Brian J. Pape Appointed to the NYC Waterfront Code Committee

Brian J. Pape was appointed to the Use and Accessibility Committee of the NYC DOB Building Codes Waterfront Code Committee.

With 520 miles of waterfront, New York City may have the most waterfront of any city in the country–or even the world!

And yet, there are no standard waterfront codes available in the United States for the purpose of regulating what and how things 
get built on waterfronts.

The City of New York and the Department of Buildings (DOB) have now formed a Waterfront Code Committee, a NYC DOB Building Codes project for 2023-24. Working with the consultant, AECOM, the committee will be developing a new code from “whole cloth” although it will follow the format of existing NYC Codes.

Brian J. Pape (a VillageView writer) was appointed to the Use and Accessibility Committee (one of six committees within the overall committee). On July 31, the kickoff/orientation meeting was held for the two-year project.

The work on waterfront codes is applicable for all waterfront structures. There are exceptions for buildings already covered by DOB as well as bridges and tunnels covered by other agencies. Structures covered by the new codes have an important impact on our waterfronts and neighborhoods. Examples include piers, seawalls, parks and new climate condition structures, such as flood-proofing.

Much of the news reported lately has focused on piecemeal attempts to “shore up” local parks and esplanades in the city against rising sea levels and storms. Hopefully, this new approach will provide consistency and integrated solutions for our many miles of shoreline.