First, here’s an overview of Hurricane Sandy’s effects on New York:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Effects_of_Hurricane_Sandy_in_New_York
And here are articles on how New York was a year later: http://www.npr.org/2013/11/01/242356993/hurricane-sandy-recovery-one-year-later And also New Jersey:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/10/13/hurricane-sandy-new-jersey_n_4093139.html
Now for a look at what the city might do for the next one:
http://www.nytimes.com/2014/04/13/magazine/how-to-think-like-the-dutch-in-a-post-sandy-world.html
http://www.forbes.com/sites/johnmcquaid/2012/10/30/a-dutch-solution-for-new-yorks-storm-surge-woes/
http://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2013/01/07/adaptation-2
https://placesjournal.org/article/the-city-and-the-sea/
http://gizmodo.com/three-major-ways-nyc-is-already-preparing-for-the-next-1079481324
http://thisbigcity.net/resiliency-and-the-city-a-review-of-the-nature-of-urban-design/
http://www.nytimes.com/2013/05/19/nyregion/rebuilding-the-coastline-but-at-what-cost.html?hp
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/karl-grossman/rebuilding-after-sandy_b_2702081.html
http://www.nytimes.com/roomfordebate/2012/11/01/should-new-york-build-sea-gates/hurricane-sandy-could-force-new-york-to-consider-flood-prevention (Note: this is a debate among five or six folks who appear on the left side of the screen.)
Alexandros Washburn, until a little over a year ago, was the head of urban design in the Department of City Planning. He also lives in Red Hook, Brooklyn, where he watched his neighborhood and his house fall victim to Sandy-caused flood waters. Here’s a piece that he wrote:
https://placesjournal.org/article/resilience-in-red-hook/
And here’s a good magazine interview with him:
http://www.metropolismag.com/Point-of-View/October-2013/Q-A-Alexandros-Washburn/
A planner named Klaus Jacob takes sort of a dissenting view, arguing that we should be retreating from the shore, not rebuilding there, only to experience much the same disaster sooner or later. Here’s his take on it:
http://www.citylab.com/design/2013/09/case-against-rebuilding-shoreline-after-superstorm-sandy/6869/
Finally, I can’t resist adding an older piece of mine out of Venice, Italy, a city that is built on water is constantly flooded. Venice committed itself to building barriers to hold back the waters. The project remains uncompleted, more than a quarter of a century later, but the idea is still alive and remains intriguing:
