NYCHA Breaks Ground On $41 Million Recovery Program In Coney Island

Elizabeth Elizalde -
NYCHA renderings of Coney Island sites 4 & 5. (Courtesy: James McCullar Architecture Inc.)

The New York City Housing Development broke ground on a $41 million project to restore the Coney Island Sites 4/5 development funded by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), housing officials announced Wednesday.

The announcement comes after last year’s $3 billion Hurricane Sandy recovery assistance provided by FEMA, which is the largest in the city. FEMA’s assistance is complemented by Mayor de Blasio’s OneNYC $20 billion resiliency program to provide extensive coastal protection.

“Thanks to FEMA’s unprecedented investment in the future of public housing, NYCHA is getting to work—major work—fully restoring our developments impacted by Sandy,” NYCHA Chair and CEO Shola Olatoye said.“Through this strong collaboration with our City, State, and Federal partners, NYCHA is building back stronger than ever, with large-scale projects across our city that will make our developments more resilient, our neighborhoods safer, and our communities more connected.”

Coney Island Sites 4/5, a New York City Housing development, is home to more than 1,000 residents and was hard hit by Hurricane Sandy.

NYCHA’s pricey recovery and resiliency work would include a full roof replacement, stand-by generators for back-up power, new electrical systems, new boilers elevated above projected flood levels, upgraded playgrounds and recreational areas, new lighting, security cameras, and state-of-the-art security doors.

Additionally, the Community Center will be renovated with refurbished walls, floors, ceilings, doors, and cabinets. The Center will be wired to receive backup power in case of outages during severe weather.

In the case of future severe climate events, NYCHA says its cutting edge technology would help restore Coney Island’s housing projects to withstand rising sea-levels by using generators.

“It has been a long time coming, but this is a great day for residents of Surfside Gardens and other Coney Island public housing developments where work is scheduled to begin soon,” Council Member Mark Treyer said. “These much-needed upgrades and repairs will have a monumental impact on the safety, security, resiliency, and quality of life for residents here.