*STATEN ISLAND BUYOUTS - POST-SANDY NY | Primary Case
Staten Island, NY, USA
United States Department of Housing and Urban Development
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Rising sea levels will increase the average number of storms that flood New York City with storm surges over seven feet to once every five years by 2030. Before 1800, these storms occurred once every 500 years. The State of New York purchased 299 properties to date on Staten Island in the neighborhoods of Oakwood Beach, Graham Beach and Ocean Breeze for $255 million in the wake of Hurricane Sandy through a voluntary home buyout program funded by HUD’s Community Development Block Grant- Disaster Recovery program. Located at the mouth of the New York Harbor, these communities were among the areas hardest hit by a 16 foot storm surge during Hurricane Sandy, when 53 people died across Staten Island. The program reduces the vulnerability of the community to future disasters by engaging in a process of managed retreat, in which residents not only move, but their homes are demolished and their land is left as open space into perpetuity. The Staten Island buyouts present questions of equity and effective risk mitigation. Getting approved for a buyout required resources, knowledge and cooperation within communities- all of which can be a hurdle to those who lack the community ties or time to do this convoluted administrative work. And many of those who did accept offers for the government to purchase their homes at pre-storm values moved within five miles of their original homes, making it challenging to conclude whether the program significantly reduced the vulnerability of the populations. |
2014
550 acres
76 feet above sea level
tags: coastal lands, managed retreat, adaptation, anonymous adaptation, retreat, government-driven, evacuation plan, sea level rise and storm surge, increased storm frequency, environmental justice, displacement, poverty, North America, Lenape, Nearctic, Temperate Forest
References:
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Koslov, Liz. “Fighting for retreat after Sandy: The Ocean Breeze buyout tent on Staten Island.” Metropolitiques 23 (2014). Binder, Sherri B., John P. Barile, Charlene K. Baker, and Bethann Kulp. “Home buyouts and household recovery: Neighborhood differences three years after Hurricane Sandy.” Environmental Hazards 18, no. 2 (2019): 127-145. Binder, Sherri Brokopp, Charlene K. Baker, and John P. Barile. “Rebuild or relocate? Resilience and postdisaster decision-making after Hurricane Sandy.” American Journal of Community Psychology 56, no. 1-2 (2015): 180-196. Koslov, Liz. “The Case for Retreat.” Public Culture 28, no. 2 (2016): 359-387. https://doi.org/10.1215/08992363-3427487 |
Links:
https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-storm-sandy/new-york-lets-neighborhood-return-to-nature-to-guard-against-storms-idUSKBN1CW19G
https://www.nrdc.org/experts/rob-moore/title
https://www.cakex.org/case-studies/quantifying-success-buyout-programs-staten-island-case-study