Addressing Coastal Resiliency in New York City

13th Annual Parks and Greenspace Conference - Atlanta, GA

Addressing Coastal Resiliency in New York City Marc Matsil, New York State Director, The Trust for Public Land

March 31, 2014

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ConnectCoolAbsorbProtect

The Role of Conservation in Creating Resilient Landscapes

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Old Place Creek, Staten Island (adjacent to the Goethals Bridge)

Protect—Green Shorelines to Buffer Cities

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Three Years of results Monitoring Vegetation, Ribbed Mussels (Geukensia demissa) and Total PetroleumHydrocarbons (TPH) at Old Place Creek Restoration Site 1, Staten Island, New York.

Year RibbedMussel a /m2

ABGb/m2 BGBc/m2 stems/m2 flowers/m2 height/m2

(m)TPH/m2

(ppm)1 0 0 0 0 0 0 29,3222 0 57.5 94.9 136 9 0.83 10,2003 6 70.02 174.8 176 38 1.55 nc

Key: a = Geukensia demissus; b = aboveground biomass; c = below ground biomass; nc = not collected

Old Place Creek, Staten Island, NYRestored Site (1992-2002)Conservation and restoration contributed to the protection of neighborhoods and businesses impacted by the Sandy surge.

Old Place Creek, Staten Island, NYRestored Site (1992-2002)Conservation and restoration contributed to the protection of neighborhoods and businesses impacted by the Sandy surge.

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collectionpropagation

planting

From Soup to Nuts…VOLUNTEERS IN ACTION

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Resiliency in the Age of Climate Change: the art of stormwater management, public access and flood abatement (greenprint to implementation)

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Restoration of the Bronx RiverNatural Resources Group Bioengineering WorkshopFunded by the US EPA & NYC PARKSMarch 2000 - 2,000 Linear Feet

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Conservation, Post-Sandy Remediation and Park Development

North Shore Waterfront Park Transformation of an abandoned

brownfield to a resilient Green

Infrastructure/Passive Park

Pouch Camp - 94.8 acres2013– 2015 Three phases

(collaboration with the Boy Scouts of America)

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Climate Resiliency: conservation & watershed protection

Cranberry Mountain WMA addition at South HollowPutnam County, NY December 2013

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The Trust for Public Land

Green Infrastructure Playground

Program

P.S. 261 Playground Boerum Hill, Brooklyn September 19, 2013

Absorbs up to one inch of precipitation per storm event.

That’s 500K gallons per year!

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Dozens of new playgrounds in NYC

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The QueensWay Cultural Greenway

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From this(QueensWay Present Conditions)

To that(QueensWay Rendering)

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Climate Change: conservation & watershed protection

Cranberry Mountain WMA addition at South HollowPutnam County, NY - December 2013

Is green infrastructure the best defense against climate disasters?