research and analysis.

HSSAI would further like to acknowledge COL Terry Ebbert, USMC (Ret.), the former director of homeland security for the City of New Orleans and currently a distinguished visiting fellow at HSSAI, for providing a critical review of this case study.

superpedestrian.com

Superpedestrian, Inc is a venture-backed company operating out of Cambridge, Massachusetts. Our diverse team is developing lightweight electric vehicles with integrated online platforms, finding new ways to connect people with their environment. Founded in late 2012 by Assaf Biderman, Associate Director at MIT's SENSEable City Lab, Superpedestrian seeks to provide new forms of human-powered mobility for cities. Ultimately, our vision is to offer an improved quality of living to everybody.

The Copenhagen Wheel was initially developed at MIT's SENSEable City Lab as a research project, sponsored by the Mayor of Copenhagen. It has won multiple design awards and been reviewed in over 1,000 media publications, including BBC, Wired and the New York Times - not to mention a glamourous acting debut during a whole season of TV series Weeds. Most importantly, Superpedestrian has been receiving daily requests for pre-orders - over 14,000 messages to date.

ncfpd.umn.edu - April 4, 2014

Webinar - Community Resilience and Impacts of Interdependent Infrastructure Disruptions as Experienced from Hurricane Sandy (One hour long)

Presented By: 
Michael D. McDonald, Dr.P.H.
Chairman, Global Resilience Inititatives
Executive Director, Health Initiatives Foundation, Inc. 

Facilitated By:
John T. Hoffman, Col., USA, Ret.
Senior Research Fellow, National Center for Food Protection and Defense

Under the dynamic conditions of rapid climate change and broader global changes, resilience and sustainability are not being achieved through traditional emergency management and humanitarian approaches alone. While community-based resilience networks are now beginning to emerge in a race to stabilize New York City's coastal communities significantly impacted by Superstorm Sandy in 2012, many impacted neighborhoods are still trending toward greater vulnerability plaguing recovery and preparedness for the next wave of potentially larger storms.

nyc.gov

The New York City Department of Environmental Protection offers a grant program for private property owners in combined sewer areas of New York City. The minimum requirement is to manage 1” of stormwater runoff from the contributing impervious area. If selected, DEP will provide funds for the design and construction of the green infrastructure system. Eligible projects include blue roofs, rain gardens, green roofs, porous pavement and rainwater harvesting on private property in combined sewer areas.

Private property owners in the combined sewer areas of all five boroughs of New York City are eligible to apply.   This year, for the first time, DEP will accept applications in both the spring and the fall, and applicants will have the opportunity to review conceptual ideas with DEP engineers prior to submitting their application.  More information on the program and the online application can be found on DEP’s website.   The fall due date is October 21, 2014.

Many of these old concrete pilings, which date back to the 1920s, will be demolished to make way for new pilings and a new Rockaway boardwalk. Construction on the first section from Beach 86th St. to Beach 97th St. starts this week. These pilings were the only signs left when Hurricane Sandy destroyed large sections of the Rockaway boardwalk in 2012.  Debbie Egan-Chin/New York Daily News

Remnants of Hurricane Sandy ravaged boardwalk will be removed during construction

nydailynews.com - by Lisa L. Colangelo - April 21, 2014

Construction is slated to start this week to rebuild the Rockaway boardwalk from Beach 86th to Beach 97th Street — a stretch that was destroyed in 2012 by Hurricane Sandy.

Crews will fence off the area and start demolishing some of the concrete piles as early as Monday, and the first section could be completed by Memorial Day 2015, First Deputy Parks Commissioner Liam Kavanagh told The News.

“We’re trying to get the project done as quickly as possible,” said Kavanagh.

(READ COMPLETE ARTICLE)

nycedc.com

 

Submission Deadline - April 11, 2014 at 4:00 pm

New York City Economic Development Corporation (“NYCEDC”) is seeking qualified firms to construct boardwalks, dunes and other protective measures along 4.7 miles of shoreline in the Rockaways (the “Project”) through this supplemental Request for Qualifications (“SRFQ”). 

On September 23, 2013, NYCEDC issued a Request for Qualifications (“RFQ”) for the provision of construction contractor services for the Project.  This RFQ does NOT replace, cancel or otherwise modify the status of those prequalified contractors selected under the original RFQ. The purpose of this RFQ is to seek qualified contractors for additional trades and to increase the overall number of prequalified contractors for the Project.

submitted by Seth Golbey

On Tuesday, March 25^th from 5pm-8pm, and Saturday, March 29^th from 11am-2pm, we will be doing a citywide door knocking campaign to the Build It Back applicants who have been unresponsive to our numerous outreach attempts.  If these applicants do not reply to our requests, we cannot move their applications forward, which will prevent them from receiving Build It Back assistance.  This is why this outreach campaign is so important. 

Charlie Aidinoff from our office, is coordinating this outreach project.  If you and or your staff are able to provide volunteers for Tuesday, March 25^th and/or Saturday, March 29^th, please let Charlie know your availability so he can coordinate your outreach area(s).  Charlie can also be reached at 917-584-8950.

Thank you in advance for all your assistance with this outreach.

Andrew Olsen
Senior Advisor of Outreach, Brooklyn
Mayor's Housing Recovery Office
250 Broadway, 24th Floor
New York, NY 10007
(o) (212) 615-8069
(f) (212) 615-8328
***@***.***