As part of the Public Forums series on the NYC Comprehensive Waterfront Plan, NYC Planning and the Waterfront Alliance hosted a meeting on Resilience and Climate Change Adaptation. There were close to 80 attendees from nonprofit and community groups in NY and NJ, government representatives, and residents with a general interest in the waterfront and concern about climate change. Throughout the event, there was a focus on competing interests at the water’s edge, for example, development along the waterfront and the need for infrastructure and/or living shorelines to better adapt the city to sea level rise and coastal storms. The notion of having robust public access coupled with resilience measures came up as both a challenge and opportunity. Increasing public education and awareness and the different pathways to do so was also highlighted by many participants. Empowering individuals in the planning process has been a recurring theme through all five public forums.

View the presentations on NYC Waterfront Resiliency [PDF] and Rising to the Challenge [PDF].

Read the notes from the session [PDF].

Let us know what you think about the topic on the Share Your Thoughts page.