There is not yet funding for buyouts in Kissena Park or Hollis. For now, the Mayor\u2019s Office of Climate and Environmental Justice is gathering information to gauge interest and assess feasibility.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe are listening to homeowners and community members about their interest in voluntary buyouts and evaluating potential pathways forward,\u201d said Pia Fouilloux, a spokesperson for the office.<\/p>\n
As The City Reporter previously detailed<\/a>, MOCEJ is also exploring buying out homeowners in the Jewel Streets area on the Queens-Brooklyn border. That neighborhood is known as the Hole<\/a> because it sits in a basin below sea level and is not hooked up to the city\u2019s sewer system.<\/p>\n Early Signs of Interest in Buyouts<\/p>\n Some Queens officials and residents have welcomed the possibility of buyouts, made more real by an expression-of-interest form disseminated by MOCEJ.<\/p>\n \u201cI don\u2019t think the current situation is going to get better,\u201d said Councilmember Sandra Ung, who has advocated for the city to buy out homeowners in flood-vulnerable areas. \u201cSo I think it\u2019s important to start having these conversations, recognizing that it could take, realistically, a very long time for this to happen.\u201d<\/p>\n Both Hollis and Flushing recorded multiple drowning deaths in basement apartments as a result of Hurricane Ida in September 2021, including a family of three<\/a> and a mother and her son.\u00a0<\/p>\n Leona Chin, a Flushing resident and founder of the park stewardship group Kissena Synergy, said she and other volunteers have been helping spread the word about the buyout program to residents.<\/p>\n \u201cInitially, people were suspicious,\u201d Chin said. \u201cPeople said, \u2018That\u2019s not for real, that\u2019s not really going to happen.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n But people in both neighborhoods who have put up with flooding for years are interested, according to multiple interviews with neighbors and elected officials. MOCEJ did not disclose how many people have filled out the form.<\/p>\n One of them is Hollis resident and local community board member Amit Shivprasad, whose family owned the house where the mother and son died in Ida\u2019s remnants. He has been calling for the government to buy out him and his neighbors, who he said have spent thousands of dollars fixing up their homes after repeated floods. Many suffer from anxiety every time it rains, and some have already put their homes on the market.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m happy people have decided it\u2019s time to leave, but I don\u2019t want someone to come and buy the property and then they have to deal with what they\u2019ve been dealing with,\u201d he said. \u201cI want to get these buyouts done so we can take care of this as a long-term solution.\u201d<\/p>\n Floodwaters reached 46 inches high at a Hollis intersection on May 20 this year, according to local flood sensor data<\/a>. Surveillance camera footage reviewed by The City Reporter showed a person swimming across the street, where a car was almost fully submerged.<\/p>\n Managed Retreat<\/p>\n Research shows<\/a> most urban areas built on historic waterways tend to flood and will continue to do so into the future. The idea behind buyouts<\/a> is for the city to take flood-prone properties and use them for something else, such as parks, natural areas or stormwater storage systems.<\/p>\n The city and state used buyouts and property acquisitions in coastal Queens and on Staten Island in the aftermath of Superstorm Sandy in 2012. Recent efforts mark the first time New York City has tried the approach with an eye toward inland areas that experience stormwater flooding.<\/p>\n Buying up homes in areas vulnerable to flooding is a climate adaptation strategy known as managed retreat, where authorities move people, buildings and infrastructure out of harm\u2019s way. But taking homes offline in a housing crisis and breaking apart communities present a complex, expensive endeavor.\u00a0<\/p>\n Buyouts are often used in areas only where flood mitigation is particularly challenging. Both Hollis and the Kissena Park area fit the bill.<\/p>\n The city park surrounds a three-block enclave of mostly detached small houses on leafy and quiet streets near playing fields and canopied walking paths. On a recent evening, The City Reporter observed a handful of homes in the area with for-sale signs outside. Two were listed for more than $1 million. While the day had been sunny, some makeshift flood barriers of tarps, bricks and sandbags still sat in front of garage doors and fences.<\/p>\n Sam Wu, who has lived in Kissena Park for two decades, said he submitted the buyout interest form to the city but is unsure about what the process will entail. He lives with his family on the top floor of his home, while his brother lives on the ground floor with his family.<\/p>\n Wu said he\u2019d like to move to Long Island eventually, but a buyout offer could influence his decision.<\/p>\n \u201cShould we move out east first, or should we hold off and hope the city pays us out?\u201d he said. \u201cWhat if I wait five, six years and there\u2019s still nothing happening?\u201d<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/Ida_Queens_8.jpg\")
Responders and neighbors in front of 90-11 183rd Street in Queens. Flooding from Hurricane Ida claimed of two people in the basement of this Hollis home. Sept. 2, 2021. Credit: Hiram Alejandro Dur\u00e1n\/ THE CITY<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/Ida_Queens_5.jpg\")
NYPD officers stand at the drive way of 90-11 183rd where multiple people died during Wednesday night\u2019s flooding. Credit: Hiram Alejandro Dur\u00e1n\/ THE CITY<\/p>\n![\"Gov.](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/090721_hochul_kissena_park_ida.jpg\")
Gov. Kathy Hochul speaks with Kissena Park, Queens residents while touring flood damaged homes from Hurricane Ida, Sept. 7, 2021. Credit: Kevin P. Coughlin\/Office of Governor Kathy Hochul<\/p>\n