Building codes for hurricane protection

Yesterday, I highlighted an op-ed piece by a group of Virginia Tech researchers arguing that we need to start moving back from coastal areas.  They probably weren’t thinking specifically of New York City.  But it is a coastal city; including all five boroughs, it has over 500 miles of shoreline.  So what is to be done about big cities on the coast?  Yesterday’s New York Times reports on very tentative first steps by New York to take account of Hurricane Sandy.  Mayor Michael Bloomberg, and City Council speaker Christine Quinn have just created a “resiliency taskforce” to consider changes to the city’s building code.  The task force is to present recommendations by next summer.  So far, though, no one is talking about more dramatic changes to zoning rules that might restrict new building in at-risk areas.