New York City 's Mayor , Bill de Blasio , has voiced his concern at a press conference over the potential increase in flood insurance for Lower Manhattan and others , since it poses a threat to keeping neighbourhoods affordable . It’s part of a $20 billion resiliency plan for the city, which also includes an Army Corps of Engineers project to erect levees and flood walls on the eastern shore of Staten Island, living oyster reefs offshore on the borough’s southern tip, and a large berm that will function as a park further north on Manhattan’s Lower East Side. This follows the release of preliminary results , that we noted this week , of updated flood maps by the Federal Emergency Management Agency ( FEMA ) , which has placed hundreds of thousands of homes in floodplains that were not there before . Being in a flood plain requires you to get flood insurance or face harsher building regulations .
New York City 's Mayor , Bill de Blasio , has voiced his concern at a press conference over the potential increase in flood insurance for Lower Manhattan and others , since it poses a threat to keeping neighbourhoods affordable . This follows the release of preliminary results , that we noted this week , of updated flood maps by the Federal Emergency Management Agency ( FEMA ) , which has placed hundreds of thousands of homes in floodplains that were not there before . Being in a flood plain requires you to get flood insurance or face harsher building regulations .