A $335 million berm along Manhattan's Lower East Side, a $60 million living breakwater along Staten Island's South Shore, and a $20 million study of how to protect the Hunts Point food distribution center in the Bronx have received grants under the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development's Rebuild by Design program.
Outgoing HUD Secretary Shaun Donovan, a New York native and the former commissioner of the New York City Department of Housing Preservation and Development, made the announcement June 2 at the Jacob Riis Houses on the Lower East Side, with Gov. Mario Cuomo, Mayor Bill de Blasio and U.S. Sen. Charles Schumer, among other elected officials. Some of the combined amount announced Monday will funnel to the city through the state.
President Obama last week appointed Donovan the director of the Office of Management and Budget, pending Senate approval. Rebuild by Design is an outgrowth of Obama's Hurricane Sandy Task Force.
The East Side bridging berm, called "Big U," will stretch from West 57th Street south to The Battery and up to East 42th Street, protecting 10 continuous miles of low-lying geography. The Staten Island breakwater targets Tottenville, a water-exposed part of Staten Island, the borough where 23 of 43 deaths occurred from the Oct. 29, 2012, storm. The Hunts Point project seeks to protect a food market that is a major food-distribution center.
"A vibrant Hunts Point means businesses will want to stay there, rather than relocate elsewhere," said Schumer.
Long Island will receive $125 million to protect north south waterways and the Mill River in southern Nassau County.
Other regional winners are the new Meadowlands -- Little Ferry, Moonachie, Carlstadt and Teterboro, N.J.; and Resist, Delay, Store, Discharge -- Hoboken, Weehawken and Jersey City, N.J.
