User:Pamela Miller/sandbox

The New York Harbor Storm Surge Barrier is a proposal to protect the New York - New Jersey harbor region developed in the wake of Hurricane Sandy by the Metro NY/NJ Storm Surge Working Group, composed of prominent entrepreneurs, civic leaders, social scientists, oceanographers, marine ecologists, meteorologists, engineers, architects, economists, attorneys and media experts.



The proposed barrier system would consist of one barrier located across the outer harbor (Sandy Hook NJ to Far Rockaway NY), and a second barrier on the upper East River to provide a ring of protection to most of the bi-state Metro Region. Facilities protected by the barrier system include the seaports of New York City and Port Elizabeth NJ, ground level and underground transportation terminals, the three major international airports, subway and roadway tunnels, hospitals, communication centers, the industrial complex of northern NJ and the millions of residents at risk in the outer boroughs of NY City and coastal New Jersey north of Sandy Hook, New Jersey.

The New York Harbor Barrier system could be extended eastward, filling in the gaps between barrier islands to protect the various communities lining the south shore of Long Island.

History
After Hurricane Sandy devastated the New York - New Jersey metropolitan area in 2012, governments struggled both to recover and to plan better protection for the future. The City of New York, under Mayor Michael Bloomberg, organized a Special Initiative for Rebuilding and Resiliency (SIRR), which developed a blueprint for reconstruction that was released in June of 2013, only eight months after the storm. That over-400-page document describes the demographics and morphology of the region, the storm and its impacts; provides background on extreme weather events including non-storm events such as heat and intense rainfall; describes various resiliency measures and strategies; and describes specific initiatives, studies and projects to be undertaken. Some of these projects are underway, using a combination of federal and local funds.

In his January 2013 State of the State Address, Governor Andrew Cuomo proposed to "work with other government partners to timely complete a comprehensive engineering evaluation of these potential barrier systems."