Press Releases

Congressman Max Rose, who’s first bill introduced in Congress would allow construction of the East Shore Seawall, is calling on the Administration to clear the bureaucratic red tape standing in the way of construction.

“Before we get to hell and high water, this Seawall needs to get built,” Rose said. “I’m going to keep fighting to make this happen by law, but I see no reason why the Administration can’t blow through the red tape now. They have the power, it’s time to make this happen. Thousands of hard working Staten Islanders are being crushed by rising flood insurance costs and the fear of not if, but when, the next storm will come.”

The fully funded Seawall project is being held up due to bureaucratic red tape between the U.S. Department of Interior and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. All that stands in the way of construction is for Interior to grant an easement to the lands around Miller Field. Rose is determined to make that happen either through legislative or Administrative action.

“Granting an easement to Gateway National Recreation Area will remove the final roadblock to constructing the Seawall, which will in turn bring immediate peace of mind to the thousands of families living on Staten Island’s East Shore,” wrote Rose in a letter to Acting Secretary of Interior, David Bernhardt. “Now more than ever, the American people deserve to see government officials working together to protect them.”

Rose’s legislation would authorize the easement for state and local governments to the lands needed for construction of the seawall, which is currently owned by the federal government as part of the Gateway National Recreational Area. Funding for construction has already been appropriated and authorized by the federal, state, and local governments.

To blunt future storms and prevent flooding along the East Shore, the Army Corps of Engineers have put together various proposals to protect New York City and specifically Staten Island, which involve building a series of levees, barriers, and gates around New York Bay to shield populated areas from storms coming off the Atlantic—including the East Shore Seawall as an integral part of the plan.

In 2012 Hurricane Sandy hit New York city, killing 53 people and causing $71 billion in damages. Staten Island was hit particularly hard, with 24 out of the 53 lives lost coming from the Island. The East Shore has remained at risk for flooding and future hurricanes, since it is essentially the first stop for any weather patterns moving inland from the Atlantic towards New York City.

Full text of letter HERE.

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