Climate Changed: New York City Grapples With Flooding, Sea Level Rise in Wake of Ida
Real Estate partner Brendan Schmitt spoke to the Commercial Observer about how New York is protecting itself against the effects of climate change. The article stated, "To protect themselves and their buildings, property owners have adopted new ways to design towers in order to prevent flood damage to valuable infrastructure like boilers and mechanical systems."
Brendan explained, "In new buildings on the shorelines you’re seeing a lot of landscape architecture to fight the inevitability of sea level rise in terms of marshes and greens," adding, "It’s not really planning so much as mitigating."
The article noted that Brendan said these steps aren’t going to be enough. He further explained that while property owners will be incentivized to cut carbon emissions starting in 2024, thanks to a new law, local and federal governments need to step in and encourage change at a broader level to protect the city from the consequences of climate change now.
Brendan affirmed, "No single building owner has any incentive to go do that type of project[.]" He concluded, "These solutions are going to have to be much larger to protect the city and individual property owners against rising seas."
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