Seth Pinsky

What they saw was one, that people were now focused on the issue of climate change in a way that they had not been prior to the storm, and two, that there would be very significant federal funding coming into New York that we could use if we invested it strategically to strengthen the city and to make it more resilient.

What they saw was one, that people were now focused on the issue of climate change in a way that they had not been prior to the storm, and two, that there would be very significant federal funding coming into New York that we could use if we invested it strategically to strengthen the city and to make it more resilient.

So they asked me if I would come back from maternity leave and to hit up an effort called the Special Initiative for Rebuilding and Resiliency that had as its goal to take the question first of what did we think over the coming decades would be the impact of climate change and what could the city do to ensure that it would be as resilient as possible as it rebuilt in the face of what we knew were going to be significant challenges that climate change would bring.

So they asked me if I would come back from maternity leave and to hit up an effort called the Special Initiative for Rebuilding and Resiliency that had as its goal to take the question first of what did we think over the coming decades would be the impact of climate change and what could the city do to ensure that it would be as resilient as possible as it rebuilt in the face of what we knew were going to be significant challenges that climate change would bring.

Eventually, we ended up putting together a $20 billion, 400 plus initiative blueprint, which has not been entirely followed since the Bloomberg administration left office. But many of the aspects have been followed. And I think as a result of it, the city is now better positioned for climate change than it would have been otherwise.

Eventually, we ended up putting together a $20 billion, 400 plus initiative blueprint, which has not been entirely followed since the Bloomberg administration left office. But many of the aspects have been followed. And I think as a result of it, the city is now better positioned for climate change than it would have been otherwise.

To start, we changed elements of the building code so that, for example, when buildings were built and had electric generators, those generators, instead of being put in the basement of buildings where if flooding occurred, they would be knocked out, had to be put at higher elevation in the buildings. We also looked at much more ambitious neighborhood-wide interventions.

To start, we changed elements of the building code so that, for example, when buildings were built and had electric generators, those generators, instead of being put in the basement of buildings where if flooding occurred, they would be knocked out, had to be put at higher elevation in the buildings. We also looked at much more ambitious neighborhood-wide interventions.

For example, we proposed construction of a major seawall along the eastern frontage of Staten Island that faced the Atlantic Ocean, an area that had been devastated by the storm.

For example, we proposed construction of a major seawall along the eastern frontage of Staten Island that faced the Atlantic Ocean, an area that had been devastated by the storm.

That project, as I understand it, is now moving forward under the auspices of the Army Corps of Engineers and should protect dozens of neighborhoods from the sort of really devastating impact that occurred in 2012 and ensure that that doesn't happen going forward.

That project, as I understand it, is now moving forward under the auspices of the Army Corps of Engineers and should protect dozens of neighborhoods from the sort of really devastating impact that occurred in 2012 and ensure that that doesn't happen going forward.

From the very beginning of the Bloomberg administration, there was an acknowledgement that New York was too dependent on financial services. And just to be clear, the goal was never to reduce the size of the financial services industry in New York. It was to grow other industries so that they could account for an even larger percentage of the city's economy.

From the very beginning of the Bloomberg administration, there was an acknowledgement that New York was too dependent on financial services. And just to be clear, the goal was never to reduce the size of the financial services industry in New York. It was to grow other industries so that they could account for an even larger percentage of the city's economy.

So in other words, we wanted to grow the pie, not shrink one piece of it. From the very early days, the administration had a decent amount of success with this diversification initiative. We increased the amount of film and television filming that occurred in the city. We increased tourism and there were a number of other industries that grew.

So in other words, we wanted to grow the pie, not shrink one piece of it. From the very early days, the administration had a decent amount of success with this diversification initiative. We increased the amount of film and television filming that occurred in the city. We increased tourism and there were a number of other industries that grew.

But when 2008 came around, it was very clear when the financial markets collapsed that we still were highly dependent

But when 2008 came around, it was very clear when the financial markets collapsed that we still were highly dependent

on wall street and it looked to us like the impacts of the 2008 downturn were going to be really devastating to the city as frankly they were to many parts of the country but especially here so the approach that we took was that first we started to study the issue and what we saw was that it was unlikely that the financial services industry was going to be growing anytime soon in fact it was likely that it was going to be shrinking

on wall street and it looked to us like the impacts of the 2008 downturn were going to be really devastating to the city as frankly they were to many parts of the country but especially here so the approach that we took was that first we started to study the issue and what we saw was that it was unlikely that the financial services industry was going to be growing anytime soon in fact it was likely that it was going to be shrinking