Improving Equity in Cloudburst Resilience in New York City - Spring

Team Members: Christine Ow, Dhruvi Patel, Candice Asare, Nicole Cornell, Ipsita Dash, Helena Gressler, Kelly O'Connell, Olivia Parker, Emily Siangkam, Yueyue Yu

Climate change is increasing the frequency and severity of extreme rainfall events in New York City, exposing vulnerabilities in existing stormwater infrastructure and disproportionately impacting socially and economically vulnerable communities. The impacts of Hurricane Ida highlighted critical gaps in resilience, particularly in neighborhoods with aging infrastructure and higher concentrations of basement housing, where flooding resulted in significant loss of life and property damage. Existing cloudburst management strategies have focused primarily on technical solutions, such as stormwater storage and drainage infrastructure, without fully integrating equity considerations into planning and implementation.

Integrating equity into cloudburst resilience planning significantly improves both effectiveness and fairness of adaptation strategies. Incorporating social vulnerability indicators into project selection enables more effective allocation of resources toward communities facing the greatest risks. Developing assessment tools to evaluate neighborhood vulnerability improves prioritization and long-term planning. Strengthening stakeholder engagement and partnerships enhances community trust and ensures that resilience strategies address local needs. These findings demonstrate that climate adaptation efforts must incorporate social and environmental equity considerations to effectively protect vulnerable populations and strengthen urban resilience in the face of increasingly severe climate impacts.

Learn more about the MPA-ESP Capstone projects.