One of the winning designs for the Seaport-area anti-flood murals, by Kaayla Lee.
Flood
barriers
splashed
with art
Thirteen new murals
for Seaport District
BY GABE HERMAN
Anti-fl ood barriers can repel
storm surges and look good
while doing it, too.
Winning designs were announced
earlier this month for the
Seaport Community Mural Project,
which will install designs on structures
that are part of the city’s Interim Flood
Protection Measure (IFPM). The announcement
was made by Borough
President Gale Brewer and New York
City Emergency Management.
Thirteen designs were selected for
the mural project. The chosen illustrations
relate to various aspects of Lower
Manhattan, including its history, architecture
and connection to marine life,
plus the project’s goal of protecting the
area from fl oods.
The designs will appear on structures
to be installed along South St.
A winning design, by Mia Marais.
A winning mural design, by Naima Rauam.
The murals will be printed on vinyl
and installed late this summer or in the
early fall and stay up for around one to
fi ve years.
The $3.5-million IFPM program will
include the city’s Emergency Management
installing “just-in-time” waterfi
lled dams if a storm is imminent, along
with pre-deployed sand-fi lled barriers.
The protections will be installed along
a section slightly more than one mile
long in the Seaport area and parts of
Two Bridges and the Financial District.
They are intended to defend against a
10-year fl ood — meaning fl oods that
have a 10 percent chance of happening
in any given year.
IMAGES COURTESY GALE BREWER’S OFFICE
Schneps Media TVG August 22, 2019 19