ASC's Intersections Newsletter — August 20, 2026
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Nora's Note
Designing a More Climate-Ready New York City. This week, ASC facilitated the third in-person workshop in a series supporting the New York City Mayor’s Office of Climate & Environmental Justice as it moves toward finalizing the City’s Climate Resiliency Design Guidelines. The guidelines are designed to help City agencies account for future climate risks, including flooding, extreme heat, and sea-level rise, when planning and designing public buildings, parks, bridges, and other infrastructure. ASC has supported this work through a series of facilitated workshops and stakeholder sessions that bring agency experience directly into the process.
Earlier sessions focused on testing and refining the guidelines and their scoring approach. This latest workshop turned to implementation, with agency representatives identifying the practical challenges they may face as the guidelines become part of everyday capital planning and project delivery.
ASC’s role is helping turn those conversations into actionable insight. The feedback gathered through this engagement will help inform the guidance, training, tools, and implementation support agencies need as New York City prepares to put the guidelines fully into practice and ensure that city projects will be prepared for future climate change.
Transportation
The push to modernize U.S. rail took a big step forward with a multibillion-dollar federal award. The FRA's $5.3 billion in National Railroad Partnership Program grants will fund 41 projects across 23 states. Roughly $2 billion goes toward new Amtrak train sets and equipment, while $3.1 billion targets safety and infrastructure, including work to close and upgrade more than 1,000 hazardous grade crossings. Read more to see which states and projects made the list and how the FRA chose them. (Source: Mass Transit Magazine)
AMNY: Smoke, fire, and rescue: how FDNY firefighters prepare for fires inside the subway system
Streetsblog NYC: Year-round outdoor dining poised to return under council bill
AOL: East River Tunnel tube reopens after major repairs following Superstorm Sandy
Climate
An exciting new green infrastructure project is being piloted in the Palo Alto Baylands Nature Preserve: a horizontal levee. The levee, spanning only about 500 feet, serves a myriad of functions for the Bay, all aiming at mitigating impacts and increasing risks of climate change, including nitrogen removal from the nearby wastewater treatment center, protection from rising tides, and wildlife restoration, especially for the beloved salt-marsh harvest mouse. Learn more about the five-year pilot program and other use cases of horizontal levees in California's Bay Area. (Source: Grist)
Inside Climate News: A green oasis grows in North Philadelphia’s heat island
Canary Media: Boston explores sea- and river-source heat pumps for big buildings
Happy Eco News: Zero-waste solar desalination technology turns seawater into drinking water
Economic Development
NYC is expanding outreach in areas of Queens vulnerable to flooding to survey homeowners about their interest in a voluntary buyout program called Resilient Acquisitions. Areas targeted are Kissena Park and Hollis that are built atop former wetlands, where homes struggle with repeated flooding. This marks the city's first attempt at managed retreat for inland areas previously used in coastal Queens and on Staten Island in the aftermath of Superstorm Sandy. Read moreto learn about various climate adaptation strategies NYC is using to address flooding. (Source: The City Reporter)
Smart Cities Dive: Amtrak, cities, and states get $5.3B in federal rail grants
BK Reader: NYC finances more than 12,000 affordable homes in first half of 2026
Hoodline: NYC hospitals renew $23.7M deal with lawyers fighting for patients’ health
Digital
Missouri's Department of Natural Resources launched a mobile app and desktop dashboard to help residents monitor flooding and drought conditions statewide, growing out of the state's response to significant 2019 floods and the subsequent creation of the Missouri Hydrology Information Center. Designed to be accessible regardless of data literacy, the app focuses on five core features including real-time and predictive flood conditions, a drought monitor, and a soil moisture map, all built on Esri's ArcGIS technology. Data is aggregated from multiple federal and state sources including NOAA's National Water Model and the USGS streamgage network, while push notifications alert users to moderate or major flooding events. Read more on the mobile app here. (Source: GovTech)
Route Fifty: Former California CISO reflects on cyber’s importance in state government
TechCrunch: US courts will start publishing how often the government uses spyware
Forbes: Excavators, meet AI: Gravis nabs $200M from SoftBank to give construction equipment brains
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