Latest

In the last week, the City Council Committees on Sanitation and Transportation held hearings on clean streets and expanding vital sanitation services, and transportation equity respectively. The Sanitation Committee’s hearing covered key issues facing the New York region including eco-friendly waste management systems and composting programs, while the Transportation Committee’s forum addressed transportation infrastructure and traffic enforcement initiatives. At both of these hearings, NYLCV New York City Program Associate Carlos Castell Croke testified in support of expanding the city’s composting program as well as making transportation more equitable.

On January 26, NYLCV participated in Lead-Free Kids NY’s advocacy day. Lead-Free kids is a statewide coalition working to end New York’s childhood lead exposure crisis through advocating for state level policy solutions. While lead paint was banned in the United States in 1978, the old housing stock in New York leaves our citizens vulnerable to lead exposure. Because the current corrective policies have left loopholes for landlords to escape testing and renovation, many New York children have unknowingly been exposed to lead. Lead exposure  puts our youngest New Yorkers at risk of their health as well as their learning and behavioral milestones being stunted. With that in mind, the day’s agenda consisted of both policy priorities and a bold $1 Billion budget to ensure no New York resident will have their health compromised by lead exposure. 

Following a record high level of turnover among City Council seats in addition to the Mayor, Comptroller, and four borough president seats being up for grabs since the implementation of term limits in 2001, there are new opportunities to make sustainability and environmental justice key priorities in the City. To ensure council members maintain their campaign promises of delivering crucial environmental policy, NYLCVEF, WE ACT and South Bronx Unite formed the Green Our City Now coalition. This coalition will hold elected officials accountable on their promises, by providing information and guidance on environmental policy priorities and tracking their environmental commitments.  

When it comes to combating climate change, we’ve been taught to prioritize the three R’s: reduce, reuse, and recycle. But figuring out the best way to do this can be confusing and difficult to navigate when the burden is placed on individuals. Extended producer responsibility (EPR), most recently proposed in Governor Hochul’s upcoming budget, seeks to take that pressure off of individuals and put it back on the producers of the goods we consume. 

NYLCV hosted a virtual town hall with Congressman Jamaal Bowman of New York’s 16th congressional district. Participants were able to actively ask the Congressman questions throughout the event about clean energy; federal monies; and how the climate crisis is affecting areas of his district such as Co-op city in the Bronx, Yonkers, New Rochelle, Hastings on Hudson, and so much more. Congressman Bowman made it clear: "Build Back Better is stalled right now. It is not dead. It is stalled." He pointed to the necessity of the Build Back Better agenda citing recent climate and extreme weather catastrophes his district has faced. He specifically cited Hurricane Ida as one of the most obvious and devastating cases of extreme weather in his district. 

NYLCV/NYLCVEF is thrilled to announce the joint venture team of Ørsted and Eversource as our 2022 honorees. We are delighted to recognize the companies’ leadership in the renewable energy space and look forward to continuing to partner with them to make New York a greener state.

New York City residents produce nearly 13,000 tons of waste every single day. 81% of this waste ends up in landfills and incinerators throughout the Northeast region. As the garbage decomposes, it releases methane, a greenhouse gas 30 times more potent than carbon dioxide. The diesel trucks that transport this waste carry it a distance equivalent to driving more than 312 times around the Earth. To combat these impacts, New York City has been working toward achieving their Zero Waste goal of eliminating all waste sent to landfills by 2030. This goal requires the reduction in volume of disposed goods, as well as the recovery and reuse of their materials.

While industrialization drove New York’s economy in the 20th century, many of the harsh chemicals and pollutants involved in industrial processes had a negative impact on the environment around industrial sites. These brownfields, leftover property where redevelopment is difficult due to the presence of contaminants, are located all over New York.  New York State’s Brownfield Cleanup Program (BCP), last reauthorized in 2015, is set to expire this year. This program facilitates brownfield cleanup initiatives in order to redevelop the property and encourage economic development.