This project was initiated as the final product for the course 'Introduction to GIS' (Fall 2018) at the New School and continued through the collaboration with Eddy Almonte, Morgan Stanley Community Development Fellow at Ascendant Neighborhood Development. A poster version of the project was presented at the 10 Years of the New York Panel of Climate Change, at the Academy of the Sciences of New York City on March 15, 2019
Introduction
New York City (NYC) is affected by three types of floods: coastal, riverine, and inland. Riverine floods are the least common and least severe type in NYC. Inland floods (flash floods) are caused by stormwater. These floods are difficult to predict and manage as their occurrence is driven by small intense thunderstorms, local land characteristics, and the complex sewer network. Coastal and riverine flood risk can be defined using FEMA flood maps for the 100-year storm, but inland flood risk and vulnerability are difficult to quantify. NYC manages this risk through several mechanisms including: regulatory codes and laws, stormwater management improvements, flood-proofing and elevating buildings, and protecting critical infrastructure \cite{mitigation}.
NYC has experienced 7.5-foot floods several times in the past decade. Superstorm Sandy discharged 10- or 11-foot of coastal floods on much of Manhattan, Brooklyn, and Staten Island,
killing 43 people and inundating more than 88,000 buildings
\cite{atlantic2017}. New York City has 178,000 units of affordable rental housing that are privately owned by corporations and receive government assistance through the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, the Mitchell-Lama program, or the Low Income Housing Tax Credit program. According to a research conducted in the aftermath of Sandy by
\citet{center2013}, this stock was affected by Sandy: 248 subsidized buildings, with about 24,500 units, are located in areas reached by Sandy's surge. Fig.1 below shows that subsidized developments are concentrated in some surge affected areas, such as Coney Island, the Rockaways, Harlem, and the Lower East Side.