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The 2022 legislative session saw huge wins for New York State’s environment with  the Assembly and Senate having shown their commitment to protecting New York’s health and environment. This year both houses passed major legislation covering Land Conservation, Climate Change Mitigation, Waste, Public Health and Electrification. These bills are incredibly important to making our State a more healthy and sustainable place to live. We encourage Governor Hochul to sign these great bills into law!  

At a hearing held by the Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure on June 28, a key bill on greenways was discussed. Intro 291, a bill sponsored by Carlina Rivera and Chair Brooks-Powers, would require the Department of Transportation (DOT) and the Department of Parks and Recreation (DPR) to create a master plan for New York City’s greenways and to regularly engage with communities regarding proposed changes, updates, or repair work to greenway sections.

Last week, on June 27th, there was a joint Oversight Hearing with the Committee on Civil Service and Labor, Committee on Environmental Protection, and Committee on Housing and Buildings. This hearing was regarding Local Law 97 and the Green Workforce Pipeline. Not only did the Council Member Chairs of each of these Committees speak, but so did various environmental, labor, and, and housing organizations. 

After the first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic, city-dwellers everywhere realized the importance of outdoor spaces. In New York City, the most densely populated city in the US with over 27,000 people per square mile, people realized the need for more space for outdoor activities. Thus, New York unveiled the Open Streets program during the pandemic in the spring of 2020 where the need for outdoor space was at its peak

New York City’s parks serve as a peaceful respite from the bustle of urban life. They’re home to sporting events, concerts, and community gardens. But these park safe havens may contain a hidden danger  — a recent study found high levels of lead in the soil of several NYC parks, surpassing the EPA’s soil cleanup value of 400 milligrams of lead per kilogram of soil. Soil samples from Long Island City in Queens and Greenpoint in Brooklyn averaged 540 mg/kg and 450 mg/kg, respectively.