QUEENS — An hour south of the dazzling lights of Times Square, hidden among the remaining salt marshes of Jamaica Bay, is an island called Broad Channel. A few thousand people live here, including, for almost 50 years, Barbara and Fred Toborg. They can watch as egrets come to feed in their backyard at high tide or visit the nesting ospreys in the wildlife refuge blocks away. It’s paradise much of the time, but it’s also disappearing. Over a decade ago, the Toborgs had three feet of water in their kitchen from Superstorm Sandy.
In New York City, flood days have doubled from pre-1985 levels, according to the climate change think tank Climate Central. To protect people like the Toborgs, and the millions of people living in the region surrounding Jamaica Bay, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers plans to build barriers partially enclosing Jamaica Bay and other areas vulnerable to storm surges. The Army Corps’ current proposal would integrate a collection of measures: walls along the water, elevated waterfronts and gates at the entrances of waterways, to the tune of $52 billion. In Jamaica Bay, the Army Corps proposes to build a 3,800-foot gate that would sit at the entrance of the bay, and potentially cost over $2 billion.
But the salt marshes in Jamaica Bay provide habitat for all life in the bay, and they depend on the ocean for water and sediment exchange. Scientists and activists are warning that with human-made barriers in the way, the ecosystem of Jamaica Bay would be severely disrupted. Critics say the Army Corps has not seriously considered how their plan, officially called the New York-New Jersey Harbor and Tributary Study, “Alternative 3-B,” will impact the marshes – or how protecting the marshes helps reduce flooding.
