New York Rising Community Redevelopment Plans

Designates projects that provide innovative and sustainable solutions for our clients

The New York State Housing Trust Fund Corporation (HSTF) selected Tetra Tech to support the New York Rising Community Reconstruction Program (NYRCR). The NYRCR program was established by Governor Andrew M. Cuomo to provide additional rebuilding and revitalization assistance to communities damaged by Hurricanes Sandy and Irene and Tropical Storm Lee.  Tetra Tech prepared a comprehensive reconstruction and redevelopment plan for 11 communities impacted by these storms.

Tetra Tech performed community outreach, strategic visioning, risk assessment, housing and community needs assessments, and critical infrastructure analysis in support of an overarching economic redevelopment plan for each community. This multi-faceted approach incorporated hydraulic analysis to determine the feasibility of projects designed to reduce the vulnerability of community-designated critical and significant facilities to increase resilience against future disasters.

In addition, through facilitated risk analysis and economic and housing market analyses, Tetra Tech worked with the communities to develop implementation strategies for economic revitalization, human services, housing, infrastructure, and natural and cultural resources, therefore increasing each community’s capacity to implement changes. The strategies address a broad range of flood mitigation projects and provide opportunities to stimulate economic development and vibrancy. This plan provides a roadmap for the communities to rebuild better in the wake of the devastation created by the recent disasters.

During the planning process, our team employed a wide range of public outreach efforts including booths at local community festivals and public service announcements on local cable television and radio outlets; using surveys to gather public and agency input; and supporting a student-produced video highlighting challenges faced by a rural community in the wake of more frequent flooding disasters.  

Tetra Tech used a state-of-the-art, online community mapping portal to facilitate data input from the communities and capture locations, historical damages, road closures, and community values of life-safety and economic critical facilities and systems.

These plans effectively address the technical issues and challenges related to flood vulnerabilities of each community’s housing and infrastructure, supporting increased economic vitality and more resilient communities.

NYRCR empowers communities to prepare locally driven recovery plans to identify innovative reconstruction projects and other necessary actions to allow each community not only to survive, but also to thrive in an era when natural risks will become increasingly common.