As it works on the current backlog of homes damaged by Hurricane Sandy, the city is adopting a new policy: future storms won't leave New Yorkers stranded for as long. NY1's Josh Robin filed the following exclusive report.
While rebuilding continues, Mayor Bill de Blasio is making a promise. Disasters in the future won't leave New Yorkers stranded for so long. City policy will limit it to just a year.
"It's sort of fundamental to the concept of resiliency that we're putting in place a program that is reducing the impacts and improving the recovery times," said Daniel Zarrilli of the Mayor's Office of Recovery and Resiliency.
Top de Blasio officials briefed NY1 ahead of the mayor's announcement.
The hitch is that this pledge is effective in the year 2050, 35 years from now. Officials say it will take that long to build the big projects like barriers to break waves during rising sea levels.
That vast plan to fortify the city is unfolding basically how Mayor Michael Bloomberg's team envisioned it after Sandy.
There are changes elsewhere. It used to be called PLANYC. Now, it's The Plan for One New York, A Strong and Just Future.
Apart from the name, de Blasio is using the loose term "resiliency" to include poverty reduction, better mass transit, less waste and less carbon emission.
And when it comes to storms, community groups will help New Yorkers navigate the unexpected.
"The neighborhoods that seem to prevail best during these events are those that have a cohesion to them," said Bill Goldstein, senior adviser to the mayor.
Water levels are rising, as much as six feet here by the end of the century. De Blasio is signaling no big plan to remove homes in vulnerable areas, unlike Governor Andrew Cuomo.
"That's an important question that cities and states are struggling with," said Michael Berkowitz of the Rockefeller Foundation. "And finding the right balance is an important thing, not just in the Sandy event, but for events going forward."
Flood insurance is expected to rise. Without much specificity, the report notes City Hall intends to keep prices low.
Meanwhile, sustainability is starting at home. City Hall is now getting 30 percent of its power from solar panels and fuel cells on the roof.
With summer approaching, de Blasio is also turning attention to the dangers of heat. About 100 New Yorkers are thought to die each year from heatstroke or heat-related problems.