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Q&A
Metro North rezoning and DEP infrastructure funding allocation
0:48:42
ยท
4 min
Council Member Marmorato inquires about the $170 million secured for DEP infrastructure through the Metro North rezoning process and how the budget reduction might impact ongoing or planned projects. Commissioner Aggarwala explains the budget changes and funding allocation process.
- The operating budget change is small and related to grant calculation dynamics
- DEP has a robust capital plan with nearly $4 billion in incremental capital spending
- Funding is allocated based on scoped-out projects and bulk codes for specific initiatives like storm water resilience
- The commissioner will provide a timetable for Metro North expansion investments later
Kristy Marmorato
0:48:42
So in the Metro North rezoning process, our district secured a hundred and 70,000,000 for DEP infrastructure.
0:48:51
Given the $36,800,000 reduction in your budget for f y twenty six, how will this impact ongoing or planned water and sewer infrastructure projects?
Rohit Aggarwala
0:49:02
I I don't think the the chain as I mentioned, the the change in our operating budget for fiscal year twenty six is is small and is related to budgetary dynamics about how grants are are calculated more than more than any real reductions.
0:49:20
So I'm not worried.
0:49:22
Mean we have we have a robust capital plan and and we did as I said get nearly 4,000,000,000 in incremental capital spending in this new ten year capital plan which I think is a vote of confidence from the mayor and from OMB on the fact that we now have the ability to deliver every year a $3,000,000,000 capital program, which, you know, over the you know, for over the the decade ending in in 2022, we were averaging about 1 and a half billion dollars a year, and now we are consistently delivering 3,000,000,000.
Kristy Marmorato
0:49:55
Now how do you decide where that funding is going?
0:49:57
Do you have, like, something set up like a formula of how you disperse that money equally throughout the city or are there certain projects that need to be addressed before others?
Rohit Aggarwala
0:50:07
So so of the overall capital plan, we, you know, each project is is scoped out.
0:50:16
There are some bulk codes where we have a pot of money including money that we are investing now in storm water resilience that was first created in response to hurricane Ida at the very end of the de Blasio administration and so that was put there.
0:50:32
And that's actually funded or is gonna be funding some of the work that we are doing as I mentioned through the storm water analysis including the work for a council member nurse's district.
0:50:45
I think some of the the funding for your district is coming from that five hundred I
Kristy Marmorato
0:50:48
think we got hit harder with Ida than we did Sandy, our district.
Rohit Aggarwala
0:50:53
Yes.
0:50:53
Well, and and of course, Ida was a very different storm than Sandy.
0:50:56
Sandy was mainly coastal inundation.
0:50:58
Ida was storm water flooding.
0:51:00
And so the the impacts on different parts of the city would be very different.
0:51:04
But again, that's that's why in 2022, we started work on what will be this multi year effort.
0:51:12
And actually, chairman Gennaro has a bill around it that we are happily working with the council staff on to codify in law the kind of next generation of storm water planning.
0:51:24
And, you know, I'm really proud of this work.
0:51:26
It represented an integrated effort by our traditional kind of gray gray infrastructure team at the Bureau of Water and Sewer Operations under Wendy Sperduto who's sitting over here, and Melissa Enoch's team at our Bureau of Environmental Protection and Analysis, which traditionally does green infrastructure.
0:51:47
And now they are doing planning in an integrated way, which is really the way to do it.
0:51:51
And I'm very excited that's that's where the Knickerbocker Avenue designs came from.
0:51:56
Some of the work in your district, a number of places around the city have already begun or we've already got the plans to benefit them and that will bear fruit over time.
0:52:07
Okay.
0:52:08
Yeah, please.
Nerissa Moray
0:52:09
I would just add, over the last ten years, we've invested about $5,900,000,000 in storm water resilience and storm water infrastructure.
0:52:17
And in the next ten years, including fiscal twenty five through '30 '5, we have about over a $10,000,000,000 investment coming.
Kristy Marmorato
0:52:25
This is a million dollars like their pennies.
0:52:29
That's some serious money.
0:52:30
So that's good.
0:52:33
Now what's status of the capital investments that were promised to us as part of the Metro North expansion in my district?
0:52:40
And you said that the funding has been allocated, but when will it be scheduled to be distributed?
Rohit Aggarwala
0:52:53
Council member, I think we will have to get back to you on on the schedule as you know, you know a lot of this that took place at the end of last year around the city of yes, we are now working into our capital plans that our engineers are focused on, but we'll get back to you with a timetable.
Kristy Marmorato
0:53:08
Because I I do have a property that's kind of prime real estate they wanna sell, and they're not they wanna wait to see when the sewer will be the catch basins and sewers will be implemented, and, you know, they want somebody to come and develop on the property.