26 THE QUEENS COURIER • SEPTEMBER 9, 2021 FOR BREAKING NEWS VISIT WWW.QNS.COM
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Title: Hochul tells New Yorkers to prepare for more
severe storms
Summary: New York will have to be prepared for more
frequent heavy weather events due to climate change,
Governor Kathy Hochul said Thursday, Sept. 2. Queens
Borough President Donovan Richards called for more
investment in lifesaving infrastructure.
Reach: 6,128 as of (09/03/2021)
Ida and the climate crisis
Severe rainfall from remnants of
Hurricane Ida across New York City on
the night of Wednesday, Sept. 1, into the
morning of Th ursday, Sept. 2, gave us a fatal
reminder that some natural acts are beyond
our control.
But it is also increasingly clear that the
death, fl ooding and destruction left in the
storm’s wake — along with other natural
occurrences such as forest fi res 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 fi xes including the
use of 21st-century 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 fi rms.
“Th e city needs to focus its capital
improvements and maintenance programs
on these susceptible areas, targeting resiliency
across the fi ve boroughs, or millions
of New Yorkers will continue to be aff ected
by catastrophic fl ooding 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 fi lled with expanding social programs.
Th is 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.
“Whether it’s the needs of the MTA, projects
like Gateway, the Second Avenue subway,
the East River Tunnels, Penn Access
and others, this deal represents massive
investments that will rebuild and revive the
Empire State’s infrastructure,” Schumer said
when the bipartisan deal passed the Senate.
“From clean drinking water to upgraded
sewers to repairing bridges and subway
tunnels, there is more work to be done, but
billions are on the way to move on it, create
good jobs and advance critical projects,”
he added.
Th ere is an old political saying to never
let a good crisis go to waste. Th is may be
true, but it shouldn’t be wasteful either —
we need to spend wisely to protect our city
from the eff ects of climate change.
Photo by Brendan McDermid/Reuters
It is increasingly clear that the death, fl ooding and destruction left in Hurricane Ida’s wake —
along with other natural occurrences such as forest fi res and droughts in the west — are due to
global warming and an existential climate crisis.
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