Author: Lacey (Page 4 of 6)

For my research question I initially wished to speak about the migrant crisis that is impacting New York City however this seem like a very popular research question, so I am going with my second-best option which is “what the cause of yearly increased flooding in New York City”. I have visited New York every year since 2012 and I have lived here for the past 3-4 years and I have noticed that every hurricane season brought with it more rain, more floods, and generally more unpredictability with the weather. I had noticed that New York City was one where the occurrence of flooding was very scarce or only hear of in flood prone areas, low lying areas that maybe close to the coastal areas. Nevertheless, this scene is becoming all too familiar with just experiencing a rainy day. My country of origin, Trinidad and Tobago, this is a common problem, in that as long as there is rain for three or four hours the city is flooded, rivers burst their banks causing major highways and main roads to be impassable. This is such a terrible problem in the rainy season in Trinidad that families just started keeping their children home if the weather forecast predicted a rainy day in fear of their children being marooned if sent out to school. I always wondered why better couldn’t be done, why the rivers and drains couldn’t be dredged regularly or is this a third world country problem? But this bizarre phenomenon now plagues one of the most populous cities in the world. Almost two years ago a mother and her son died in a basement apartment located in Queens, that was flooded, causing them to be trapped. This is just one of the fatal incidents of many that occurred in recent years. I would like to research this question of flooding in New York to get better and more well-rounded answers, as to why flooding is progressively getting worse. What are the causes or contributing factors to this problem? Whether they be man-made of totally based on nature and changing weather patterns? And lastly, how can the city combat this or be better prepared even when they have short notice?

Search Terms- New York City, flooding, drainage, pollution, Carbon Footprint, Global Warming, Government and Local Government, Funding, Basement Apartments, Over Population and Sustainability.

Source Entries.
Eric Zerkel, Mary Gilbert and Aya Elamroussi “Record rain in New York City generates ‘life-threatening’ flooding, overwhelming streets and subways.” CNN
https://www.cnn.com/2023/09/29/weather/new-york-city-northeast-rain-flood-forecast-climate-friday/index.html. Accessed 10/10/2023.

Jeroen C.J.H. Aerts and W.J. Wouter Botzen “Flood-resilient waterfront development in New York City: Bridging flood insurance, building codes, and flood zoning.” Institute of Environment Studies
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/21692807/. Accessed 10/10/2023.

Summary for Source Entry One.
“Record rain in New York City generates ‘life-threatening’ flooding, overwhelming streets, and subways.” CNN.
A new record high of rain fell upon New York City on the 10/29/2023 causing surging flood waters through streets, houses, subways, buildings, and schools. It was recorded that more rain fell in three hours than would in an entire month in parts of New York City. According to the authors (Eric Zerkel, Mary Gilbert and Aya Elamroussi) up to 8 inches of rain fell in John F Kennedy International Airport which was only recorded before in 1948. Flood water affected all three of New York Cities airports causing the suspension of flights. The authors purported in the article that climate change and the warming of the atmosphere were the main contributors to the problem of flooding which I quoted from this statement “The prolific totals are a symptom of climate change, scientists say, with a warmer atmosphere acting like a massive sponge, able to sop up more water vapor and then wring it out in intense spurts which can easily overwhelm outdated flood protections.” Floodwater spilled into the subways and railways and caused the suspension of 10 train lines. Service to some lines resumed later that night. In the aftermath of the flooding 150 schools were recorded to have flooded and the firefighters were successful in rescuing six families from flooded basements and this flooding occurrence ended with no major incidents and fatalities. The New York City’s Chief Climate Officer, Rohit Aggarwal, put forward an explanation for the flooding in his statement, “the sad reality is our climate is changing faster than our infrastructure can respond”. The New York water system was developed in the 1800’s when there was only a population of three million, now we are a population of 8.8 million with the same water system.

The topic that I wish to research is ‘The Immigrant Crisis Facing the US, is it everyone’s problem and will it ever get better’. The recent droves of illegal immigrants sweeping into the United States is staggering and cannot be described nothing less than a crisis. Everyone is entitled to their basic human rights but at what cost? What cost are we the population willing to pay to allow equally rights to the illegal immigrants. How much of our comforts are we willing to give up? We want equal right and opportunities for everyone but right now the immigrants and refugees from all over the world especially south and central America need our help. Politics, bureaucracy and entitlement has clouded our ability to think rationally. To think of our fellow men. America is built on the backs of immigrants, our jobs, schools, recreational activities, hospitals, court system, government, agencies, organizations (public and private) are all intertwined and reliant on one another. How much more can it expand without being under strain or even collapsing. I am a new immigrant to the USA, but it didn’t come easy or cheap. Thousands of dollars and many years was the price I paid, and my family to be here. Is it fair for illegal immigrants to supersede immigrants who are going true the proper channels to acquire a green card to work and live make it here. All that these immigrants want is a better opportunity at life for themselves and their families. Many of the times they do the menial labor no Americans want to do so they are still very much needed in this society. No one wants to leave their homes to go to a new land to start over, but these migrants are fleeing from poverty, war, gang and criminal activity or they just want to get better life. Where does empathy end and rational begins or is this even possible? Can there be both? I wish to research the different proponents, and arguments for and against this matter of the illegal immigration crisis and gain a holistic understanding of this matter that I may not have now.