For the Rockaways and Jamaica Bay, Climate Change is Already Here.
When Hurricane Sandy ripped across New York eight years ago, no part of the city was hit harder than the Rockaways in Queens.
I watched the storm tear through our homes, shatter the windows of our businesses, flood our schools, and cause millions of dollars worth of property damage. My sister and hundreds of students from Beach Channel High School were forced to relocate, while thousands of other families were completely displaced. I spent weeks after the storm handing out backpacks and supplies to displaced students across the Peninsula.
But Sandy did more than shut down schools, displace people and cause millions of dollars in damage: It bluntly exposed both New York’s unpreparedness for the environmental and economic consequences brought on by climate change and the disproportionate effect those consequences have for lower-income and working-class communities, especially those of color.
A report released in December by IOPScience found that tenants in nearly 1,800 subsidized housing units in Queens are at risk of displacement due to rising sea levels over the next 30 years. The report was the first-ever comprehensive analysis of the climate crisis’ effect on affordable housing.
Nearly all of the units identified in the report are based in Far Rockaway and Averne. Neighborhoods in Broad Channel, Howard Beach and Flushing Bay were found to be at risk as well. All of these areas will be below the floodplain by 2050. Flooding due to climate change is endangering the families, businesses and communities that have been in these neighborhoods for decades, and all of Jamaica Bay is in harm’s way.
That is why I am going to make storm preparedness, sustainability and environmental justice defining issues in my campaign for City Council, because there is so much work to be done.
On the state level, we need a renewed push in Albany for storm preparedness and tackling the effects of climate change by committing to the Green New Deal and providing additional state and federal funding for flood protection, emergency assistance and clean infrastructure.
Locally, we need a collaborative effort between districts 31 and 32 to take on coastal erosion, storm preparedness and food insecurity across the Rockaway Peninsula. We need to work with environmental groups and community organizers on a community resilience plan to make sure everyone is prepared for the next storm and that every last building, home, and affordable housing unit across the district has the resources it needs.
But we have to do far more than just prepare for the next big storm. We need to start treating climate change like the threat it is by improving sustainability and committing our city to green infrastructure, from our buses and buildings to our power grids and small businesses.
We need to upgrade our city’s transit systems by retiring old, inefficient MTA buses and replacing them with an electric, energy-efficient fleet. We must also amend city building codes to codify higher efficiency standards. Most of all, it’s time to place a permanent ban on building all new fossil fuel infrastructure in New York City — including power plants and pipelines — and focus on establishing a green, city-wide power grid that is available and affordable for all.
In addition to large-scale changes, we have to commit ourselves to smaller, locally-focused initiatives. We must support the ban of single-use plastics by providing small businesses like restaurants and grocery stores with the resources they need to make the switch to green options. And we need to do much more to encourage recycling and composting in our district: Let’s put recycling drop-offs in every neighborhood and composting sites in every park.
As a council member, I will make sustainability and green initiatives central to my work and ensure New York City serves as a model and a leader in the fight against climate change.
According to the IOPScience report, the number of affordable housing units vulnerable to coastal flooding in New York will triple by 2050. We cannot afford to ignore this anymore.
We have to protect our most vulnerable communities from the next storm while also taking every action possible to slow their frequency and force. This is not just an issue of climate — it’s an issue of justice. Every time a storm hits, every time the streets flood and barriers falter, it’s always the people who have the least who suffer the most.
We must do more to center their voices, their concerns and their communities. Folks across Jamaica Bay have long waited for change, but now, we demand it. If elected to City Council, I will make these issues my top priority.
About Severino for City Council
Shaeleigh Severino is a Democrat running for New York City Council District 32 in Queens. An advocate, not a politician, her campaign is about creating real change in her district and city. If elected, Severino will be the district’s first female, first Afro-Latina, and first LGBTQIA+ individual with a disability to hold office, as well as the youngest council member in city history.
