Department of Environmental Protection<\/a> (DEP) Commissioner Lisa Garcia Thursday afternoon, also aims to improve the quality of local waterways, including the East River, Flushing Bay and Jamaica Bay.<\/p>\nThe investment is partly funded through New York State grants totaling $5 million from the Green Innovation Grant Program, administered by the Environmental Facilities Corp., and the Water Quality Improvement Project, overseen by the state\u2019s Department of Environmental Conservation.<\/p>\n
As part of the initiative, the city is planting native species and wildflowers above existing stormwater storage networks, including a stretch of Francis Lewis Boulevard between 21st Avenue and 20th Road in Whitestone, which estimated to capture 1.11 million gallons of stormwater each year.<\/p>\n
On Union Turnpike between Metropolitan Avenue and 71st Road in Forest Hills, the new green infrastructure is anticipated to capture 2.43 million gallons of stormwater per year, while green infrastructure on Springfield Boulevard between Merrick Boulevard and Lucas Street in Queens Village is estimated to capture 1.44 million gallons per year.<\/p>\n
The work on Francis Lewis Boulevard is nearing completion, while work on Union Turnpike is slated to begin in fall. Work in Queens Village is expected to begin later in the year.\n<\/p>\n
The initiative will remove old concrete medians and curbs, clear overgrown or dead trees, weeds and accumulated debris to transform the medians into green corridors planted with native species, shrubs, grasses and wildflowers. To ensure water flows into the newly-planted medians, new inlet openings will be built to divert water off the streets and directly into the planted areas.<\/p>\n
The initiative involves installing specially-engineered soils and underground storage systems to absorb stormwater.\n<\/p>\n
The project aims to provide stronger flood protection for local Queens communities as well as cooling and beautifying the streetscape. It also aims to enhance neighborhood aesthetic and improve pedestrian safety with new ADA-compliant ramps and detectable warning surfaces.<\/p>\n
Mamdani said the new infrastructure would help the neighborhoods deal with \u201cmore intense and unpredictable bursts of rain\u201d brought on by climate change.\n<\/p>\n
\u201cClimate change is bringing more intense and unpredictable bursts of rain, and without action, those storms will continue to overwhelm New York City\u2019s sewer system,\u201d Mamdani said in a statement.\u00a0\u201cBy planting native species and wildflowers above an underground stormwater storage network, we will capture five million gallons of stormwater each year, easing pressure on our sewer system and keeping New Yorkers safe.\u201d<\/p>\n
Hochul, meanwhile, said flash floods have become the \u201cnorm\u201d in New York City and added that it is imperative that both city and state invest in green infrastructure to protect local communities.<\/p>\n
\u201cHere in New York, we are implementing innovative solutions to strengthen our infrastructure and better protect our communities,\u201d Hochul said in a statement.\n<\/p>\n
Garcia said the city must respond to climate change \u201creshaping our world\u201d by reshaping its infrastructure to cope with new challenges.\n<\/p>\n
\u201cBy trading hard concrete for living landscapes, we are not just managing stormwater but reimagining what our streets can be,\u201d Garcia said in a statement.\n<\/p>\n
She added that the initiative will transform expansive concrete medians into \u201cvibrant green corridors\u201d that can soak up millions of gallons of rainwater.\n<\/p>\n
\u201cThis is how we transform everyday spaces into innovative flooding solutions that both protect communities and beautify neighborhoods,\u201d Garcia said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Mayor Zohran Mamdani and Gov. Kathy Hochul have announced a new $8.4 million initiative to create flood resiliency…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":331780,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[37],"tags":[124844,14236,21932,426,1445,22925,9,24,63,122,124,123,124845],"class_list":["post-331779","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-queens","tag-concrete-medians","tag-flooding","tag-green-infrastructure","tag-kathy-hochul","tag-mamdani","tag-mayor-zohran-mamdani","tag-new-york","tag-new-york-city","tag-nyc","tag-queens","tag-queens-headlines","tag-queens-news","tag-stormwater"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/331779","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=331779"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/331779\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/331780"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=331779"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=331779"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=331779"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}