CCNY

A Campus in 'Rough Shape': CCNY Closes the Day After Ida's Deluge

Thursday, September 2, 2021NYfloodingadvisorymedium confidence

Confirmed Threat

After the remnants of Hurricane Ida dropped record rainfall on New York City overnight, The City College of New York closed Thursday, September 2, 2021, citing flooding and tree damage that a campus alert said had left the Harlem campus in 'rough shape.' The closure came as 13 people died across New York City and the subway was suspended.

Alerts: 1
Response: —
Killed: —
Injured: —

Institution

The City College of New York

Public Masters · NY

~16,000 studentsCUNY Alert

Confirmed Timeline

Alert Sequence

1 message in sequence

Some alert texts below are approximate reconstructions from news coverage, not confirmed verbatim transcripts. Reconstructed texts are shown in italic with a dashed border. Verified verbatim texts have a solid border and are marked accordingly.

INITIAL ALERTEmailSep 2, 2021, 10:30 AM EDT

Approximate reconstructionHigher Ed Dive (quoting a CCNY campus alert)176 chars

The City College of New York will be closed today, Thursday, September 2, due to flooding and tree damage that has left the campus in rough shape. Please do not come to campus.

This text has been reconstructed from news coverage and may not reflect the exact original wording.

Higher Ed Dive reported the alert's 'rough shape' phrasing directly; that vivid, un-bureaucratic language is the authenticity marker, though the surrounding sentence is reconstructed.

CCNY's hilltop Harlem campus is not a flood zone in the conventional sense — the damage was pluvial (rain-on-pavement) and arboreal, a reminder that Ida's hazard in the city was rainfall intensity, not storm surge.

Context

Background

The remnants of Hurricane Ida reached New York the evening of September 1, 2021 and smashed the city's single-hour rainfall record, triggering the first-ever flash-flood emergency and suspending the subway. The City College of New York, atop St. Nicholas Heights in Harlem, closed Thursday, September 2 because of flooding and tree damage that a campus alert said left the campus in 'rough shape.' CCNY was one of several CUNY and NYC-area campuses forced offline or shut, alongside the College of Staten Island and Queens College. Thirteen people died citywide, most in basement apartments, making Ida a turning point in how the city and its universities think about extreme rainfall.

Analysis

Key Findings

CCNY's alert used the plain-language phrase 'rough shape' to describe flooding and tree damage — a rare un-bureaucratic note in a campus closure

The hazard was pluvial flooding and downed trees, not riverine flooding, on a hilltop Harlem campus

CCNY was one of several CUNY campuses closed or moved online by Ida's record rainfall

Outcome

CCNY's St. Nicholas Heights campus closed Thursday, September 2, due to flooding and tree damage; in-person operations resumed afterward. No campus casualties were reported.

Provenance

Sources

News
Hurricane Ida continues to scramble campus plans and force schools online - Higher Ed Dive
highereddive.com
News
Some NYC institutions closed Thursday because of Ida's flooding - Time Out New York
timeout.com
Source
Effects of Hurricane Ida in the Northeastern United States - Wikipedia
en.wikipedia.org

Alert Sequence

Background

Key Findings

Sources

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