Researching Broad Channel

By Dan Guarino

Over the years, Broad Channel has attracted photographers, documentarians, journalists and others seeking to know more about this island community.

Most recently, Massachusetts Institute of Technology’s (MIT) Olivia Fiol and Broad Channel native Peyton Nerys have each chosen to base their research projects here, exploring the Channel’s past and its future.

Originally from Tampa, Florida, Fiol recently graduated from Massachusetts Institute of Technology with a master’s degree in city planning. For her master’s thesis, she focused on Broad Channel, “the only inhabited island community in New York City’s Jamaica Bay, which is on the front lines of sea level rise and tidal flooding in the city.” During 2012’s Hurricane Sandy, nearly the entirety of the island was submerged under flood waters as deep as 6-8 feet. Even now, frequent high tides, often flooding into Broad Channel’s streets, are carefully observed and prepared for in the neighborhood.

“Planning for climate change is more relevant than ever,” Fiol said in her paper, “as the earth continues to warm, sea levels rise, and no global policy or political will is in sight. In order to plan under hostile circumstances, it is of the utmost importance that planners turn our attention to the hyper-local scale, continuing momentum in our personal and professional relationships.”

Why Broad Channel? “For my thesis, I worked with the Director of Climate and Sustainability at the (NYC) Department of City Planning, Michael Marrella. I knew I wanted to write about the impacts of increased coastal flooding in New York, as well as residents’ emotional experiences of home and place, and he thought Broad Channel would be a great place to better understand how those themes interweave.”

For Fiol, though, the subject wasn’t just academic. “Growing up in Florida,” she notes, “experiencing hurricanes was relatively normal. Often, my birthday coincided with a storm and had to be rescheduled. From a distance, I understood, practically, how consequential Sandy was for the lives of New Yorkers.”

As she explains, her research involved “conversations with civic leaders and outspoken advocates for the island, New York City planners, artists whose work address the emotional impacts of climate change, and waterfront policy advocates in the city. I also conducted background research online and visited Broad Channel in person in March.”

Fiol says her interviews and visit brought her new insights. “When I asked Broad Channel residents about their emotional experiences of home and coastal flooding, Sandy came up in every conversation, which I didn’t expect. I was surprised how something that felt familiar to me, its devastation included, continues to linger in the lives of New Yorkers, and especially for those living on Broad Channel. This experience clearly informed how residents think about the future as well,” Fiol said. “No one wants a disaster like Sandy again, but not everyone agrees on how to approach the problem.”

One of her biggest concerns was how her research subject, climate change, would be received. “I was asking folks personal questions about their homes and how flooding impacts their lives,” Fiol said. “I was most nervous, however, in asking about the future, including climate change’s role in increasing tidal flooding, what that means for residents’ homes, and how to imagine a future for a place facing such serious potential changes to its landscape.”

In reality, she says, “Everyone I spoke to over the phone and met in person was neighborly, friendly, and generous with their time in speaking with me. I really appreciate the time folks made to speak with me and share their personal, emotional experiences.

“In my paper, I proposed that other planners follow suit in conversations around climate change and flooding. For topics that can be as contentious as the reality of climate change, accessing affective experience can act as a way to connect and breakthrough in conversations.”

Her thesis will soon be available on https://dspace.mit.edu/

Peyton Nerys, 16, has lived in Broad Channel nearly her entire life, besides a short time after Hurricane Sandy “where my family had to move into Rockaway while our house was renovated.” A senior at the High School of Art and Design, she’s majoring in Illustration. Her explorations began with an AP U.S. History assignment to write a research paper about her own neighborhood.

“I’ve always found it fascinating how different Broad Channel was compared to other areas in New York,” Nerys said. “It was often something I talked about, how different it was, it never really struck me as a place that fit into New York.”

One thing that set it apart, was its unique history during Prohibition, where its night life and free flowing activities in regards banned alcohol earned it the nickname “Little Cuba.”

Though she can’t quite recall when she first heard about Prohibition in Broad Channel, a time now long in its past, she remembers “one time in middle school…my history teacher mentioned that some of the homes had trapdoors (through which illegal liquor could be delivered) hidden back when Prohibition was first introduced. Prohibition in general is something that piqued my interest, with it being such an influential part of American history…”

Nerys’ research involved printed and online exploration, interviewing, and visiting Broad Channel sites connected to the era, notably with a walkaround and talk with a Broad Channel historian.

“Broad Channel’s past surprised me a lot. I never knew that Broad Channel started as a vacation town,” Nerys said. “Broad Channel is unique to me in regard to its limited changes throughout the decades; it’s still as independent and community driven as it’s always been.

“One thing that surprised me was just how much Broad Channel had to fight to remain a town and how little help from the city it had.”

It turns out Nerys delving into this pocket of her hometown’s history worked out well, with her earning a 100% on her research paper. “My teacher mentioned that this project would directly lead into the first project in AP Government. I have always adored history, and I plan on pursuing it in college,” she said.

Both Nerys and Fiol agree, Broad Channel, past, present and future, is a surprising, unique place to study and explore.