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New York is dealing with funding cuts impacting $325 million in grants through the Building Resilient Infrastructure and Communities program, much of which is meant to flood mitigation.
Sara Bronin
Professor of City and Regional Planning
Sara Bronin is a professor of planning at Cornell University, an architect, attorney and founding director of the National Zoning Atlas. Her recent work with the Regional Plan Association analyzed the increasing risk of future flooding in New York City and how it may affect housing.
Bronin says:
“Cuts to the FEMA budget will undermine our ability to be prepared to address ever-increasing climate risks.
“To be sure, replenishing funding for construction, mitigation, and public awareness is essential. But state and local governments have the power to influence climate response without spending a single dollar – and that is through zoning reform.
“Zoning dictates what can be built, where. The National Zoning Atlas (NZA) has shown that we are putting far too much development directly in harm’s way.
“Our recent report shows zoning in the NYC region only meets 45% of the housing need (allowing just 580,000 units, leaving a deficit of 680,000 units), and up to 160,000 housing units will be likely lost due to flooding over the next 40 years.
“Communities can overlay regional zoning conditions on climate risks to assess what can be done now, at no cost, to reshape development to better protect communities and reduce risk.”
