(FLUSHING) Council Member Sandra Ung issued the following statement regarding the announcement by Mayor Eric Adams that Kissena Park will be included in the Department of Environmental Protection’s Cloudburst Program.

“My constituents have seen firsthand the devastating impacts of extreme weather events, including the loss of three lives on Peck Avenue during Hurricane Ida,” said Council Member Sandra Ung. “Since taking office, I have urged officials at all levels of government to take steps to address the increasingly common flooding experienced by homeowners and residents in the neighborhoods around Kissena Park. These innovative methods to manage stormwater before it overwhelms the sewer system are the kind of creative approaches we need to begin to mitigate the local effects of intense rainfall. I was proud to support DEP’s efforts to secure federal funding for the Cloudburst Program, and I look forward to work beginning on these critical resiliency projects.”

In November, Council Member Ung wrote a letter to Federal Emergency Management Agency administrator Deanne Criswell in support of DEP’s request for federal funding to expand the Cloudburst Program to Kissena Park and three other locations across New York City.