Description: New York city has taken significant steps to address the threat of sea level rise around the metropolitan region. There is a city strategic planning process for climate change adaptation, including adaptation to sea level rise. In 2008, Mayor Bloomberg launched the Climate Change Adaptation Task Force and the New York City Panel on Climate Change to develop adaptation strategies to secure the City’s infrastructure from the effects of climate change. The Task Force is one of the 127 initiatives proposed in PlaNYC, the City’s long-term sustainability plan.

The Task Force will inventory “existing infrastructure that may be at-risk from the effects of climate change; develop coordinated adaptation plans to secure these assets based on New York City-specific climate change projections; draft design guidelines for new infrastructure that take into account anticipated climate change impacts; and identify adaptation strategies for further study that are beyond the scope of individual stakeholders.”

The Task Force and the Panel will build on the climate adaptation plan the New York City Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) issued for its assets in May 2008. The plan outlines possible approaches to coastal flooding as a result of sea level rise. DEP recommendations include raising the elevations of key facilities above projected flood heights and the promotion of gradual retreat from the most at-risk areas, such as park land.