Buyouts as resiliency planning in New York City after Hurricane Sandy

Abstract

Land buyout programs may be used to significantly improve climate resilience by creating a protective ecological buffer area to protect land at high risk of flooding. This thesis assesses the success of the New York State land buyout on the East Shore of Staten Island in achieving this resilient outcome. The New York State buyout program was created after Hurricane Sandy in October 2012 in response to pressure from landowners who had been flooded in the storm. New York City declined to participate in a buyout in response to Sandy but offered to acquire storm-damaged homes in other areas where the New York State buyout was not offered. Through the New York City program, acquired properties would be resold to private entities at auction. In contrast, the New York State program, which purchased 37 acres of land within the 100-year floodplain, was legally bound to hold the properties bought through their program as open space in perpetuity. The state was able to promise former residents that their land would become a buffer for inland areas, increasing resilience along this vulnerable coastline. I analyze the success of the state program in achieving this goal by assessing participation and attrition rates within designated buyout areas, as well as reasons for attrition. I find that the lack of coordinated goals and agreed-upon tools prevented New York Rising from successfully achieving the highest measure of resilience: creating a coastal buffer area to protect residents from sea level rise and future flooding.