Judy Huynh

The Guardian: ‘The whole idea was to use the park as the “wall” that would protect the community behind it, but also give the community new access to a park they could enjoy,’ said Amy Chester, director of Rebuild by Design, a New York-based non-profit that worked with city and federal officials on the project.

EESI: After Hurricane Sandy in 2012, New Jersey received U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development funding for two adaptation projects: Rebuild by Design (RBD) – Hudson River and RBD – RBD – Hudson River received an initial $230 million. RBD – Hudson River includes six parks in Hoboken designed to retain and rebuff water.

Patch: In a recent study conducted by Rebuild by Design (RBD), 1.3 million people in New Jersey live in high flood risk areas, with half of those being lower-income individuals who may lack the resources to evacuate. An additional $277.7 billion in property value and $3.2 billion in annual tax revenue are also under threat

Arch Paper: A short PATH ride away in Hoboken is ResilienCity Park (formerly known as Northwest Resiliency Park). Led by E&LP (now AKRF) with landscapes by OLIN, ResilienCity was created through the Hudson River component of Rebuild By Design, a post-Sandy initiative founded by the Department of Housing and Urban Development.

Leisure Opportunities: Memorial Day (29 May) saw the opening of phase one of the East River Park redevelopment in New York City, with the newly opened section featuring new basketball and tennis courts, picnic and BBQ areas, a large passive lawn, a flexible use space and several hundred new trees.  

Cape May County Herald: A new report by the public-private partnership Rebuild by Design says Cape May and Atlantic counties have the most property vulnerable to flood damage in the next 25 years. The report projects 70% of Cape May County will be at risk by 2050.

Press of Atlantic City: Rebuild By Design, the public-private partnership formed after Superstorm Sandy to plan protective measures for future major storms, released its report “Flood Risk Equals Financial Risk” on Thursday. It found that nearly $278 billion worth of private property in New Jersey faces rising flood risk, and that it generates $3.2 billion

PBS: Hundreds of thousands of people could be forced from their homes, new report says. “We’re sounding the alarm, and we’re saying, ‘Hey, let’s take a look at this before people suffer,’” said Amy Chester, director of Rebuild by Design.

Gothamist: One of the largest projects designed to protect Manhattan from a catastrophic flood has reached a new milestone with the opening of revamped parkland along the East River on the Lower East Side.