South Jamaica Water Square
New York
Category: Infrastructure
Year: 2025
Funding: Funded through New York City Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) Cloudburst Management Program
BACKGROUND
In response to chronic flooding disrupting daily life for residents in the South Jamaica Houses in Queens, NY, the NYC Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) and the NYC Housing Authority (NYCHA), teamed up with Hazen and Sawyer and Marc Wouters Studios to convert a neighborhood basketball court into a multipurpose space that serves as a stormwater management system, recreational area, and community gathering place. During storms, the sunken basketball court serves as a storage tank, capturing 44,600 cubic feet of stormwater and conveying 37,850 cubic feet of storage through piping beneath the court, where it is gradually released towards planted bioretention areas. This Nature-based solution, which was developed in close collaboration with South Jamaica Houses residents and completed in 2025, is the first cloudburst system implemented under DEP’s Cloudburst Management Program.