This poster explores planning and design strategies for implementing urban stream restoration and flood-mitigation for the dilapidated Coney Island creek in New York. The low-lying coastal community of Coney Island presents opportunities to plan for an inclusive development triggered by renewal of its creek, that would conceivably translate into economic development and social upliftment for that neighborhood.

1. RETROFITTING URBAN STREAMS FOR RESILIENCY Case study: Coney Island, Brooklyn (NPC197042)
Onam Bisht, MLA/MRP candidate, Cornell University (2020) | ob82@cornell.edu
ABSTRACT
This poster explores planning and design
strategies for implementing urban stream
restoration and flood-mitigation for the
dilapidated Coney Island creek in New York. The
low-lying coastal community of Coney Island
presents opportunities to plan for an inclusive
development triggered by renewal of its creek,
that would conceivably translate into economic
development and social upliftment for that
neighborhood.
KEY POINTS
• It is observed from the sea-level rise maps on the
left (source: National Oceanic and Atomospheric
Administration)thatthefirstpointoffloodingoccurs
from the creek-si de rather than the ocean-side of
the island.
• It can be further observed from the sea-level rise
mapsontheleft,thattheroadswaysareatthelowest
elevation and thus, are most prone to get flooded
first. This cuts off the contact of Coney Island with
mainland New York, making it harder to provide
disaster relief services to the island.
• Thus, the strategies for improving flood resiliecy
for Coney Island should focus on
1. creek restoration through inter-connected
wetlands and sand-dune ecology to act as a buffer
for flood-waters.
2. retreating the development from creek-side to
higher elevation in the island, and using green-
infratructure along existing roadways to mitigate
inundation during flooding.
3. boosting coastal tourism along ocean-side
by integrating businesses through special
improvement districts, that would trickle
into economic upliftment of the low-income
neighborhood.
Compact residential
development on higher
topography by densifying
single-family houses to
multi-family apartments.
Economic revitalization
of the neighborhood by
developing the commercial
spaces surrounding the
Coney Island boardwalk.
Interconnected wetlands
along the creek-
side to prevent the
phenomenon of “back-
door” flooding and
improve flood-resiliency. Interconnected wetlands along the creek
- prevents back-door flooding from creek side
- creates green spaces for the community
- improves the creek water quality
Compact residential development on
elevated areas
- retreats people away from flood-prone areas
- creates green-infrastructure along streets to
mitigate flooding on streets
Economic revitalization along beach-side
- improve the businesses along the beach-side
and Coney Island boardwalk for the economic
development of the neighborhood.
Maps showing extent of inundation from
different magnitudes of sea-level rise (SLR).
1. Area inundated from Sea-level rise (SLR)
Inundation from
hurricane Sandy
New York
metropolitan
area
Coney Island
2. Roads inundated from Sea-level rise (SLR)
REFERENCE: NYCEDC (2013). Coney Island creek resiliency study. NYC Mayor’s office of Recovery and Resiliency.
Coney Island creek
Calvert-Vaux park
Kaiser park
Coney Island Beach and Boardwalk
Sea Gate
Neptune Ave
CropseyAve
StillwellAve
Mermaid Ave
Surf Ave