Can New York City Waterproof Its Subway?

Superstorm Sandy did a number on the New York City subway. When the hurricane hit in October 2012, rain and storm surge turned impermeable asphalt and concrete streets into rivers. Millions of gallons of seawater poured down subway entrances, manholes, and thousands of other openings to the subterranean spaces below. Between the total devastation of the South Ferry Station (which is still under reconstruction) and the nine flooded tunnels, the metro system sustained billions of dollars in damage.

Since then, the Metropolitan Transit Authority has been spending about $4 billion in mostly federal disaster funds to repair and harden its train yards and subway tunnels. Two of those tubes have been fixed, three more are underway, and there’s still a lot more work to come: In July, much to Brooklynites’ ire, the MTA announced plans to shut down the L train for 18 months in 2019 in order to repair outstanding Sandy-related harm to the Canarsie Tunnel.