Politico: Mayor Bill de Blasio on Thursday unveiled his latest plan to protect Lower Manhattan from the threat of climate change, proposing to extend the existing shoreline into the East River to insulate the financial district from sea level rise and storm surges.
But with a sticker price of $10 billion, de Blasio himself said it’s unclear if the city will find the funding to pay for the initiative. The federal government would have to pay for much of the project, a prospect the mayor said is difficult with a “climate denier” in the White House. And the scope of the plan means it’s unlikely to be realized while de Blasio is still in office.
The lingering questions are raising red flags for some advocates, who said they are concerned there are multiple opportunities for a project of this magnitude to be derailed. The initial reaction hints there are more troubles to come for the de Blasio administration, which was recently criticized for proposing significant changes to a related coastal resiliency project on Manhattan’s Lower East Side. Read more>>