21-5 A GIS Study of the Mid-Island New Creek Bluebelt in Staten Island NY

Session: Functions of River Corridors, Floodplains and Wetlands (Posters)

Poster Booth No.: 5

Presenting Author:

Alan Benimoff

Authors:

Benimoff, Alan I.¹, Kress, Michael E.², Zhang, Zhanyang³, Toledo-Crow, Ricardo⁴, Duran-Narucki, Valkiria⁵, Schaefer, Tobias⁶

(1) Department of Engineering and Environmental Science, College of Staten Island, Staten Island, , (2) Computer Science Department, College of Staten Island, Staten Island, , (3) Department of Computer Science, College of Staten Island, Staten Island, , (4) Environmental Sciences Initiative, CUNY Advanced Science Research Center, New York, , (5) Department of Psychology, College of Staten Island, Staten Island, , (6) Department of Mathematics, College of Staten Island, Staten Island, ,

Abstract:

The Staten Island Bluebelt program, instituted by The Department of Environmental protection of the City of New York, is using existing streams to manage storm water. In this study we have focused on the New Creek bluebelt which contains 19 Best Management Practices (BMPs) and encompasses 9.1  sq Km much of which is costal lowlands which has been developed over the past century from vacation bungalows to year-round housing .  While the upper watershed is comprised of steep slopes and fresh water ponds, the lower area where we focus our attention is mostly flat at just above sea level.  To understand pluvial flooding in this area, we used GIS by plotting the following: (1) BMPs, (2) Census Blocks and tracts, (3) streets, (4) structures.  We overlaid the BMPs on terrain and storm sewers maps of the area to create the hydraulics and hydrology for a HEC-HMS model which we drive with locally collected rainfall data to analyze the flooding  improvements and limitations of  the BMPs.  Census data overlays, on the  tract and block level, were used to analyze the before and after implementations of the BMPs.  It is interesting that the implementation of the BMPs happened simultaneously with projects associated with recovery from the impact of Hurricane Sandy. To better understand the current flood exposure and impacts, we followed the Flood Vulnerability Index (FVI) strategies used by New York City and overlaid NYC FVI maps with our HEC-HMS flood model.

 

Geological Society of America Abstracts with Programs. Vol. 58, No. 2, 2026

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