Climate Change Isn't
Coming, It's Here

The Financial District and Seaport Climate Resilience Master Plan aims to build Lower Manhattan’s resilience to climate risks, including daily tides and coastal storms. We are developing a comprehensive plan to secure the future of the region.

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Protecting Lower Manhattan

Why Protect Lower Manhattan?

A Critical Hub of Transportation for the City and Region

Three quarters of the city’s subways, 17 ferry routes, commuter buses, and the PATH train pass through Lower Manhattan. Climate change would have devastating consequences throughout the city and region, interrupting life for residents, workers, students, and the half a million commuters that travel through Lower Manhattan every day.
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OF COMMUTERS LIVE OUTSIDE OF LOWER MANHATTAN

OF LOWER MANHATTAN WORKERS COME FROM THE OTHER 4 BOROUGHS

OF LOWER MANHATTAN WORKERS COME FROM OUTSIDE NYC

73%

50%

33%

A Driver of the City’s Workforce and Economy

Climate change threatens jobs and the city’s economy, as Lower Manhattan represents 8% of the city’s GDP and $6.5B in annual revenue. Close to 300,000 people work in Lower Manhattan, including New Yorkers from every community district across the city, and they work in finance, insurance, health care, education, architecture and engineering, media, law, retail, and more.
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$6.5

BILLION

JOBS IN NYC

IN ESTIMATED ANNUAL TAX CONTRIBUTIONS IN 2019

IN ANNUAL GDP (8% OF THE CITY'S TOTAL)

$74

BILLION

A Center of Culture, Community, and Civic Life

Lower Manhattan is more than a business district, with a residential community that has tripled in the past two decades, tens of thousands of students, and millions of visitors every year. The area is also a center of civic and cultural life. Climate change could disrupt daily life and force Lower Manhattan’s residents, as well educational and cultural institutions, to find a new home.
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RESIDENTS

STUDENTS

62k

23k

2000

2020

STUDENTS

55,000

170%

INCREASE IN RESIDENTS IN LOWER MANHATTAN

HIGHER LEARNING INSTITUTIONS

Comprehensive Strategy to Protect Lower Manhattan

Lower Manhattan Coastal Resiliency (LMCR) is the City’s strategy to adapt Lower Manhattan to climate change for this generation and the next. The City released the LMCR study in March 2019; it was the most comprehensive assessment to date of the area’s climate risks.

Because of Lower Manhattan’s vulnerabilities, the City is taking action now—investing $500 million to protect workers, residents, businesses, schools, critical infrastructure and more across 70% of Lower Manhattan’s coastline. For each project, the resiliency strategy and design of flood protection infrastructure is tailored to the neighborhood’s unique context and flood risk.

The City is working to identify the right resiliency projects for the Financial District (“FiDi”) and South Street Seaport (the “Seaport”) neighborhoods. While there are interim flood protection measures in place for a section of the area, they are short-term solutions. The area’s low-lying topography, dense infrastructure, and complex waterfront and maritime uses make it particularly challenging to adapt for the long-term.

To respond to this challenge, we are advancing the Financial District and Seaport Climate Resilience Master Plan.

Learn More About Each of the LMCR Projects:

What Is the City Doing in Other Neighborhoods?

The City has invested more than $20 billion in climate resiliency to-date and major projects are ongoing in all five boroughs. For more information, visit the Mayor’s Office of Climate Resiliency website.

What Does Lower Manhattan Mean to You?

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When I worked in Lower Manhattan, I appreciated the easy access by bike, subway, or ferry.

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FIDI Lower Manhattan has been my home for 42 years and it needs protection from climate change danger. Super Storm Sandy was a wake up call and to date there are no plans to remediate the problem. A resiliency park on an empty lot could be used as part of the solution.

-Linda Roche

Lower Manhattan feels like the birth place of America to me. Every time I\'m down there and see the World Trade Center and Statue of Liberty I\'m reminded of special this place is and how much it means to the City and beyond.

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Away from the noise and crowds of Midtown, Lower Manhattan has a completely different vibe to it. It is drenched in history, with the Statue of Liberty symbolizing a new dawn of opportunity for millions of immigrants over the years. Lower Manhattan is home away from home for me! And I strive every day, both personally and professionally, to protect it against the elements.

-Latha Chandrasekaran

I think of FiDi as New Amsterdam, the original Dutch settlement that laid the blueprint for the city that became New York. We must protect and preserve what is left of it and make sure this area is secure as the climate shifts around us. It is also, of course, a growing neighborhood and the beating heart of a major metropolis – creative, robust, integrated resiliency planning is necessary to make sure the many people who live, work, and pass through here can continue to thrive.

-Jennifer McDermott

Lower Manhattan deserves protection from storm surge and sea level rise. The answer is a \'layered defense\" with local sea walls to protect against slowly rising sea levels and a regional sea gate system connect Breezy point to sandy hook and across Throgs Neck to protect lower manhattan and all of NYC\'s 550 miles of coastline in a way that actually meets our social justice values To dat ether City has utterly failed to meet its obligation to protect Lower Manhattan as well as the other boroughs

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