Funding Will Upgrade Sewers and Catch Basins, Expand Local Sewer Capacity in Select Areas By Over 850 Percent, Alleviate Chronic Flooding in Bushwick
Project Will Also Replace Water Mains and Privately-Owned Lead Service Lines,
Save Homeowners and Businesses Thousands of Dollars
Historic “City of Yes for Housing Opportunity Plan” Will Build 80,000 New Homes Over Next Decade and Invest $5 Billion in Critical Infrastructure Updates and Housing
New York City Mayor Eric Adams, New York City Chief Climate Officer and New York City Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) Commissioner Rohit T. Aggarwala, and New York City Department of Transportation (DOT) Commissioner Ydanis Rodriguez today announced that the city will — as part of the Adams administration’s historic “City of Yes for Housing Opportunity” plan — invest $390 million in critical infrastructure upgrades to alleviate chronic flooding in Bushwick, Brooklyn and help keep New Yorkers safe. Starting with Knickerbocker Avenue, the project will replace nearly three miles of sewers and upgrade all catch basins in the surrounding area to a modern model — expanding the local sewer system’s capacity in select areas by more than 850 percent and reducing the risk of flooding across approximately 2,300 acres in Bushwick. Additionally, the project will replace almost a mile of water mains to improve the neighborhood’s water distribution infrastructure. Moreover, all privately-owned water service lines — which connect private properties to water mains — that are found to contain lead will be replaced during construction at no cost to property owners, saving local businesses and homeowners thousands of dollars and ensuring a safer, healthier Bushwick. Finally, as part of the project, DOT will deliver a Vision Zero redesign of Knickerbocker Avenue to keep pedestrians, cyclists, and drivers safe; DOT will share a proposal with the community for review. The funding announced today is part of Mayor Adams’ “City of Yes for Housing Opportunity” plan, which the New York City Council passed into law in December 2024 and which invests $5 billion in housing and infrastructure upgrades across the five boroughs.
“With climate change on the rise, it’s more important than ever to protect our streets, homes, and businesses from extreme flooding. This nearly $400-million investment as part of our ‘City of Yes’ proposal will help do exactly that — bringing long-overdue relief to Knickerbocker Avenue, saving New Yorkers thousands of dollars, and fortifying our city for the decades ahead,” said Mayor Adams. “Along with the more than $1.2 billion our administration has already invested to prevent flooding and the $5 billion we are investing in housing and infrastructure through our historic ‘City of Yes’ initiative, our administration is not only creating vibrant neighborhoods across New York City but keeping them safe from climate change for generations to come.”
“The ‘City of Yes for Housing Opportunity’ and associated investments in housing capital and critical infrastructure signal the start of a new era of affordability and access for everyday New Yorkers,” said First Deputy Mayor Maria Torres-Springer. “I would like to thank our city agencies, partners in the City Council, and the diverse and tireless coalition of community advocates, faith leaders, labor leaders, and public servants who brought ‘City of Yes’ to fruition.”
“Bushwick has needed new sewer infrastructure since the 1960s — but the need has become more pronounced as more extreme weather has become our new normal in New York,” said Deputy Mayor for Operations Meera Joshi. “As we go neighborhood by neighborhood in our effort to keep New Yorkers and their property safe from extreme flooding, this is a marquee project that will deliver a better quality of life for thousands of Brooklynites. That’s something to be proud of.”
“This project represents the largest investment in Bushwick’s stormwater infrastructure in decades and will bring relief to a neighborhood that has dealt with chronic flooding since the 1960s,” said DEP Commissioner Aggarwala. “With input from the community, DEP found a solution to dramatically improve drainage, saving local businesses and homeowners thousands of dollars and ensuring a safer, healthier Bushwick.”
“This historic investment will mitigate decades of intense flooding on Knickerbocker Avenue, improving safety and quality of life for Bushwick residents, as this administration works to protect the city’s most vulnerable, flood-prone neighborhoods from increasingly intense storms driven by climate change,” said DOT Commissioner Rodriguez. “We are working closely with DEP and DDC to take advantage of these infrastructure repairs to deliver Vision Zero upgrades on the street above, making the roadway safer for pedestrians, cyclists, and drivers. We thank our sister agencies for their coordination so that we can more quickly and cost-effectively bring life-saving upgrades to this corridor.”
“DDC is an integral part of the city’s climate resiliency programs and will use this funding to improve street conditions and reduce flooding as we manage the effects of climate change,” said New York City Department of Design and Construction (DDC) Commissioner Thomas Foley. “We are also expanding our lead service line replacement program to this project and will replace any privately-owned lead service lines as we work. We look forward to this project being completed and for the residents of Bushwick to have better streets and more peace of mind.”
With a sewer system dating back to the early 1900s, parts of Bushwick have struggled with chronic flooding for decades. A large portion of Knickerbocker Avenue is lower than the surrounding areas, causing stormwater to run downhill and flood the corridor. More intense storms — driven by climate change — have only exacerbated the neighborhood’s challenges.
A recent analysis of the area has shown that the existing 7.5-foot-diameter sewer system is inadequate for even moderate rainstorms. The project will replace three miles of pipes along Knickerbocker Avenue — as well as on Wilson, Central, and Evergreen Avenues — with single-, double-, and triple-barrel box sewers, each measuring 10-feet by 9-feet. These investments will boost the system’s capacity from approximately 226 million gallons per day to around 1.9 billion gallons per day, an 857 percent increase in select areas.
By replacing three miles of sewers in Bushwick, the project will expand the local sewer system’s capacity by over 850 percent. Image Credit: DEP.
Additionally, replacing almost a mile of aging cast iron pipes with new water mains will improve service to thousands of neighborhood residents and businesses — giving them better water pressure, reducing the likelihood of disruptive water main breaks, offering more reliable water service to support fire protection, and ensuring delivery of New York’s high-quality water for decades to come. Construction is estimated to begin in 2029.
The $390 million investment unveiled today builds on the city’s work to address flooding in Bushwick and keep New Yorkers safe. Over the years, DEP has worked to improve drainage throughout Bushwick by adding green infrastructure to 16 public properties and building nearly 400 rain gardens that absorb, store, and filter stormwater. These projects reduce street flooding and intercept stormwater before it ever enters the sewer system.
Newly-installed FloodNet sensors placed on Knickerbocker Avenue at the intersections of Hart and Palmetto Streets provide real-time flooding information, allowing the city to monitor conditions and — if needed — alert residents, deploy emergency responders, remove debris, and clear drainage blockages. Moreover, slotted manhole covers on sidewalks — which help water flow into the sewer even if debris is covering the catch basin grate in the roadway — have been added to sidewalks at selected locations with a history of flooding complaints, such as Jefferson Avenue and Central Avenue.
Since the start of the Adams administration, New York City has invested over $1.2 billion in stormwater mitigation efforts, ranging from traditional sewer upgrades to innovative green infrastructure solutions and more. The city has installed dozens of miles of new sewers, significantly upgrading the system’s drainage capacity to handle millions of additional gallons of sudden and heavy rainfall during a storm. The administration recently completed two major projects in the frequently flooded Queens communities of Maspeth and College Point. The $106 million Maspeth project added more than a mile of new, very large sewers and nearly a mile of new water mains, and it used innovative construction techniques like micro-tunneling to significantly reduce the effects of construction on the local community. The $132 million College Point project added nearly 8.5 miles of new sewers and seven miles of new water mains, in addition to 300 new catch basins.
Lifeguard Recruitment 
