WATCH: New York City Climate Leaders Discuss Progress on Reducing Transportation Emissions and Making Our Streets Safe and Livable and How We’re Protecting Residents from Flooding
WATCH: Climate Leaders of Tomorrow are Learning How to Address Impacts of Climate Change
New York, NY – This Earth Week, the Mayor’s Office of Climate & Environmental Justice (MOCEJ) is marking one year of significant progress on PlaNYC: Getting Sustainability Done, the city’s strategic climate plan. Over the last 12 months, the administration has passed state legislation with partners that extends and expands the solar and storage property tax abatement for New York City residents; helped pass a zoning text amendment that will make it easier for buildings to decarbonize; planted a record number of trees in a fiscal year to protect New Yorkers from extreme heat; and launched the Green Rides initiative, requiring taxis and for-hire vehicles to be zero-emission or wheelchair accessible by 2030. Since the beginning of the Adams administration, New York City has secured $1.6 billion in federal infrastructure funds, with nearly $700 million in competitive grants awarded, to help achieve its PlaNYC goals.
“A generational challenge like climate change requires a generational response. On the first anniversary of PlaNYC, this administration is going further, faster to meet the scale of this crisis, reducing carbon impacts from our buildings and vehicles and delivering infrastructure to better manage heat and storms,” said Deputy Mayor for Operations Meera Joshi. “And exciting work is ahead, with the rollout of curbside organics to every borough, the launch of a public solar program, and the reactivation of our marine highway for freight.”
“In the year since PlaNYC’s release, we’ve been focused on implementation across our entire climate agenda,” said New York City Chief Climate Officer and New York City Department of Environmental Protection Commissioner Rohit T. Aggarwala. “On buildings, transportation, water, and waste, we are delivering the climate mobilization we need, earning federal funding for many projects, and incorporating environmental justice into our decisions.”
“The Adams administration is making swift progress on its world-leading climate initiatives – creating a cleaner, greener, safer New York City for all,” said Mayor’s Office of Climate & Environmental Justice Executive Director Elijah Hutchinson. “Between zero-emission for-hire vehicles, Local Law 97 mobilization, greenways, open space, and coastal flood protection, we are getting sustainability done and bringing everyone along - which is essential to a just and equitable transition.”
PlaNYC initiatives are also helping to improve our city’s air quality, as evidenced by the Department of Health and Mental Hygiene’s (DOHMH) latest report of neighborhood-level air quality collected from the New York City Community Air Survey (NYCCAS). NYCCAS, which tracks common air pollutants, shows that levels of PM2.5, NO2, NO and black carbon have decreased by over 40% since the start of monitoring in 2009. Essential work before the city includes getting polluting trucks off NYC streets.
“The health of our environment is the health of New Yorkers, and as we celebrate Earth Week this year, we are reminded that we still have work ahead of us to improve both,” said Health Commissioner Dr. Ashwin Vasan. “The annual report from the New York City Community Air Survey, run by the NYC Health Department, gives us specific insight into NYC’s air quality and its impact on health, while identifying opportunities to further improve it and ensure that no neighborhood or community is left behind. We have made significant progress in reducing fossil fuels and air pollution throughout our city, but we must continue to work together so that our city has the healthiest climate and the healthiest people, in the world.”
PlaNYC achievements over the past year include:
PROTECTING NEW YORKERS FROM THE EFFECTS OF EXTREME HEAT AND RESTORING FORESTED AREAS
• Addressed heat vulnerability and expanded the urban tree canopy by achieving the highest tree-planting total in six years, focused on vulnerable areas
• Increased waterfront access by launching an expansion of our greenways in Queens, Staten Island, Brooklyn, and the Bronx
• Made our forested natural areas healthier, more resilient, and more beneficial to underserved communities by launching New York City Forested Natural Areas Care and Job Training and Stewarding Canopy and Community in Central Queens
PREPARING AND PROTECTING NEW YORKERS FROM THE RISKS OF CURRENT AND FUTURE FLOODING
• Created a new leadership structure for coastal flood resilience by appointing Laurian Farrell DEP’s Deputy Commissioner for Coastal Resilience
• Addressed long-term sea level rise and daily tidal flood inundation by breaking ground and completing construction on the first Raise Shorelines project in New York City, in Old Howard Beach, Queens
• Protected the Mid-Island section of Staten Island from flooding by completing the $110 million New Creek Blue Belt expansion
• Eased chronic flooding and improved quality of life by upgrading drainage infrastructure in the Jewel Streets neighborhood on the Brooklyn/Queens border
IMPROVING BUILDING-LEVEL GREENHOUSE GAS EMISSIONS, AIR QUALITY, AND RESILIENCE
• Helped buildings cut greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions by releasing “Getting 97 Done” and kicking off “97 in Your District,” a collaborative training series with council members and NYC Accelerator
• Through the inaugural New York City Mass Timber Studio, supported projects that use the low-carbon construction material mass timber
• Joined the C40 Clean Construction Accelerator, which aims to reduce embodied carbon in new construction and major retrofits 50 percent by 2030 in both public and private buildings
ACHIEVING A CLEAN, RELIABLE, AND EQUITABLE ENERGY FUTURE
• Provided a strategy for clean energy and GHG reduction by releasing PowerUp NYC, the city’s first long-term energy plan
• Completed 24 MW of solar on city roofs
• Made solar more affordable by helping the state pass the extended and expanded solar tax abatement program for New York City residents
• Made it easier for buildings to decarbonize, protect themselves from flooding, and install solar and energy storage systems by helping pass City of Yes for Carbon Neutrality
IMPROVING THE HEALTH AND ECOLOGICAL FUNCTION OF NYC’S WATERWAYS
• Increased solutions to stormwater flooding in Arverne, Queens and Queens Village, and completed a $16.6 million infrastructure project on Beach 108th Street on the Rockaways
• Prevented sewer overflow during rainstorms and created new public waterfront open space and amenities by breaking ground with U.S. EPA on a $1.6 billion infrastructure project to protect the Gowanus Canal
• Expanded stormwater drainage and improved public spaces by adding green infrastructure to the city’s schoolyards, parks, playground and public housing sites, with 316 sites either in construction or complete, and an additional 126 sites currently going through the design phase
REDUCING TRANSPORTATION EMISSIONS AND MAKING STREETS SAFE, CLEAN, AND LIVABLE
• Reduced harmful emissions from traffic by implementing congestion pricing
• Appointed Ya-Ting Liu as the chief public realm officer
• Introduced a new side loading garbage truck, and a plan to containerize trash
• Helped pass a law requiring EV charging in private garages and lots
• Reduced GHG emissions from ride-share vehicles by launching the Green Rides initiative, requiring that taxis and for-hire vehicles are zero-emission or wheelchair accessible by 2030
REDUCING FOOD-RELATED CARBON EMISSIONS ACROSS NEW YORK CITY
• Announced a partnership with several leading national and New York City-based institutions to reduce food-related carbon emissions
ADVANCING CLIMATE EDUCATION, WORK, AND ENTREPRENEURSHIP OPPORTUNITIES
• Implemented climate education in New York City Public Schools by launching four learning-oriented Climate Action Days on environmental themes
• Helped teachers learn to teach climate education by holding a climate institute at Columbia University attended by more than 500 teachers
• Made New York City a center of climate education and innovation by selecting Stony Brook University to anchor the future Center for Climate Solutions on Governors Island
• Worked to make New York City the global center of sustainable technology by launching a $20 million center for sustainability-focused biotech at the Brooklyn Navy Yard
CONTACT: Kimberly Winston, [email protected], 917-853-6832