The footprint of Manhattan's been expanding since the 17th century, when early New Yorkers began their first project to infill its shoreline. A huge part of the island we know today is built on artificial pilings. Now, it might get its biggest expansion in years.
Next City reports on a new feasibility study released by the city, which looked at the possibility of building a huge levee along the east side of the city. This would be in addition to the 16-foot berm that the city just received over $300 million to build on the Lower East Side. This levee would create a huge watch of land along the city's eastern edge, raising in 19 feet above the city to protect it from storm surges.
According to the report, the levee is "technically, legally and financially feasible," and it would protect lower Manhattan should another Sandy come knocking at our door. It would do so with a stretch of infilled soil, upon which other buildings, parks, and public space could be built. Though the report looks at several different schemes, the widest levee would add a full two new city blocks to Manhattan's landmass, along with plenty of open space.
Of course, it won't be two perfect blocksrather, a 1.3-mile-long stretch of land that's 500 feet wide:
If it feels like you've heard this idea before, that's because back in Mayor Bloomberg's day, the levee idea was called Seaport City. But the name has been droppednow it's just a levee, probably because the Seaport City name and glossy renderings sparked controversy after making it appear as though it would build a new, vulnerable patch of city on the shoreline rather than protect it.
Of course, this is just a feasibility studyplenty of more studying remains to be done on the idea. Still, it's exciting to think that Manhattan's landmass might get its biggest expansion in decades before long.
While much of the western and south-central portion of the United States are stuck in a devastating drought, parts of the Midwest are trying to fend off near-record flooding. The Mississippi River will crest at 20.8 feet tomorrow in Davenport, Iowa, exceeding flood stage by almost six feet.
The region has seen several heavy rainfall events over the past few weeks, and the saturated ground was inundated by the immense rainfall that occurred as part of the derechos on Monday, according to Quad Cities meteorologist Greg Dutra. The storms this week dropped more than 5 inches of rain in a short amount of time across parts of eastern Iowa and western Illinois, leaving widespread rainfall totals of 5 to more than 10 inches for the past two weeks, as shown by the above map.
The Mississippi River at Rock Island, Illinois just across the river from Davenport, Iowa (the flooded-out city pictured beneath the chart) is expected to crest just below 21 feet tomorrow afternoon, which is more than six feet above flood stage.
If the river crests as high as predicted, it will be the sixth largest flood ever recorded on the Mississippi at Rock Island.
Further north along the Mississippi in St. Paul, Minnesota, the river there is also more than six feet above flood stage, with an expected crest of 20.1 feet this evening. A little west of the Mississippi in eastern Iowa, Iowa City is issuing evacuations as the Coralville Lake Reservoir is nearing the 712-foot cutoff before it starts to spill over and cause flooding in neighboring communities.
The major flooding should slowly wane through the weekend as drier, cooler air prevails. The next chance of rain comes early next week, some of which could prove heavy.
Two tour buses belonging to the bands Foreigner and Styx caught fire Wednesday in a Philadelphia parking lot in an urgent, urgent emergency that threatened to engulf the entirety of the years 1977 to 1984.
Philadelphia's 6ABC reported that the blaze began on the Styx bus around 12:20 p.m., and spread to the Foreigner bus that was parked alongside it. Both bands are scheduled to play Thursday night in Camden, N.J. (but, understandably, didn't want to leave their buses there).
The buses were empty at the time of the fire, and no one was hurt. A representative for Styx told 6ABC the bus where the fire started belonged to the crew. The band also credited Mr. Roboto for helping them escape when they needed to (albeit several years before the fire.)
The cause of the fire hasn't yet been determined.
An overpass collapsed onto a busy highway this afternoon in Belo Horizonte, Brazil, trapping a yellow bus and other vehicles. At least two people were killed and 19 others were injured.
The overpass was apparently under construction when it collapsed. Here's a video of the collapse:
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C5N shows the scene from a few different angles:
Emergency personnel are on the scene. Belo Horizonte is one the host cities for the World Cup and is scheduled to host a semifinal game this Tuesday.
Tyler Perry Just Successfully Trademarked "What Would Jesus Do?"
http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/thr-esq/tyler-perry-wins-what-would-716455
I guess you really can trademark just about anything
Woman Divorces Husband Because He's Just Not That Into 'Frozen'
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/06/05/frozen-divorce-_n_5453809.html
It would have been really weird if it wasn't in Japan
Sadly this was already debunked.
