Resiliency in Practice: Confronting Climate Disaster in Puerto Rico and New York

NYU’s Institute for Public Knowledge and the Urban Democracy Lab invite you to a discussion on climate change in Puerto Rico and New York, featuring Deepak Lamba-Nieves and Julia Nevarez in conversation, moderated by Diana Graizbord.

What does it mean for a city or a nation to be “resilient” in an era of climate change and, indeed, climate disaster? In Puerto Rico, Hurricanes Irene and Maria brought devastation to thousands of island residents, exacerbating already perilous battles over land rights, infrastructure, and the preservation of a sustained, low-income thresh-hold for livable and affordable housing. Here in New York, already precariously maintained and financed subways, public housing, and power grids overwhelmed the city, particularly in flood plain areas of the Lower East Side, Sunset Park, and the Rockaways. How do community organizations and government respond to these issues by operationalizing a discourse of “resilience,” and how are they working together (or in productive conflict) to insure that all of us, including our most vulnerable residents, are sustained and thriving?

Deepak Lamba-Nieves, Research Director & Churchill G. Carey, Jr. Chair in Economic Development Research, Center for a New Economy, San Juan, Puerto Rico

Julia Nevarez, Assistant Professor, Kean University and author of Governing Disaster in Urban Environments: Climate Change Preparation and Adaption after Hurricane Sandy (Rowman & Littlefield, 2018)

Diana Graizbord, Assistant Professor, Sociology, University of Georgia