EDITORIAL
IDA AND THE
CLIMATE CRISIS
HOW TO REACH US
TIMESLEDGER | QNS.12 COM | SEPT. 10 - SEPT. 16, 2021
TIME TO SECURE OUR SUBWAY SYSTEM FROM FLOODING
PROUD MEMBER OF NEW YORK PRESS ASSOCIATION
PUBLISHER
Brian Rice
EDITOR
Zach Gewelb
V.P. OF ADVERTISING
Ralph D’onofrio
CIRCULATION
Robert Palacios
CLASSIFIED
Classified Director:
Celeste Alamin
Classified Sales
Manager:
Eugena Pechenaya
EDITORIAL STAFF
Reporters: Bill Parry, Angelica
Acevedo, Carlotta Mohamed,
Jenna Bagcal, Julia Moro
Copy Editor: Katrina Medoff
Contributing Writers/Columnists:
Tammy Scileppi
ART & PRODUCTION
Production Manager:
Deborah Cusick
Art Director: Nirmal Singh
Layout: Zach Gewelb
ADVERTISING
Senior Account Executive:
Kathy Wenk
Account Executives:
David Strauss
Sherri Rossi
MAIL: 38-15 Bell Boulevard, Bayside, NY 11361
PHONE: Display Advertising: (718) 260-4537
Editorial: (718) 260-4549
WEBSITE: Visit www.qns.com
E-MAIL: Editorial: timesledgernews@schnepsmedia.com
Display Advertising: brice@schnepsmedia.com
Classified: classified@schnepsmedia.com
TO SUBSCRIBE: Call (718) 260-2515
Copyright©2019 Queens CNG LLC.
It is increasingly clear that the death, flooding and destruction left in Hurricane Ida’s wake — along with other
natural occurrences such as forest fires and droughts in the west — are due to global warming and an existential
climate crisis. Photo by Brendan McDermid/Reuters
Severe rainfall from remnants of Hurricane
Ida across New York City on the night of
Wednesday, Sept. 1, into the morning of
Thursday, Sept. 2, gave us a fatal reminder
that some natural acts are beyond our control.
But it is also increasingly clear that the death,
flooding and destruction left in the storm’s wake
— along with other natural occurrences such as
forest fires and droughts in the west — are due to
global warming and an existential climate crisis.
Government can and must move now to mitigate
this crisis with both short- and long-term
infrastructure fixes including the use of 21stcentury
resiliency technology.
“What Hurricane Ida and instances of severe
weather before it have made abundantly clear is
that the aged infrastructure of New York City was
not designed for the impacts of climate change we
are experiencing more and more frequently these
days,” said Bobby Caravella, senior vice president
at AKRF, one of the leading engineering and
city planning firms.
“The city needs to focus its capital improvements
and maintenance programs on these susceptible
areas, targeting resiliency across the
five boroughs, or millions of New Yorkers will
continue to be affected by catastrophic flooding
during heavy rainfalls, storm surges and risks
associated with rising sea levels,” he added.
While confronting the crisis with taxpayer
spending and major capital improvements is necessary,
so is vigilance against over-politicizing
it.
Already, Ida has brought a clarion call to action
from many progressive and left-leaning organizations
of the need to pass the $3.5 trillion
partisan infrastructure package filled with expanding
social programs.
This comes on top of the partisan $1 trillion
brick-and-mortar infrastructure bill before the
House. According to Senator Charles Schumer,
this spending includes a $10 billion bump to the
MTA and tens of billions more for infrastructure
items spread out across the city and state.
There is an old political saying to never let a
good crisis go to waste. This may be true, but it
shouldn’t be wasteful either — we need to spend
wisely to protect our city from the effects of
climate change.
In 2012, Superstorm Sandy resulted
in extensive flooding
damage to the NYC Transit
subway system.
In the aftermath, the Federal
Transit Administration provided
billions in discretionary funding
under the Superstorm Sandy Recovery
and Resiliency program
to MTA. This supplemented
over $1 billion in annual Federal
Transit Administration (FTA)
formula funding that has grown
to $1.5 billion today. NYC Transit
should have learned from Superstorm
Sandy which of the 471 subway
stations and 36 subway lines
were most vulnerable to flooding
or located in flood zones.
Remedial actions should have
been completed years ago. Fast
forward to 2021. After spending
emergency funds on upgrading
and adding additional sump
pumps and securing subway
entrances, elevator shafts and
street level air vents, there are
still too many subway stations
and lines subject to flooding after
major rainstorms.
Based upon the most recent
record storm as a result of Hurricane
Ida, NYC Transit still needs
to do more. NYC is the actual
owner of our NYC Transit bus
and subway system. MTA operates
the system based upon the
1953 Master Lease and Operating
Agreement. Consider adding new
pump rooms. Improve coordination
with NYC Department of
Environmental Protection to ensure
there is adequate stormwater
and sewage system capacity
adjacent to stations and tracks.
Purchase additional mobile
pumps and pump trains. City
Hall must provide adequate funding
to NYC Department of Environmental
Protection so they
can provide NYC Transit with
the necessary support to provide
safe and reliable service that
5 million pre-COVID-19 riders
count on.
There needs to be additional
capital improvements in the current
$51 billion Five Year 2020
- 2024 Capital Plan to deal with
flooding. Funding is only provided
to bring seven of the 17 existing
pump rooms back to a state
of good repair. Why not program
additional federal or local funds
to deal with this periodic problem?
Why not add additional capital
improvements in the pending
MTA 2020 - 2040 20-Year Capital
Plan to deal with this?
How many NYC Transit Bus,
Manhattan and Bronx Surface
Transit Operating Authority
Bus, MTA Bus, NYC Transit and
Staten Island Railway subway
yard and shops are located in
flood zone areas? Have they all
been upgraded to deal with the
next Superstorm Sandy?
The same should apply to all
Long Island and Metro-North
Railroad stations, yards and
shops. The tracks serving the
Bayside and Great Neck Stations
on the Port Washington branch
have on several occasions after
heavy rainstorms been subject
to flooding which impacted service.
Will the proposed new $2.05
LaGuardia AirTrain station
connection to the existing NYC
Transit and LIRR Willets Point
stations located near a flood zone
be able to handle potential flooding?
Subway and commuter rail
riders should not have to deal
with continued inconveniences
every time there is a major rainstorm.
Larry Penner,
Great Neck
/www.qns.com
link
link
link
/www.qns.com
link
link
link
