Where we are in the world
Jason Barr, a professor at Rutgers University, proposed to add almost 2,000 acres of reclaimed land to the bottom of the island of Manhattan in New York City in an effort to curb climate effects the City has recently experienced. This project has been dubbed “New Mannahatta” to reflect the name originally given to the island by the original native population in the region.
Proposals like this have been gaining popularity due to climate change. According to research from the New York City Economic Development Corporation (NYCEDC) 37% of Lower Manhattan will be at risk of storm surges by 2050. By 2100 when sea levels are expected to be 6 ft higher, 20% of Lower Manhattan streets will be exposed to regular tidal flows. This shows the need for the city to address flooding early, and this New Mannahatta project is an extreme example of how individuals and groups are proposing ideas.
For another map on land reclamation, see post on Hulhulmale in the Maldives!
See the interactive Google Map at the bottom of the post!
Three key facts about this map
One goal of New Mannahatta is to protect against rising sea levels
The lower part of Manhattan houses the Financial District, and is generally lower in elevation than the rest of Manhattan island. This posed serious issues with storm surges in 2021 with Superstorm Sandy and again in 2021 with Hurricane Ida, along with many other large storms in between. New Yorkers were faced with significant flooding on the streets and subway systems due to the low-lying terrain.
What Jason Barr proposes is essentially providing a higher-elevation protection barrier for the low-lying Financial District area (currently the southernmost point of Manhattan). This barrier has a ring of “wetlands” surrounding which would act as a natural barrier against strong storm surges. Despite the perceived benefits, many question if this solution would be effective. Many point out that plans for proposed New Mannahatta do not note an estimated elevation or provide any topography plans.
The island extension would also generate additional housing for residents
Another benefit touted by the New Mannahatta proponents is that it would create housing for about 250,000 additional people. The housing would be about as dense as the current Upper West Side neighborhood, and would include extensions to the MTA Subway Lines 1 (from the financial district) and G (from Brooklyn).
According to Barr, his argument for the proposal can be summed up as:
“Lower Manhattan is some of the most valuable and important real estate in the world, why not produce more of it? If the city is going to spend billions on flood walls and other resiliency projects, why not also try to get more housing out of it as well?”
This plan follows other multi-million dollar proposals to curb flooding issues in NYC
One of the reasons for Jason Barr’s proposal was after several other expensive proposals in 2019 aimed at protecting the City from flooding. Former NYC Mayor Bill de Blasio revealed a plan to create storm barriers about 500 ft from the current shoreline of Lower Manhattan. Overall, the investment in these mitigation efforts could exceed $500 million.
Additional links and sources
- Article about New Mannahatta project proposal (link, published in 2022)
- Critique of the New Mannahatta project (link, published in 2022)
- Article about flood production systems/barriers around Lower Manhattan (link, published in 2019)
Have you heard of the New Mannahatta plan before?
See other places around the world Globe Charting has featured!
