Four years ago, Hurricane Ida tore through our neighborhoods of East Elmhurst, Corona and Jackson Heights, leaving behind devastation we will never forget. We lost neighbors to the floodwaters. Families saw their homes destroyed, their basements wiped out, their lives upended. Immigrant families—so many of them undocumented—were hit the hardest, often excluded from relief altogether. Ida was not just a storm; it was a wake-up call.
But today, four years later, too many families in Queens are still living with the same fear: that the next storm will bring the same destruction. The danger doesn’t stop with floods. Extreme heat, a slower and less visible killer, claims more lives each year than storms or floods combined. Children, seniors, outdoor workers and low-income families bear the brunt. At the same time, our outdated transportation systems make it harder to reduce emissions and keep our neighborhoods connected and safe.
