{"id":389328,"date":"2026-01-05T15:20:19","date_gmt":"2026-01-05T15:20:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/389328\/"},"modified":"2026-01-05T15:20:19","modified_gmt":"2026-01-05T15:20:19","slug":"why-new-york-city-is-spending-millions-on-bluebelts","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/389328\/","title":{"rendered":"Why New York City Is Spending Millions on \u2018Bluebelts\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"

New York City is expected<\/a> to experience increasing rainfall over the next few decades, especially during cloudbursts<\/a>\u2014short, intense rainfall events.<\/p>\n

When rain falls, light showers can usually be handled by the complex network of sewer pipes that run beneath the city. But during heavy downpours, water can accumulate, posing a danger to the residents and their homes, especially if they live in basement apartments<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Around 30 years ago, on Staten Island, the city tried something new to address flooding\u2014bluebelts. Often connected to a network of storm sewers, these drainage systems\u2014usually wetlands and ponds\u2014slow floodwaters, act as barriers during storms and sequester pollutants, directly reducing flood risk and helping protect homes by controlling water flow.<\/p>\n

Most of the nearly 100 bluebelts in New York City are located on Staten Island. The city plans to build more bluebelts, but space constraints in other boroughs have slowed progress. But earlier this month, Mayor Adams announced<\/a> that the city will invest $68 million to build a bluebelt in Brooklyn\u2019s Prospect Park\u2014the borough\u2019s first.<\/p>\n

In Staten Island, the city started building them decades ago, when space was less of an issue. In the late 1990s, development on the island, especially on the South Shore, accelerated. Sewer systems did not extend across the entire island, and many homes still used septic tanks.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Staten Island needed sanitary sewers\u2014a network of pipes connecting people\u2019s homes to a sewage treatment plant\u2014and storm sewers, which handle rainfall runoff. In about 60 percent of the city, stormwater and sewage run through the same pipes to wastewater treatment plants.\u00a0<\/p>\n

When the sewer system is overwhelmed during extreme rainfall events, both sewage and stormwater are discharged into the Hudson River and its estuaries through combined sewer overflows.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe wanted to figure out how to work with water and not against it,\u201d said Sangamithra Iyer, the chief of bluebelts and urban stormwater planning at the city Department of Environmental Protection.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Rob Brauman, deputy chief of bluebelt operations and maintenance at the city Department of Environmental Protection, and David Peterson, the deputy director of Staten Island construction at the city Department of Design and Construction, began working on bluebelts in the 1990s.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cEverything you see here was created,\u201d said Brauman, as he looked at a portion of the New Creek bluebelt in Staten Island on an overcast morning. Ducks move leisurely along the stream in the middle of the constructed wetland, unbothered by the rain.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"DucksThe New Creek bluebelt in Staten Island. Credit: Lauren Dalban\/Inside Climate News<\/p>\n

Before it became a bluebelt, the entire area was covered in phragmites\u2014an invasive tall grass\u2014and construction debris, Brauman said. Now, it\u2019s full of native plants and wildlife. And when it rains, all that water flows to the wetland and eventually into the harbor, not into people\u2019s homes.<\/p>\n

For Staten Island, bluebelts offered a solution\u2014not just for residents, but also for the local critters. Ducks can often be seen floating across these wetlands, and American eels have been observed<\/a> in bluebelts in the southwest of the island.\u00a0<\/p>\n

In many Staten Island bluebelts, when it rains, water flows across streets and sidewalks and into storm grates, through storm sewer pipes and then conveys the water to a nearby wetland, or bluebelt.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The water discharges into a pool where sediment and other substances can sink to the bottom before it flows into the wetland. Another pool is located where the water re-enters the storm sewer system. Once the water enters the wetland, native plants help filter pollutants, including lawn fertilizer.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The water eventually re-enters the storm sewer network after passing through a trash grate, which captures much of the remaining debris. When the water is released into the Hudson River or the ocean, it\u2019s cleaner.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The flow of water across the bluebelt also slows it down\u2014most are designed to release water slowly over time, especially during a storm\u2014preventing the sewers from overflowing and flooding the streets. They can also be adjusted depending on the severity of the storm.\u00a0<\/p>\n

In other cases, bluebelts can also enhance already existing ponds and streams to hold more water during storms.<\/p>\n

According to Peterson, the cost of bluebelts\u2014which can exceed $100 million<\/a>\u2014is worth it because it helps residents avoid costly insurance claims and flood damage repairs.<\/p>\n

Initially, bluebelts were developed without climate change in mind, said Brauman. But now amid rising flood risks, they can accommodate the flow of water from more severe storms.<\/p>\n

In 2012, a massive storm surge from Hurricane Sandy hit the East and South shores of Staten Island hard.\u00a0 According to the city, around 16 percent<\/a> of the island\u2019s residents were affected because they lived in the areas where the Federal Emergency Management Agency found that floodwaters had broken through.<\/p>\n

The construction process can take years\u2014future bluebelts often sit in areas with contaminated soil and construction debris. The soil must be removed and replaced to rebuild a healthy wetland, Peterson said.<\/p>\n

\"TreesA public footpath along New Creek bluebelt. Credit: Lauren Dalban\/Inside Climate News<\/p>\n

According to materials provided by the Department of Environmental Protection, the city removed over 100,000 cubic yards of debris and tamed 12 acres of invasive weeds to build New Creek in Staten Island.\u00a0<\/p>\n

New Creek also had an active stream running through it, forcing Peterson and his team to divert the channel while they restored the soil beneath it.<\/p>\n

In recent years, the city has sought to build bluebelts in flood-prone areas of Queens<\/a>, but has encountered obstacles.<\/p>\n

Many areas of Queens have combined sewer systems, making it difficult to separate stormwater from sewage. According to Rohit Aggarwala, the commissioner of the New York City Department of Environmental Protection, this often means that the city must build new storm sewers to direct water to the bluebelt, which can be costly.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cWe want to hold [water] and release it slowly so we prevent flooding downstream,\u201d said Brauman, \u201cand we want to give the plants time to clean the water.\u201d<\/p>\n

The city\u2019s sewers were not designed for the amount of water that now falls on the city during intense storms<\/a>. As Inside Climate News previously reported<\/a>, some of the city\u2019s plans, like sewer infrastructure projects, have been delayed.<\/p>\n

According to Aggarwala, bluebelts and green infrastructure, which include natural solutions such as rain gardens, storm sewers and detention tanks that hold water during rainstorms, should be considered joint solutions to flooding across the city.<\/p>\n

Sometimes, Aggarwala said, there is no entirely natural way to combat flooding in an area, and infrastructure is needed. For example, in a Brooklyn neighborhood affected by chronic flooding, his department plans<\/a> to expand the sewer system\u2019s capacity by upgrading the infrastructure because there is no space for bluebelts.<\/p>\n

But sometimes, a multi-pronged approach is possible. In a neighborhood nicknamed the Hole<\/a> which straddles the borders of Brooklyn and Queens, streets and homes sit multiple feet below the surrounding area, leading to chronic flooding. The city has recently announced<\/a> a plan to help, which included the construction of storm sewers, raising some streets and building bluebelts.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ve also been looking at a mix\u2014bringing all sorts of green and gray infrastructure solutions to the single problem of flooding in a neighborhood,\u201d said Aggarwala.<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\tAbout This Story<\/p>\n

Perhaps you noticed: This story, like all the news we publish, is free to read. That\u2019s because Inside Climate News is a 501c3 nonprofit organization. We do not charge a subscription fee, lock our news behind a paywall, or clutter our website with ads. We make our news on climate and the environment freely available to you and anyone who wants it.<\/p>\n

That\u2019s not all. We also share our news for free with scores of other media organizations around the country. Many of them can\u2019t afford to do environmental journalism of their own. We\u2019ve built bureaus from coast to coast to report local stories, collaborate with local newsrooms and co-publish articles so that this vital work is shared as widely as possible.<\/p>\n

Two of us launched ICN in 2007. Six years later we earned a Pulitzer Prize for National Reporting, and now we run the oldest and largest dedicated climate newsroom in the nation. We tell the story in all its complexity. We hold polluters accountable. We expose environmental injustice. We debunk misinformation. We scrutinize solutions and inspire action.<\/p>\n

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Please take a moment to make a tax-deductible donation. Every one of them makes a difference.<\/p>\n

Thank you,<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\"\"<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\tLauren Dalban\t\t\t\t\t<\/a><\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\tReporter, New York City<\/p>\n

Lauren Dalban is a New York City-based reporter with a background in local journalism. A former ICN fellow, she now covers environmental issues in all five boroughs. Originally from London, she earned a B.A. in History and English from the University of Virginia, and an M.S. from Columbia Graduate School of Journalism.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"New York City is expected to experience increasing rainfall over the next few decades, especially during cloudbursts\u2014short, intense…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":389329,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[47],"tags":[192,79],"class_list":["post-389328","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-environment","tag-environment","tag-science"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/389328","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=389328"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/389328\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/389329"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=389328"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=389328"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=389328"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}