Nowhere to Hide While We Subside
The East Side Coastal Resiliency (ESCR) project
View from the Top is a series exploring NYC real estate for buyers, sellers, renters, and investors by a long-time New Yorker, licensed real estate professional, husband-dad, and Lower East Side local. Bop the button below to subscribe, and scroll down for the goodies.
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Welcome to the penthouse, where I’m sharing the best views in NYC with real estate buyers, sellers, investors—and yes, even voyeurs. 👀
After analyzing and enriching data from buildings across Manhattan, I’m serving up insights designed to save you time and money. 💡💰
🌊 This series covers the East Side Coastal Resiliency (ESCR) project—a $1.45 billion initiative that’s razing (knocking down) and raising (lifting up) East River Park, while taking precautions to avoid future flooding from downpours and natural forces.
But is the ESCR project just about giving the east side of Manhattan a higher boundary to keep water infiltration out? 🤔
Not quite. There’s another threat lurking below the surface: Subsidence. ⬇️
As reported in Wired, areas across the U.S. East Coast—including NYC—are sinking due to natural sediment compaction and excessive groundwater extraction. 😬
✈️ JFK Airport, for instance, is subsiding at rates of up to 2.8 mm per year—faster in some spots than the global average for sea level rise. (This also won’t help us get through security any faster... but hey, at least we can keep our shoes on! 👟)
This downward shift puts additional stress on levees, roads, and floodgates—and increases the risk of storm surge penetration during extreme weather. 🌪️💦
🌆 The real estate and insurance implications? Major.
As Rowan Douglas, CEO of Howden, puts it in the WSJ:
“[We’re] investing to avoid a loss.” 💸
Translation: these protective measures might not skyrocket property values overnight—but they will help preserve them, especially as climate risk becomes more heavily priced into financing, insurance, and planning decisions. 🧠📉🏠
The ESCR project is a working model of what climate resilience looks like in dense urban environments. It’s not just a reaction to past disasters—it’s a proactive buffer for the future. A strategy that merges infrastructure, ecology, and livability at scale. 🌳🏗️
With storm surges intensifying and the ground literally dropping beneath us, these investments may soon become the new standard for real estate viability in coastal cities. 🌍🏘️
But how will ESCR impact property in 10002? 🗺️
Next, I’ll look at transaction data to see if there’s been a lift since the park has started to open up. 👀
📈 Catch the next elevator up!