The
Red Hook StarªRevue
OCTOBER 2015
SOUTH BROOKLYN’S COMMUNITY NEWSPAPER
Alexandros Washburn, Red Hook’s resiliency expert
FREE
ALSO INSIDE
by Halley Bondy
W
hen Sandy’s historic surge hit Red Hook three years ago, Alexandros Washburn stayed put in his Van Brunt Street row house. He didn’t stay because of blind pride or a delusion of safety. Rather, he stayed to learn. As he watched the storm leak through his roof and flood his ground floor with three feet of filthy water, he took note of the structural dynamics of his building and the street outside. At the time, Washburn was the city’s chief urban designer under Mayor Bloomberg and had been studying “what if?” catastrophe scenarios for years. He currently works as an industry professor and Director of the Center for Coastal Resilience and Urban Xcellence (CRUX) at Stevens Institute of Technology. Of all people, he knew just how dangerous it was to stick around. “If I wanted to understand the storm, there was no substitute for being there,” he said in an interview. “There is so much research on storm surges, but to be able to experience it, feel it, see it - that was beyond valuable for me not just from a science perspective, but from an emotional and social one.” Ultimately, Sandy would teach Washburn about far more than sturdy windows and roof integrity. His education that day would inspire his countless lectures and projects, an acclaimed book about resilient urban design, flood monitoring technology, and plans for Red Hook that Washburn considers critical to its structural and cultural survival in the long term.
window rather than indoors at the bar. That way, we could face the street and chat into the open air. “The street needs to be embraced,” said the congenial Washburn over a Jacques & Doris cocktail. “Look how we’re sitting now. We’re part of the street. This is part of our domain. You have to encourage this. This type of set-up keeps the street safe.” FEMA rules indicate that the only way to flood-proof a vulnerable residence and mitigate skyrocketing flood insurance premiums is to fill in the basement, abandon the first floor, elevate the home, or some mix of these pricey
“He found that a homeowner’s only viable option is to create a storage space or a parking garage on the first floor. This, however, would destroy the coveted street culture of Red Hook.” options. Washburn studied the mandates carefully. He found that a homeowner’s only viable option is to create a storage space or a parking garage on the first floor. This, however, would destroy the coveted street culture of Red Hook, Washburn says.
Moreover, he would learn that the storm response in New York is confusing, misguided, and broken - this coming from a man who spent much of his career in City Hall.
“If we were all to follow what they wanted us to do, this neighborhood would be a parking lot,” Washburn said. “It would be horrible. Yes it would be flood-proof, but we have to define resilience at an appropriate scale, and the appropriate scale here is a community.”
When we met at Fort Defiance for our interview, Washburn was eager to sit at the restaurant’s outdoor service
Because he refused to go along with FEMA’s model, Washburn’s home remains in a somewhat limbo state.
Red Hook Star-Revue
He hasn’t fully repaired his first floor since Sandy engulfed it. There are bare joists and walls. From the street, his Victorian storefront ground floor appears boarded up. Before Sandy, he had a tenant living there, but now it is unlivable. He and his wife and children now live in the stunning upper floors, which were designed by Washburn. The sun-drenched, highceilinged home was actually once featured in the New York Times real estate section. As he watched his neighbors rebuild out of necessity and lend themselves to the mercy of insurance companies, Washburn remained one of the few holdouts.
Interview with Wyckoff Gardens resident Beverly Corbin about the city’s infill plan - page six
“I have many sympathizers, but I don’t think I’m the norm here,” he said. At one point Washburn even drew up an innovative, if not downright nutty flood-proofing plan: he could attach cables to his ceiling beams, which would crank up his floor panel -- along with his computers, furniture, and more -- out of a storm’s clutches. He has the architectural chops to make it happen, but the zoning laws won’t allow it. Furthermore, navigating the insurance plans and zoning laws has been a veritable nightmare on nearly every level.
Red Hook shows up en masse at Borough Hall to give EDC some ferry suggestions - page eleven
“I go around in circles trying to understand the city, state and federal regulations that should tell me how I can rebuild. They all conflict,” he wrote in his 2013 book, The Nature of Urban Design: A New York Perspective on Resilience. “I am amazed at the number of people I have to deal with.” Washburn is no stranger to Red Hook planning controversy. The first time he set foot in the neighborhood in 2002, he was fighting against one of Red Hook’s most polarizing contenders: IKEA. He proposed a public fishing village of sorts as an alternative to the big box furniture store. He didn’t (c0ntinued on page 5)
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Carlo Vogel and Ben Schneider interview themselves, pages 12-13
October 2015, Page 1