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What Is The City Sponge?
...and why are we doing this?
So here we go…. our first newsletter on flooding in NYC. 😅
To start, like to share WHY we are doing this:
The City Sponge is an all-volunteer effort to help fellow New Yorkers like you (and us) absorb flooding info and tips.
Needed? Yes. NYC is now classified as a “sub-tropical / humid zone” by NOAA and in 2023 it rained every 3 days on average (DEP).
DEP Cloudburst Mgmt Presentation March 2024
We have experienced flooding ourselves: in our apartments, homes, on the streets, subways, in our schools and businesses. It is real to us….and we know more water is coming.
It’s scary. When you see the water coming in, getting higher and you don’t know when it will stop. For some, it is life-threatening.
It’s confusing. Figuring out the sources of flood water - and the routes it takes to get to you - is not a simple answer, especially in a city.
It’s work. In the short-term, getting people and stuff out out of the way. Cleaning up. Taking an inventory of the damages. Repairing what you have to. Then trying to sift through the many “solutions” - from sump pumps and french drains, to drain pipe placement and water catchment tanks, to foundation and roof sealing, to water gardens in tree pits and parks, to sewer system upgrades and permeable pavement. What is worth the effort and money?
So many topics and sub-topics.It goes from your basement to the sky! We hope to explore and explain some of those options and help you determine what is best for you and your area. Ideally by learning from people who did it.
We want it to be relevant to where people live and work, and that may mean down to the street, basement, yard and pipe level. So we will start with a few topics that should be useful city-wide, but then also deep-dive into some neighborhoods with hyper-local stories that seem interesting. What that means is you may see information that is NOT about your specific neighborhood, but it’s the type of information that still has valuable lessons. Over time, we will hope to cover more neighborhoods in-depth and will prioritize those with the worst flooding issues.
Water doesn’t care who owns the property. It goes wherever it wants, crossing lines, moving between buildings, in and out from the street and the sewers. But who is responsible for fixing what? (That’s a juicy big question and something we will explore here.)
The collective block by block challenges. Of course, we need to fix things where we live, work and go, but really managing flooding and storm water is also a collective responsibility that requires some community solutions and support.
Part of our goal is here to help you, but also help your community. So when we ask ourselves: how do I keep water out of my path? We should also be able to understand: how do I not just put more water into my neighbors’ path? Otherwise, we are just moving water around.
So…we are just getting started and will be learning as we go. Please be friendly as we try new things. We welcome feedback as we want to know how this can be more useful. Until we have a better feedback form (it’s on the list), just email us: [email protected]
Lastly, if you like this idea and want to see it continue, please share and suggest this newsletter to others. The only way it will be helpful is if more people read it and share their experiences.
Thank you!
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