Highlights: Flood Solutions Fair

Ok…that was good. 😅

It was a great feeling to see over 300 people come together on a cold day in January to join the first “Flood Solutions Fair” in Brooklyn.

Clearly, people have a lot of questions about flooding; what they can do in their place, and in their community (…that’s why The City Sponge was created).

The goal of the fair was to get the right mix of people who can answer those questions in one room: a diverse set of vetted local experts who work on the front lines of flood mitigation, along with non-profits, academics, policy experts and elected officials. Thanks to Van Alen Institute and their great space in Gowanus, we did it.

Hundreds of people came for flooding info and tips, listening to short talks and browsing the expert tables and having a chat to discuss the specifics of their situation.

But it was a community conversation too. People overheard each other talking about things, and others would nod their head, or say: “I had the same situation and here is what I did.”

People learned that flooding waters can come from many sources, and be solved in different ways. Some by the city, some by the block, some by us. There are options.

Being in one room where everyone is trying to help each other creates a good vibe. So while people came for flood tips, many said they left with a sense of community. 😅

Water connects us...during flooding, and in finding solutions.

Where you there? Tell us what you thought (1 min)

Highlights And Local Resources

There is MUCH to share and talk about. To ensure those items are given enough space and attention they deserve, it makes sense to chunk it up into some separate posts which we will do in near future, including some video.

For now, here is a basic recap with some highlights, including some links to organizations who were there. (For event program / flyer, click here)

Seeing Compound Flooding Risk, By Street, By Building

People ask: Why does it seem to take less rain to flood more now? Why does it affect our building when we are on a hill?

Three Pratt students in urban planning and architecture: Christopher Hauserman, Dhurvin Thakkar, and Sher Gallo Netto, addressed these factors and shared their detailed analysis of the area which included visuals like this: “Basements At Risk”

Their class project, guided by Amy Motzny who teaches at Pratt but is also Climate and Equity Lead at DEP, brought together data for all the flooding sources (coastal, stormwater, and groundwater), the associated risk levels for various combinations aka “compound flooding” as well as runoff. They then mapped that against the specifics of buildings in the area, considering the age, elevation, the materials likely used when built, and the building codes of that time. Their detailed maps drew a crowd and they also had recommendations for mitigation by building type and risk level. More on this work in a future post.

Solutions at $20, $200, $2K, $20K (or $200M for city upgrades)

People ask: What are my options and how much do they cost?

The answers vary, depending on your location, the soil type, the amount of hard surfaces, drainage system and the size and layout of your place.

But also what is your goal: do you want to prevent water from getting in, or just get it out quickly IF it does comes in?

At the fair, people could see options that ranged in price:

• Water activated door barriers by QuickDam, wet vacs, sump pumps sold locally at Mazzone Hardware.

  

  Mazzone Hardware

• Preventing water back flow by changing valves on your sewer connections or lower-level plumbing provided locally by Franco Belli & Sons.

• Using the area outside with green solutions for better drainage and retention, while also beautifying your landscape by Field Form.

• Filling cracks in basement or closing soil gaps where water can come enter by LJS Waterproofing.

• Leveraging porous pavement or changing the grade or type of hard surface to bring water away from your place by Sunnyside Masonry.

• Best practices on resilient building design and retrofits by Steering House.

Green Solutions: Zooming In From Bigger to Smaller

• Local flood mitigation solutions using green infrastructure at different levels of scale by Assemblage’s Wendy Andringa.

Insurance

• Getting smart on what insurance covers (and doesn’t), what is required/where, how landlords cover buildings but renters need to cover their belongings, options like “parametric” that pays out based on rainfall amounts, what makes sense given your risk profile by Insure Before.

Funding for Resilient Retrofits

• Ways to get money to pay for mitigation work through a state program called “Resilient Retrofits” - can be used to raise electrical systems to avoid flood damage, install energy-efficient appliances, and make other important upgrades - by Center for NYC Neighborhoods.

Community Efforts, Policies and Proposed Bills

• Understanding the connections between the hydrology of the area, the rezoning and construction in Gowanus, cleaning up the canal, and the neighborhood BID effort to sustain community efforts that help flood control like keeping drains and rain gardens clean by Gowanus Canal Conservancy.

   

  

  Gowanus Canal Conservancy

• Coordinated community efforts across the city by Rebuild By Design Rainproof NYC.

• Follow up on the bigger steps the city agreed to do after Hurricane Sandy: what is being done and what is still to do? Comptroller Lander’s team with details of 2024 Flooding Preparedness Report.

• Where are the hot spots when flooding calls come in to 311, part of NYC Comptrollers’ Aug 2024 Report: “Is New York City Ready For Rain?”

• We held community discussions between neighbors, trades, policy experts and elected officials to review existing legislation as well as new bills being proposed at both the city and state levels to help people do the mitigation work they need. Local leaders and policy experts included City Councillors Shahana Hanif and Alexa Aviles, State Assembly Members Bobby Carroll and Jo Anne Simon, Brooklyn Borough President’s Lacey Tauber, State Senator Zellnor Myrie’s Anthony Gay, Rainproof NYC’s Abby Jordan, Waterfront Alliance’s Tyler Taba, Gowanus Canal Conservancy’s Andrea Parker, Public Housing Civic Association Karen Blondel, Center for NYC Neighborhoods Chris Zimmerman. More on this in future.
  

  

  Flood Solutions Fair: experts joined with neighbors

• Seeing where the bigger community infrastructure DEP projects like sewer upgrades are happening but also catch-basin cleaning as well programs to help residents do micro-mitigation by NYC DEP.

Those are some highlights…and we will have more details on some of these topics in the future.

Appreciation

Thank you to the many people in the community who helped make this happen!