A Much Criticized Pocket of the Rockaways, Built to Survive a Storm

I was curious as to how Arverne by the Sea, that massive new development we passed, fared in the storm - and based on this article seems to be very well. This is worth pursuing on a few fronts. First, there was some of the same luck that protected the historic bungalows around Beach 25th - good dunes and (maybe as a result), no boardwalk damage and little or no flooding from the ocean side. Second, they had installed a very robust storm water management system, including holding tanks and large-capacity storm sewers (184 Kent in Williamsburg, a historic building, had a similar system in place, which spared it from a lot of damage). And third, recovery was relatively quick because systems were either raised or installed in anticipation of flooding (submersible transformers, e.g.).

This is also significant because, as we have seen, there is a lot of discussion about how new buildings (post-1983) fared vs. old buildings. To the extent that old buildings, historic or otherwise, are seen as unsustainable in the face of changing climate, that makes our jobs as preservationists all the more challenging. Yet another reason why we need that data on red tags!