One year ago today Hurricane Sandy slammed into the New York metropolitan region after devastating many islands in the Caribbean. Nearly three hundred people died in the New York area as a result of the storm, and an estimated $68 billion of damage was done to communities in the region. In addition to this terrible toll, Sandy raised troubling questions about the future of cities in general and New York City in particular in the face of climate change. Today, one year later, questions about how to build urban resilience in the face of the multifarious challenges of climate change are much debated. What can we learn from post-Sandy reconstruction efforts about how to build more resilient cities? Contributors to this dossier, edited by Ashley Dawson, weigh in about the legacy of Hurricane Sandy.
New York City has nearly six hundred miles of coastline. Four of the city’s five boroughs are built on islands, and New York is linked together by a network of bridges and tunnels that soar over and plunge under … Continue reading “How We Forgot the Sea”
Approaching Broad Channel en route to Far Rockaway, flotillas of ducks frolic, planes take off from John F. Kennedy Airport, and in the distance, the Rockaways loom, surrounded by a placid expansive bay. It is a flawless, sunny October … Continue reading “Beach 116, Far Rockaway”
When Sandy’s waters finally receded, they left behind the devastation of lost lives and a mountain of debris. And they also exposed how a system of historic inequity perpetuates itself in real life, real time and real suffering. A … Continue reading “The Limits of Local”
Governments make disaster plans. Between municipal, state, and federal level agencies, the amount of planning for potential disasters is enormous. But during Hurricane Sandy, plans that took several years and millions of dollars to produce were thrown out almost … Continue reading “The Fantasy of Disaster Response: Governance and Social Action During Hurricane Sandy”
Nearly a year after Hurricane Sandy struck New York City, housing-related problems persist even in areas where repairs and rebuilding have taken place. The signs of ongoing crisis are often hard to see: mold grows underneath hastily replaced flooring … Continue reading “Materializing crisis: Housing and mental health from Katrina to Sandy”
Mayor Bloomberg’s appointment of Marc Ricks, a vice-president at Goldman Sachs, to the team overseeing the Hurricane Sandy recovery efforts was an early indication that the crisis might be used, in classic disaster capitalist fashion, to promote deregulation, reduce … Continue reading “The Battle Over Zone A”
The memories are very clear. I remember the transformer exploding. A flash of white. Purple, green and a neon pink. Then the lights go out. Cut. I am on Rockaway Beach, beloved title of The Ramones for the … Continue reading “After Sandy”
Photographer Erica Lansner traveled by bicycle from her home in Morningside Heights to Staten Island the week after Hurricane Sandy hit New York. During the course of a week, she visited and photographed the people and neighborhoods near New … Continue reading “Photography on Sandy: Erica Lansner”
Anne McClintock is the Simone de Beauvoir Professor of English and Women’s and Gender Studies at University of Wisconsin-Madison. She has been the recipient of many awards, including two MacArthur-SSRC Fellowships. She is the author of Imperial Leather: Race, … Continue reading “Photography on Sandy: Anne McClintock”
As we wound down this dossier on Hurricane Sandy and NYC, Typhoon Haiyan/Yolanda struck the Philippines a devastating blow. The still-unfolding tragedy is a stark reminder of the fact that climate change is not experienced evenly. While Hurricane Sandy … Continue reading “Combined and Uneven Disaster”
