Mayor Bloomberg launched the Special Initiative for Rebuilding and Resiliency (SIRR) to develop the City’s plan for rebuilding neighborhoods hardest hit by Superstorm Sandy and to adapt the building stock and infrastructure towards greater resiliency for the risks posed by climate change. WXY architecture and urban design was selected to produce planning recommendations for the Brooklyn-Queens Waterfront, one of five SIRR community areas. The team assessed post-Sandy conditions and vulnerabilities in the built environment and key infrastructure. The assessment led to the development of practical, implementable solutions focused on the coastal protection, building resiliency and economic development.

The team produced illustrative plans and specific place-based strategies for the Brooklyn-Queens Waterfront community area through planning analysis and public consultation. WXY created communication tools to engage stakeholders and the public in these plans and strategies. The SIRR recommendations for the five community areas and city-wide thematic strategies were combined in the Mayor’s “A Stronger and More Resilient New York” report as an addendum to PlaNYC.

WXY’s planning recommendations for the Brooklyn-Queens Waterfront dealt with a range of coastal protections and resiliency strategies for buildings, infrastructure and community development. The strategies incorporated landscape interventions, green infrastructure, enhanced waterfront public spaces, industrial building strategies and area-wide development recommendations. Red Hook and Newtown Creek were two areas of particular focus for their high vulnerability to flooding today and into the future with rising tides.