In the Fall of 2011, on the heels of an earthquake and a hurricane we asked: Will you be ready if a disaster strikes? What about your neighborhood? Who’s responsible for making a plan for your community? CUP worked with students in the CUNY College Now program at New Design High School and the Urban Assembly Academy of Government and Law to investigate what disaster planning looks like at the community level.
To find out how NYC’s communities can prepare for a disaster, the group interviewed city and federal disaster planners, environmental justice organizations, and insurance mavens. They passed through security checkpoints to visit hi-tech command centers and situation rooms. They also looked at the on-the-ground facts in neighborhoods to examine the hazards they face in the event of a disaster.
Together with CUP, they created a visual primer on community preparedness, what it might look like, and why it matters. They presented their project at the American Red Cross’s 24/7 Emergency Communications Center in Manhattan.