Rebuilding with Resilience

CHAPTER 2
The BIG U
Lower East Side of Manhattan
New York City
BACKGROUND
Hurricane Sandy brought 14 feet of storm surge that caused
devastating flooding in low-lying areas of lower Manhattan
and neighborhoods along the East River. Flooding extended
several blocks inland, inundating areas of the city with
two to three feet of floodwaters. Power and transportation
infrastructure were disabled, people (especially more
vulnerable residents like the elderly) were trapped in
their apartments, and much of the Financial District was
shut down for a week. Lower Manhattan and East River
neighborhoods suffered significant damages during Sandy,
including the flooding of large public housing complexes.
THE PROPOSAL
The BIG U proposal narrowed in focus through the
different phases of the RBD competition. In the first phase,
the proposal looked at developing flood protection in the
shape of a “U” along the entire Southern tip of Manhattan
from West 57 th Street to East 42 nd Street. The BIG team
was selected to develop a Phase Two proposal, in which the
BIG team developed a more detailed conceptual design for
providing flood protection for 10 contiguous miles of lower
Manhattan from the southern tip at the Battery along the
East River up to East 23 rd Street. This focus was based upon
the city’s priorities of providing protection for public and
affordable housing located in neighborhoods along the East
River, particularly the Lower East Side neighborhood, and
of increasing community access to the waterfront.
COMPETITION DESIGN TEAM
Team lead by Bjarke Ingels Group (BIG),
One Architecture, Starr Whitehouse, Buro
Happold, Level Infrastructure, ARCADIS, James
Lima Planning & Development, Green Shield
Ecology, AEA Consulting
PROJECT AREA
The fi nal RBD proposal focused on three
contiguous regions called “compartments” along
the southern and eastern shorelines of Manhattan
from the Battery at the southern tip to East 23 rd
Street. 1 The phase currently being implemented
with RBD funds will focus on Montgomery Street
to East 23 rd Street (with one alignment extending
to 25 th Street)
GRANTEE
New York City, Mayor’s Offi ce of Resilience
and Recovery
AMOUNT AWARDED
$335 million
PROPOSAL LINK
http://www.rebuildbydesign.org/our-work/allproposals/winning-projects/big-u
PROJECT WEBSITE
http://www.nyc.gov/escr/
30 Chapter 2: The Big U | Rebuilding with Resilience GEORGETOWN CLIMATE CENTER