submitted by Samuel Bendett

inhabitat.com - by Kevin Lee - February 25, 2014

When Hurricane Sandy struck in October of 2012, one of its most dire consequences was that it effectively put six New York hospitals out of commission. The facilities could have provided critical disaster relief, however they were shut down forcing 6,500 patients to be evacuated. To help prevent the same tragic scenario from happening again, hospitals from around New York have teamed up with global architecture firm Perkins+Will to organize an in-depth panel called the “Hospital Disaster Resiliency Program.”

(READ COMPLETE ARTICLE)

Mayor Bill de Blasio appointed Maya Wiley, at right, as his counsel; Emily Loyd, first left, as his Department of Environment Protection Commissioner, and Donna M. Corrado, far right, as Department of Aging Commissioner. (Photo - New York City Mayor's Office Twitter Account)

silive.com - by Jillian Jorgensen - February 18, 2014

CITY HALL -- Mayor Bill de Blasio announced three appointments to his administration Tuesday, including a new Department of Environmental Protection Commissioner who said Hurricane Sandy rebuilding and resiliency efforts will be among her top priorities.

De Blasio named Emily Loyd to the top DEP post - one that she held previously from 2005 to 2009. She was most recently Administrator of Prospect Park and President of the Prospect Park Alliance.

(READ COMPLETE ARTICLE)

Block and Tenant Associations Workshop Schedule

February – March 2014

All of the following interactive workshops will be held at

1385 East 94^th St, bet Avenues K and L

6:30-9:00pm

Who should attend:  

All Canarsiens interested in starting or strengthening a Block, Condo/Coop, or Tenant Association

Date:  Tuesday, February 18

Topic:  Canarsie Resilience: Building a Stronger Community Block by-Block

• Discussion of Block/Tenant/Condo workshops series
• Learn more about NY Resiliency and  Bridge Streetservices

Work Group Assignment: Participants will review and begin completing a 12-month action plan

wired.com - by Kyle VanHemert - February 6, 2014

One of the bigger themes in Frog’s workshops following Sandy was thinking about ways for FEMA to empower the community relief efforts that spring up organically after disasters strike.

“One thing that we noticed during our research during Sandy is that communities help themselves.”  One of Frog’s proposals was to formalize this process with “Franchise DRCs."  The idea is that FEMA could create partnerships with national chains, like Starbucks, Ikea, Home Depot or Verizon, whose outposts would get kits with setup instructions, signage and supplies. These locations would act as semi-official, community-run DRCs, which FEMA could build upon once they had people on the ground.

(READ COMPLETE ARTICLE)

Prepared by Heriberto Martinez, PCP
Voluntary Agency Liaison Deputy Group Supervisor
Federal Emergency Management Agency

New York Hurricane Sandy
Grants Information: Funders, Resources, and Grant Writing Tool February 10, 2014

(CLICK ON ATTACHMENT BELOW - 154 page Word document)

Image: Bill de Blasio. Charles Norfleet via Getty Images

huffingtonpost.com - January 24th, 2014

Speaking to reporters in Washington, D.C. Thursday, Mayor Bill de Blasio voiced his "firm" opposition to hydraulic fracturing, otherwise known as fracking, in New York state.

"I don’t see any place for fracking," de Blasio said following a speech at the U.S. Conference of Mayors. "The science simply isn’t reliable enough. The technology isn’t reliable enough. And, there’s too much danger to our water supply, to our environment in general."

(VIEW COMPLETE ARTICLE)

January 23, 2014 - Issue No. 20

The New York Recovery Network is a platform providing access to information and connection to other professionals involved in New York’s recovery from Hurricane Sandy.

CLICK HERE - New York Recovery Network - MAX.gov

CLICK HERE - E-Bulletin - Stormwater Management
May 28, 2014 (11 page .PDF file)

CLICK HERE - NYRN - Infographic

CLICK ON THE ATTACHMENT - BULLETIN NO. 20
(1 page .PDF file)

stormrecovery.ny.gov

CLICK HERE - Community Resilience Techniques
A compilation of approaches used to increase resilience
(124 page .PDF report)

Context

WHAT THIS document IS . . .

• A collection of approaches that have been used
by communities and countries around the
world to increase their resilience
  1. Specifically to address the following hazards:
flooding, storm surge, intense rainfall,
strong winds and debris
  2. Generally to increase non-hazard specific
resilience through – redundancy, learning,
community preparedness and emergency
response capacity

• Approaches are categorized according to seven
management measures and a systemic-resilience
category: (i) conserve, enhance, and restore; (ii) resilient construction; (iii) structural defenses; (iv) land-use planning and regulation; (v) market-based methods; (vi) social elements; and (vii) systemic resilience

From: NYC OEM <***@***.***>
Date: January 22, 2014 at 2:09:24 PM CST
Subject: Update - Weather - Bitter Cold - Low Temperatures and Wind Chills (Citywide)

Wed Jan 22 14:57:45 2014 
STATUS: Open - Active 
PROGNOSIS: Monitoring 
Weather-Cold/Snow 
Citywide  1/21- 1/24

(OEM Weather Distribution List)

SYNOPSIS

Intensifying low pressure well south of long island will move farther out to sea through tonight as weak high pressure builds from the west.  A weakening Alberta Clipper will move through on Thursday . . . followed by a high pressure ridge building in through the end of the week.  Another Alberta Clipper low will pass late Saturday . . . reinforcing the cold air across the area.  Unsettled weather is possible during the beginning of next week. 

TEMPERATURES

Today: cold; high around 15°F with wind chill values as low as 13 below (-13°F); lows around 6°F with wind chill values as low as 5 to 10 below (-5°F to -10°F). 

Thursday: cold; highs in the lower 20s with wind chill values as low as 8 below (-8°F) in the morning; lows around 9°F with wind chill values as low as 8 below (-8°F) after midnight. 

Image: Solar panels. CREDIT: AP Photo/Mark Lennihan

thinkprogress.org - January 9th, 2014 - Kiley Kroh

New York governor Andrew Cuomo delivered his State of the State address on Wednesday and announced an even greater commitment to clean energy, including $1 billion in new funding for solar energy projects.

Launched in 2012, Cuomo’s NY-Sun Initiative has already been a tremendous success, with almost 300 megawatts (MW) of solar photovoltaic capacity installed or under development, more than was installed in the entire decade prior to the program.

Now with another major financial boost, Cuomo aims to install 3,000 (MW) of solar across New York.

(VIEW COMPLETE ARTICLE)

ecowatch.com - by Brandon Baker - December 31, 2013

It wasn’t what Professor Mark Jacobson was saying—if you’re an advocate of renewable energy, you hear this kind of talk on a daily basis—as much as it was the platform. Solar and wind energy simply don’t get the late-night limelight.

Johanna Dominique in her apartment on the Rockaway Peninsula. A water stain that appeared when Hurricane Sandy hit, persists across her repaired ceiling. Ángel Franco/The New York Times

nytimes.com - by Sarah Maslin Nir - January 13, 2014

The buildings are offset by the Atlantic, a pastiche of warm tones and cool grays, jutting balconies overlooking tranquil landscaped gardens and million-dollar views. The apartment complex is in the Arverne section of the Rockaway Peninsula; it looks as if it could be Boca Raton, Fla.

But in this cluster of buildings, looks are often deceiving.

(READ COMPLETE ARTICLE)

Projects Statewide to Strengthen New York’s Communities Against Extreme Weather

governor.ny.gov - Andrew M. Cuomo - Governor - January 7, 2014

insurancejournal.com - by Andrew G. Simpson - January 7, 2014

The U.S. Senate is expected to take a key vote soon on a bill that would delay some of the flood insurance rate hikes triggered by the Biggert-Waters Flood Insurance Reform Act of 2012. . .

. . . The procedural vote on S.1846 was originally planned for Wednesday, but the Senate is still dealing with an extension of federal unemployment benefits, delaying consideration of the flood bill. U.S. Sen. Mary Landrieu (D-La.), a major advocate for the bill, told USA Today that  “next week is more realistic” for any vote on the flood bill.

(READ COMPLETE ARTICLE)