Talk:New York Harbor Storm-Surge Barrier

Coastal protection context
Since the Ash Wednesday Storm of 1962 beaches along the shores of the East Coast have been regularly replenished with sand pumped in from off-shore. The United States Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) coordinates the projects. In 2016 the USACE and the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey produced a comprehensive restoration plan for the harbour region, which included proposals to mitigate the effects of sea-level rise through projects to restore natural areas.

The New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection (NJDEP) Division of Coastal Engineering is responsible for coastal protection and has chosen a policy to build seawalls, dunes, and beach replenishment along the Jersey Shore based on the New Jersey Shore Protection Master Plan developed in 1981. The practice has become controversial due to environmental and economic concerns.

The New York State Department of State (NYS DOS) manages the New York State Coastal Management Program. The New York City Department of Environmental Protection (NYCDEP) is responsible for coastal protection.

Rebuild by Design
After Hurricane Sandy, the Obama Administration's Hurricane Sandy Rebuilding Task Force launched an multi-stage design competition, Rebuild by Design, conducted as a partnership with United States Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) and the Rockefeller Foundation (with support from other public and philanthropic organizations such as Municipal Art Society, Regional Plan Association, NYU’s Institute for Public Knowledge, the Van Alen Institute, among others). It called for innovative global expertise and community insight to develop implementable solutions to the NY-NJ harbor region’s resiliency needs. Rebuild By Design received more than 140 submissions from 15 countries. That entrant pool was culled to 10 teams. Six projects within the region were chosen: the BIG U (East River in Manhattan, New York); Living with the Bay (Long Island Sound, Nassau County=, New York); New Meadowlands (the Meadowlands in Little Ferry, Moonachie, Carlstadt, Teterboro, New Jersey ); Resist, Delay, Store, Discharge (Hudson River in Hoboken, Weehawken, Jersey City, New Jersey); Lifelines (East River, Hunts Point, Bronx, New York): Living Breakwaters (Lower New York Bay, Staten Island, New York)