In an effort to better prepare for and avoid damage caused by floods in residential areas, the city might start trying to buy out homes in high-risk flooding areas in Flushing, Queens and locations like “the Hole” in Brooklyn. The buy-out could start as early as 2026, according to a Department of Environmental Protection presentation to residents earlier this month.
If this plan is carried out, homeowners would be faced with the difficult choice of either selling their house and relocating, or putting their trust into a series of projects aimed at reducing the chronic risk of storms in the neighborhood.
This voluntary buyout strategy, supported by local elected officials and debated by residents of the neighborhood, is one of several proposals from the Adams administration for protecting residents in and around Kissena Park. The acquisition program being developed would mark the first time the city offered to purchase inland properties, away from the coast, that are vulnerable to flooding from intense storms like Hurricane Ida.
“We don’t want the city to be in this position of buying out properties that we could protect,” DEP Commissioner Rohit Aggarwala told Gothamist. “But we really are thinking about getting the city into that field for the very first time.”
Some homeowners have lived on the blocks surrounded by Kissena Park for decades, and two-family houses are still selling for well over $1 million despite the persistent flooding, property records show. The neighborhood is also home to many immigrant families who rent more affordable basement apartments and also live on the first and second floors of the small houses that line the blocks.
For many, staying could be dangerous, as the homes were built on marshy land and sit atop massive sewer mains that carry 20% of all Queens’ stormwater.
“The climate crisis is happening at the same time as we have an affordable housing crisis,” said Robert Freudenberg, vice president of energy and environmental programs at the Regional Planning Association who studies buyouts and examples of “managed retreat.”
Freudenberg argues that successful buyout programs feature strong resident engagement, relocation plans and incentives, particularly in a competitive housing market.
In the meantime, city planners and environmental groups are assessing how they can use natural waterways to protect residents and the area
