Discussion Paper

Flood-Prone Basement Housing in New York City and the Impact on Low- and Moderate-Income Renters

Abstract: Hurricane Ida, which struck New York in early September 2021, exposed the region’s vulnerability to extreme rainfall and inland flooding. The storm created massive damage to the housing stock, particularly low-lying units. This post measures the storm’s impact on basement housing stock and, following the focus on more-at-risk populations from the two previous entries in this series, analyzes the attendant impact on low-income and immigrant populations. We find that basements in select census tracts are at high risk of flooding, affecting an estimated 10 percent of low-income and immigrant New Yorkers.

Keywords: FEMA; floods; flood risk; Hurricane Ida; low-and moderate-income (LMI); LMI; New York;

JEL Classification: Q54; R10;

Bibliographic Information

Provider: Federal Reserve Bank of New York

Part of Series: Liberty Street Economics

Publication Date: 2023-11-17

Number: 20231117