U.S. Rep. Hakeem Jeffries (D-Fort Greene, Clinton Hill, Bedford-Stuyvesant, Brownsville, Canarsie, East New York, East Flatbush, Bergen Beach, Gerritsen Beach, Beach, Marine Park, Mill Basin, Brighton Beach, Coney Island) along with the city’s entire metropolitan congressional delegation fired off a letter this week to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) demanding reasons for the defunding of the NY/NJ Harbor and Tributaries Focus Area Feasibility Study.
The letter comes following a Jan. 18 President Trump tweet:
A massive 200 Billion Dollar Sea Wall, built around New York to protect it from rare storms, is a costly, foolish & environmentally unfriendly idea that, when needed, probably won’t work anyway. It will also look terrible. Sorry, you’ll just have to get your mops & buckets ready!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 18, 2020
Less than a month later, on Feb. 10, the USACE announced the indefinite suspension of the study and it was not included in the Fiscal Year 2020 work plan. However, the $7.6 billion national work plan did include the New York and New Jersey Harbor Deepening Channel Improvements project.
But the suspension of funding for the Area Feasibility Study had the congressional members perplexed.
“The lives of our constituents and their property remain at risk,” wrote Jeffries and the delegation. “That is why we were encouraged by the commencement of the New York/New Jersey Harbor and Tributaries Focus Area Feasibility Study, which aimed to develop a comprehensive, long-term plan for protecting the region from future storms.”
The letter noted that in 2012, Superstorm Sandy ravaged the Northeastern and Mid-Atlantic United States. The historic storm killed more than 280 people and caused more than $70 billion in damage, making it one of the costliest natural disasters in American history.
The lawmakers argued that the study would provide a blueprint for protecting the property and lives of those living in the Harbor area while reducing the long-term cost to the taxpayer of emergency response programs.
“The lifesaving work that the Army Corps of Engineers does to reduce storm damage and manage the risk of floods in American cities and towns should not be used as collateral by the President to take retribution against communities he finds disagreeable or insufficiently supportive
“We respectfully request an explanation for the decision to discontinue the New York/New Jersey Harbor and Tributaries Focus Area Feasibility Study forthwith,” continued Jeffries and the delegation.
A USACE Headquarters spokesperson said that the development of the annual civil work plan is a collaborative process among administration agencies and is not going to be included within the FY 2020 work plan.
But they are not so quick to throw the whole feasibility study out.
“However, the USACE recognizes the importance of this effort, and will continue to work with the non-federal sponsor and other stakeholders to assess options to move this project forward,” said the USACE Headquarters spokesperson.
