Catch the Hudson Ferry from Grand Central

June 2, 2017 8:27 AM

What would New-York City look like by rising waters? Menilmonde's latest project, Two °C – New-York, poses what Manhattan might look like after a 2-degree rise in global temperatures.
posted by endotoxin (12 comments total)

Catch the Hudson Ferry from Grand Central

After taking the Metro-North submarine in from New Haven?
posted by ZenMasterThis at 8:57 AM on June 2, 2017 [2 favorites]

At least the subway service can't get much worse.
posted by Sangermaine at 9:26 AM on June 2, 2017 [1 favorite]

Though the FPP title is misleading because the video on the site is: in both scenarios the maps show Grand Central and the central parts of Manhattan untouched but the video has shots of Park Avenue in front of Grand Central flooded, as well as other areas of midtown/central parts of the island that shouldn't be according to their own projections.
posted by Sangermaine at 9:32 AM on June 2, 2017 [2 favorites]

These maps always understate the danger of sea level rise: erosion will take back much more of the coastline than what is simply currently at sea level. Shifting water tables will also make lots of arable land unusable. To say nothing of changing weather patterns.

Who are these maps for? They're disaster porn for people who are already convinced of the dangers of global climate change. What current events could be making me so bitter, I wonder.
posted by BuddhaInABucket at 9:41 AM on June 2, 2017 [3 favorites]

I agree, these flooded city visualizations end up looking like the cover to a sci-fi book. The reality is that flooding is an ongoing problem in NYC, especially with so much infrastructure underground. It won't be "taxis replaced by boats", it will be a city that must be abandoned as it crumbles and soaks in its own sewage. It will be easiest for the ultra-rich to relocate, of course, leaving the poor to die.
posted by Cranialtorque at 9:54 AM on June 2, 2017 [3 favorites]

You know, I've been taking the newish NYC Ferry service, and I've gotta say it's pretty spectacular. Unfortunately, my workplace is fairly near the shore.
posted by nevercalm at 9:56 AM on June 2, 2017 [1 favorite]

"the cover to a sci-fi book"
That's cli-fi.
posted by doctornemo at 10:10 AM on June 2, 2017 [2 favorites]

Our neighborhood was already like this during Sandy. It was not like a day at the beach.
posted by Obscure Reference at 1:24 PM on June 2, 2017

Well, a rise in the sea level and other climate warming effects would probably be GOOD for owners of tall buildings with air conditioning... now who could I be talking about?
posted by oneswellfoop at 3:51 PM on June 2, 2017

Dikes?
posted by tgyg at 6:54 PM on June 2, 2017

I keep wondering when the imminent rise of sea level is going to start to affect waterfront real estate prices here in Seattle. Somebody is going to end up holding the hot potato as those very expensive properties gradually become uninhabitable. Will they lose their value in a sudden market crash, or will it be a gradual decline as sea level inches up and "hundred year storms" start to flood the living room once a month? Will they be abandoned quickly, or will homeowners fight the tide with a series of ever more desperate seawalls and piers?

Actually a bunch of those homeowners are on my nextdoor. Maybe I'll ask them.
posted by qxntpqbbbqxl at 10:13 PM on June 2, 2017

I liked this, but it looks like a tsunami wave came in and paralyzed the city, not the slow creep of oceans rising. There wouldn't be any blinking traffic lights (or interior lights, or billboards--they'd all be long fried out--or half-submerged cars in the streets, or steam coming from vent pipes from the underground . . . un peu manque de crédibilité pour moi.
posted by exlotuseater at 8:28 PM on June 3, 2017