New York City (NYC) is investing $390 million as part of an ambitious initiative to upgrade critical infrastructure, alleviate flooding and replace service lines. The funds are part of the “City of Yes for Housing Opportunity” plan, a foundational effort to provide affordable housing and make infrastructure improvements across NYC neighborhoods. Construction is expected to begin in 2029.
The Bushwick neighborhood in Brooklyn will be the primary beneficiary of the investment. The city will prioritize water infrastructure enhancements to better serve residents and improve quality of life. The most impactful project will involve replacing nearly three miles of sewers along Knickerbocker Avenue, a primary street running through the heart of Bushwick.
The city also plans to upgrade all catch basins in the area surrounding Knickerbocker Avenue, converting them to a more modern model. Currently, the sewer infrastructure uses 7.5-foot round sewer pipes that handle 225 million gallons per day. The replacements will be single-, double- and triple-barrel box sewer pipes with a capacity of 1.9 billion gallons per day.
The resulting project will expand the local sewer system’s capacity by more than 850% in certain areas, drastically reducing the risk of flooding across 2,300 acres in the neighborhood. To further service residents and provide reliable, clean water, the city will replace nearly a mile of cast-iron pipes with new water mains, upgrading the local water distribution system’s infrastructure with better water pressure and reduced likelihood of breaks.
Plans are in place to update privately-owned water service lines at no cost to the property owners as well. While the city makes the infrastructure improvements, the project will replace all lead-based service lines connected to water mains.
The NYC Department of Transportation announced that it will create a Vision Zero redesign of Knickerbocker Avenue to better protect non-motorized travelers. The department will share its plans for the Bushwick neighborhood in the near future.
(Photo courtesy of Billie Grace Ward.)
