Category Archives: opinion

A Penhorn Polder Wildlife Refuge for Hoboken Flood Protection

We hear all the time how The Netherlands is a demonstration of how the New York City and New Jersey metro area can adapt to coastal flooding.  But we have very little in common with The Netherlands … they have … Continue reading

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Perspectives on NY/NJ Coastal Adaptation to Extreme Flooding Events

I’ve been busy trying to finish up a bunch of storm surge related research for the past few months, but occasionally speaking on various scientific panels and other public events.  So, below I’m linking a few of these that people … Continue reading

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Tempest-Tossed, Let’s Not Imitate New Orleans

[This opinion piece was published online in the New York Times Room for Debate series on 11/1/12 as part of the debate Should New York Build Sea Gates?  Someone also published an editorial with a similar point to my second paragraph in … Continue reading

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Do Property Taxes Pay Back Wastewater Infrastructure Costs?

Today, while river advocacy groups are celebrating the 40th anniversary of the Clean Water Act with Swimmable Action Day, I’m reflecting on the economics of these efforts to reduce sewage pollution. Often when I read anything truly descriptive about what … Continue reading

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Where are the Currents Weakest Around Manhattan?

A law firm recently contacted our oceanography research group with a request for research on whether or not the Marine garbage Transfer Station (MTS) proposed for 91st Street in Manhattan would cause navigational problems.  If we were willing to do … Continue reading

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Is there a Future to Skiing in the Adirondacks?

I often find myself correcting environmentalists about their mis-representations of certain aspects of the scientific consensus on climate change.  For example, after Hurricane Katrina trashed New Orleans, I think that hurricanes seemed to be a politically useful topic for getting … Continue reading

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Garbage Transfer Stations and Delicate Ecosystems

[This is an Op-Ed that was originally published in text-only form yesterday in the weekly free newspaper Our Town, serving Manhattan’s Upper East Side] Mayor Bloomberg has been pushing to rebuild and reopen a shuttered marine garbage transfer station (MTS) … Continue reading

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Jamaica Bay Restoration for JFK Airport Expansion?

Would you consider a trade-off of JFK Airport expansion for billions of dollars in funding to improve the environment of Jamaica Bay and surrounding neighborhoods? What is the expansion of JFK Airport worth to New York City, State, and the … Continue reading

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Jamaica Bay Restoration: Anything is Possible if You’re Strategic

[This is a guest post from Charles "Si" Simenstad, Research Professor; Wetland Ecosystem Team, School of Aquatic and Fishery Sciences, University of Washington, in response to the question posed in a prior post, "What specific actions would you propose, if … Continue reading

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Jamaica Bay: What Restoration Steps would you Propose?

In an earlier post, I argued that Jamaica Bay is not New York City’s “crown jewel” and has many problems, such as sewage spills, low-oxygen dead zones, and disappearing marshes and islands.  Hundreds of thousands of people living in neighborhoods … Continue reading

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