New York City releases guide for retrofitting buildings against floods

The New York City Department of City Planning (DCP) has released "Retrofitting Buildings for Flood Risk," a comprehensive guide for New York City owners of buildings in flood zones.

Part of the city’s response to widespread flooding as a result of Hurricane Sandy, the manual offers retrofitting strategies that will enable home and property owners to reduce the risk of damage and disruption from coastal flooding.

Recent Congressional legislation reforming the National Flood Insurance Program will increase flood insurance premiums for buildings that are not retrofitted, according to a city press release. These increased premiums will directly impact neighborhood stability and housing affordability, especially for working class New Yorkers, the release says.

The manual contains some simple and low-cost actions New Yorkers living in the flood zone can take now to begin to adapt and protect their homes against flooding.

“Incorporating these improvement will help protect our city’s buildings against potential future extreme climatic events,” says Department of Buildings Commissioner Rick D. Chandler. “The Department of Buildings will provide dedicated plan examiners and inspectors to work with and support home and business owners in redesigning their structures to meet the new federally mandated guidelines.”

(http://www.nyc.gov/html/dcp/html/about/pr100814.shtml)

New York City has two very large buildings dedicated to answering the 911 calls of its five boroughs. With more than 11 million emergency calls annually, it makes perfect sense. The second of these buildings, the Public Safety Answering Center II (PSAC II) is located on a nine-acre parcel of land in the Bronx. It’s an imposing 450,000 square-foot structure—a 240-foot-wide by 240-foot-tall cube. The gleaming aluminum cube risesthe equivalent of 24 stories from behind a grassy berm, projecting the unlikely impression that it might actually be floating. Like most visually striking structures, the building has drawn as much scorn as it has admiration.