scholarly journals Impact of Simulated Twenty-First-Century Changes in Extratropical Cyclones on Coastal Flooding at the Battery, New York City

2017 ◽  
Vol 56 (2) ◽  
pp. 415-432 ◽  
Author(s):  
Keith J. Roberts ◽  
Brian A. Colle ◽  
Nathan Korfe
Keyword(s):  
New York ◽  
New York City ◽  
York City ◽  
Climate Models ◽  
Surface Wind ◽  
Coastal Flooding ◽  
First Century ◽  
The Future ◽  
Twenty First Century ◽  
Flooding Events

AbstractThis paper explores simulated changes to the cool-season (November–March) storm-surge and coastal-flooding events at the Battery in New York City, New York (NYC), during most of the twenty-first century using several climate models and a previously developed multilinear regression model. The surface wind and pressure forcing for the surge predictions are obtained from an ensemble of 6 coupled global climate models (GCM) and 30 members from the Community Earth System Model. Using the “RCP8.5” emission scenario, both the single-model and multimodel ensemble means yielded insignificant (significance level p > 0.05) simulated changes to the median surge event (>0.61 m above astronomical tide) between a historical period (1979–2004) and the mid-to-late twenty-first century (2054–79). There is also little change in the return interval for the moderate-to-high surge events. By the mid-to-late twenty-first century, there is a poleward shift of the mean surface cyclone track in many of the models and most GCMs demonstrate an intensification of the average cyclone. There is little effect on the future surge events at the Battery because most of these storm changes are not in a region that favors more or higher-amplitude surges at NYC. Rather, projected sea level rise dominates the future simulated change in the number of flooding events by the mid-to-late twenty-first century. For example, the projections show about 23 times as many coastal-flooding events (tide + surge ≥ 2.44 m above mean lower low water; 1983–2001) in 2079 when compared with 1979, and the return intervals for some major coastal floods (e.g., the December 1992 northeaster) decrease by a factor of 3–4.

New York City Storm Surges: Climatology and an Analysis of the Wind and Cyclone Evolution

2010 ◽  
Vol 49 (1) ◽  
pp. 85-100 ◽  
Author(s):  
Brian A. Colle ◽  
Katherine Rojowsky ◽  
Frank Buonaito
Keyword(s):  
New York ◽  
New York City ◽  
Sea Level ◽  
York City ◽  
Storm Surges ◽  
High Water ◽  
Storm Tide ◽  
Coastal Flood ◽  
Cyclone Tracking ◽  
Flooding Events

Abstract A climatological description (“climatology”) of storm surges and actual flooding (storm tide) events from 1959 to 2007 is presented for the New York City (NYC) harbor. The prevailing meteorological conditions associated with these surges are also highlighted. Two surge thresholds of 0.6–1.0 m and >1.0 m were used at the Battery, New York (south side of Manhattan in NYC), to identify minor and moderate events, respectively. The minor-surge threshold combined with a tide at or above mean high water (MHW) favors a coastal flood advisory for NYC, and the moderate surge above MHW leads to a coastal flood warning. The number of minor surges has decreased gradually during the last several decades at NYC while the number of minor (storm tide) flooding events has increased slightly given the gradual rise in sea level. There were no moderate flooding events at the Battery from 1997 to 2007, which is the quietest period during the last 50 yr. However, if sea level rises 12–50 cm during the next century, the number of moderate flooding events is likely to increase exponentially. Using cyclone tracking and compositing of the NCEP global reanalysis (before 1979) and regional reanalysis (after 1978) data, the mean synoptic evolution was obtained for the NYC surge events. There are a variety of storm tracks associated with minor surges, whereas moderate surges favor a cyclone tracking northward along the East Coast. The average surface winds at NYC veer from northwesterly at 48 h before the time of maximum surge to a persistent period of east-northeasterlies beginning about 24 h before the surge. There is a relatively large variance in wind directions and speeds around the time of maximum surge, thus suggesting the importance of other factors (fetch, storm duration and track, etc.).

The Floating Pool Lady

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ann L. Buttenwieser
Keyword(s):  
Nineteenth Century ◽  
New York ◽  
New York City ◽  
York City ◽  
Urban Landscape ◽  
Environmental Issues ◽  
First Century ◽  
The Public ◽  
Public Projects ◽  
New Yorkers

Why on earth would anyone want to float a pool up the Atlantic coastline to bring it to rest at a pier on the New York City waterfront? This book recounts the author's triumphant adventure that started in the bayous of Louisiana and ended with a self-sustaining, floating swimming pool moored in New York Harbor. When the author decided something needed to be done to help revitalize the New York City waterfront, she reached into the city's nineteenth-century past for inspiration. The author wanted New Yorkers to reestablish their connection to their riverine surroundings and she was energized by the prospect of city youth returning to the Hudson and East rivers. What she didn't suspect was that outfitting and donating a swimming facility for free enjoyment by the public would turn into an almost-Sisyphean task. As the book describes, the author battled for years with politicians and struggled with bureaucrats to bring her “crazy” scheme to fruition. The book retells the improbable process that led to a pool named The Floating Pool Lady tying up to a pier at Barretto Point Park in the Bronx, ready for summer swimmers. Throughout, the book raises consciousness about persistent environmental issues and the challenges of developing a constituency for projects to make cities livable in the twenty-first century. The story functions as both warning and inspiration to those who dare to dream of realizing innovative public projects in the modern urban landscape.

“More Cowbell”

Latin Jazz ◽  
2020 ◽  
pp. 141-174
Author(s):  
Christopher Washburne
Keyword(s):  
New York ◽  
Case Studies ◽  
Ethnographic Study ◽  
First Century ◽  
The Future ◽  
Latin Jazz ◽  
Twenty First Century ◽  
To Come ◽  
Made In

This chapter is an ethnographic study of New York–based Latin jazz in the twenty-first century. It uses five prominent bandleaders actively shaping the future of Latin jazz as case studies—Eddie Palmieri, Michele Rosewoman, Carlos Henríquez, Miguel Zenón, and Bobby Sanabria—demonstrating how the historical specificities and developments discussed in the preceding chapters continue to reverberate and inform the music made in the present. Their voices and perspectives demonstrate how each of these musicians adopts unique strategies to navigate the terrain of inequity and adversity. They represent significant trends that will assert much influence on generations of musicians to come. Their combined perspectives suggest that Latin jazz is not, nor ever should it have been, an “other jazz.” Its presence can no longer be silenced or erased. All of the music and musicians associated with jazz deserve to be fully embraced and recognized.

The Archaeology of Prostitution and Clandestine Pursuits

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rebecca Yamin ◽  
Donna J. Seifert
Keyword(s):  
Nineteenth Century ◽  
New York ◽  
New York City ◽  
Agency Theory ◽  
Historic Preservation ◽  
York City ◽  
First Century ◽  
Historical Research ◽  
Complex Picture ◽  
National Historic Preservation Act

The archaeological study of prostitution in nineteenth-century American contexts grew out of the discovery of brothels in the 1990s during large urban projects done in compliance with the National Historic Preservation Act. This book provides an overview of many of those projects as well as detailed discussions of a brothel found at Five Points in New York City and several parlor houses found in Washington, D.C. The large artifact assemblages recovered in combination with detailed primary and secondary historical research have produced a complex picture of commercial sex, which the book discusses in both nineteenth-century and twenty-first century perspectives. Agency theory is used to link the practice of prostitution with other forms of clandestine behavior that have come to light through archaeology. Issues of gender, class, and race run through the archaeological study of clandestine behavior, which includes acts of resistance in public—from drinking on the job to piracy—and acts in private—from hiding caches of artifacts in vulnerable places to scratching inscrutable designs on ceramic pots. The book ends with questions that touch on the age-old conundrum of passing judgment. Should prostitution be decriminalized? Should the efficacy of spiritual practices be questioned? The value of anomalous artifacts and their interpretation is stressed as crucial to recognizing brothels and evidence of clandestine pursuits.

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