New York City may soon be one step closer to building a new flood protection system around Lower Manhattan to guard against another storm like Hurricane Sandy.

Senator Chuck Schumer, a Democrat, said on Monday that the city would be awarded $176 million in federal funding for the proposed project, through a national contest created by the Department of Housing and Urban Development to help communities recover from disasters and better prepare for them.

The money would be used to help fortify a stretch of shoreline from Montgomery Street on the Lower East Side to the northern tip of Battery Park City. Specific measures have not yet been determined, but could include adding sea walls and temporary flood walls that could be deployed before a storm, and building grass berms that could double as recreational areas.

“This project has gotten more money than any other in this rebuild contest,” Mr. Schumer said.

The senator added that he had lobbied the housing secretary, Julián Castro, numerous times, including most recently over breakfast at a diner in Lower Manhattan last week.