AFTER THE STORM
aftermath of Hurricane Ida fl oods
A large puddle blocks the Shore Road Promenade in Bay Ridge after Hurricane Ida. Photo by Paul Frangipane
IDA’S IMPACT
COURIER LIFE, SEPTEMBER 10-16, 2021 5
The most challenging aspect
of maintaining Brooklyn’s
Backyard during fl ooding
is managing the ancient
drainage system— which
catch basins require constant
attention from the park’s employees,
whether clearing the
drain or removing the mud,
Kirschner said, adding that
employees were proactive,
clearing out drains and fortifying
them with sandbags the
day before.
In Bay Ridge, a neighborhood
mostly surrounded by
water, local skaters found
their haunt at Owl’s Head Park
inundated with water — fi lling
Millennium Skate Park’s
big bowl to the point where it
closer resembled a swimming
pool.
“Looks like our local skate
park… is a pool now,” one Bay
Ridge resident tweeted.
Meanwhile, the Coney Island
peninsula was not much
affected by the storm, according
to the Alliance for Coney
Island’s executive director, Alexandra
Silversmith, but still,
most of the area’s attractions
delayed opening until the following
afternoon.
In Sunset Park, where
fl ooding was severe, Community
Board 7 District Manager
Jeremy Laufer reported that
Brooklyn Public Library’s
Sunset Park branch had been
closed, and it remained that
way for several days. The library
system’s website says
the Crown Heights branch is
closed for maintenance and
a spokesperson told Brooklyn
Paper that all branches
delayed opening until noon,
Sept. 2.
Police have reported
around at least a dozen stormrelated
deaths across the city
— including one in Cypress
Hills and another possible Idarelated
drowning in Greenwood
Heights, where a body
was found fl oating in the Gowanus
Canal Thursday afternoon.
Bay Ridge Cares, a local
community service group
born out of Superstorm Sandy,
again ramped up to serve their
neighbors in the wake of Ida,
offering to help residents in
need of emergency assistance
immediately following the
storm.
The Brooklyn Chamber of
Commerce deployed its business
recovery teams to serve
mom and pop shops in assessing
and cleaning up water
damage, which has again left
businesses in a state of fl ux
while they still recover from
the ongoing pandemic.
The chamber’s head, Randy
Peers, encouraged businesses
to reach out to their offi ce, as
they can help fi nd cleanup
services and fi le insurance
claims. He added that the organization
is pushing for city
and state funds to assist businesses
in hurricane recovery.
Brad Lander, the Democratic
candidate for City
Comptroller and current councilmember
for Park Slope,
blasted Mayor Bill de Blasio
for his failed “stormwater resiliency
plan” that left thousands
stranded Wednesday
night when trains were forced
to shut down.
“Just four months after its
release, the Stormwater Resiliency
Plan has already proven
to be utterly inadequate to confront
the challenges facing our
city,” he said in a statement.
Elizabeth Yeampierre of
Uprose, a Sunset Park-based
climate justice group, told
Brooklyn Paper this is just another
example of the impacts
of climate change and stressed
the need for climate resiliency
to be at the forefront of all decision
making for Brooklyn, and
the city at large.
“This is that moment right
now where I hope people understand
where we can no longer
be making economic decisions
that are going to continue
to harm us,” she said, “that we
are going to have to be really
thoughtful about how we use
space so we are protected from
extreme winds, from extreme
weather events, rising water,
all of the things that are going
to come bold with climate
change.”
Sunset Park is particularly
susceptible to weather events
for a number of reasons,
Yeampierre said, including
storm surge, as toxins would
rush in that were dumped in
the neighborhood’s industrial
waterfront. In addition, high
winds and extreme heat particularly
impact highly-elevated
parts of the neighborhood,
while high temperatures also
affect low-lying areas of Sunset
Park situated close to the
Gowanus Expressway, where
high rates of asthma have been
recorded.
“There are different vulnerabilities
depending on the
typography of the neighborhood,”
she said.
Prior to news of Hurricane
Ida’s incoming landfall on the
city, Uprose had already organized
a climate action conference
for later this month,
during Climate Week, which
Yeampierre said will focus
on immediate changes community
members can make to
lower their footprint and protect
themselves against climate
change — with some sessions
meeting in small groups
to discuss climate initiatives
block-by-block.
“We are hoping that we
can assemble… that people
will join us and that we will
be able to bring attention to
the fact that the time to act is
right now, we are also putting
together a schedule of community
meetings to talk to small
groups of people in the community…
so people have an opportunity
to meaningfully engage
and not feel overwhelmed
by the smartest person in the
room.”