New York City Economic Development Corporation (NYCEDC) has issued a request for qualifications for consultancy services for Financial District and Seaport Climate Resilience Master Plan.

NYCEDC is seeking qualified interdisciplinary teams of consultant firms, including but not limited to engineers, architects, resilience planners, urban planners, community engagement specialists, and policy/legislative specialists for the provision of master planning services for a potential shoreline extension or outboard structure to protect against the projected impacts of climate change in the Financial District and the South Street Seaport neighborhoods from the Brooklyn Bridge to the Battery in Lower Manhattan, New York.

The Master Plan will develop a complete design, identify financing and governance strategies, including establishing a public-benefit corporation to finance, construct and manage the First Phase Project.

Major reports in 2018 have solidified the scientific consensus that climate change will produce devastating global consequences at a faster rate than previously thought. A plan for action is needed to ensure that Lower Manhattan’s vitality and growth continues in this century and into the next. Lower Manhattan Climate Resilience Study was made to identify future climate risks and impacts on this area. Lower Manhattan neighborhoods represent a unique combination of high climate risk and few adaptation options due to a highly constrained waterfront that lacks the physical space needed to implement most large-scale adaptation projects. In the face of these unique conditions that make constructability of on-land adaptation measures infeasible, the study recommends developing a plan to extend the Manhattan shoreline into the East River to protect the low-lying and highly constrained Seaport and Financial District area. In addition, the city of New York will advance USD500 million for four capital projects to reinforce Lower Manhattan’s coastal areas and provide interim flood protections for the Seaport, parts of the Financial District and Two Bridges neighborhoods, to begin construction between 2019 and 2021.

In the South Street Seaport area, parts of the Financial District and Two Bridges neighborhoods, Emergency Management (EM) will spend USD3.5 million to deploy a combination of just-in-time Tiger Dams and pre-deployed HESCO barriers by the 2019 hurricane season as temporary measures in advance of a permanent solution.

In Battery Park City, the Battery Park City Authority (BPCA), with USD134 million in bonds, will reconstruct its esplanade and open space to adapt to new climate conditions. BPCA started the design in 2018 and will start construction in 2020.

In The Battery, NYCEDC, in partnership with NYC Parks, BPCA and the Battery Conservancy, will invest USD165 million to elevate the wharf and esplanade and integrate a protective barrier such as a berm at the back of the park. This design will preserve the look and feel of the existing park while strengthening the shoreline. Construction will begin in 2021.

In the Two Bridges neighborhood, NYCEDC is designing an integrated flood protection system comprised of permanent barriers and deployable or ‘flip up’ protections that will protect view corridors and public access. DDC will manage construction of the USD200 million investment, which will begin in 2021.

The deadline for the submission of documents is on May 7, 2019