Latest News: New York City

A major focus of NYLCV/EF’s efforts will be directed toward combating climate change by reducing emissions from the transportation sector; centering equity as we fight climate change; investing in parks, natural areas, and green spaces; and striving toward zero waste. NYLCV will continue to advocate for New York to transition to a citywide organic waste collection program, electrify its fleet, expand the Open Streets program, and improve micro-mobility options.

As we ring in the new year, New York City welcomes a new City Council to preside over its districts. Bills that did not pass in 2021 were filed for end of session, and must now be reintroduced to the new City Council this month. These bills are crucial to preserving the health and prosperity of its people and environment for decades to come, and must be the top priority of each and every council member.

While the next Speaker of the New York City Council is not officially solidified, Adrienne Adams of District 28 confirmed that she has enough votes to secure her victory.  She is set to be the first Black Woman to be speaker of the 51 member body and will bring unique viewpoints and priorities to the office coming from an outer borough district.

NYLCV has been working on an interactive map that shows the location of school bus depots across NYC and gives a visual representation of the disproportionate number of school bus depots located in environmental justice areas, areas with high asthma rates, and areas with poor air quality. We took an original map created by the New York Lawyers for the Public Interest (NYLPI) and layered on relevant data showcasing air quality and potential environmental justice (EJ) areas across the city. We used the United Hospital Fund Boundaries to outline different neighborhoods across the City. 

With the incoming class of new Councilmembers set after the 2021 general election, the city is turning its attention to the City Council Speaker’s race. The speaker is an incredibly important role, able to control what legislation is voted on in the council, appoint committee chairs, and have a major say in the NYC budget among many other powers. Therefore, the future of the environment and our fight against climate change in NYC will lie heavily on the shoulders of the next speaker. NYLCV strongly believes that the next speaker will need to be an environmental champion that takes bold and progressive actions to help us reach many of the goals and commitments we have made to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, protect open spaces and natural resources, value public health, and expand transportation alternatives to automobiles.

As global fossil fuel emissions are the leading cause of climate change, leaders all over the world have come up with solutions to lower their region’s carbon footprint. In New York, policies have been implemented to help reduce gas emissions through transportation, industrial, and power sectors. Since the primary source of the city’s emissions comes from buildings, it is evident that building decarbonization is necessary to achieve our climate goals. One of the most critical ways to fight climate change in New York City is to electrify buildings. NYLCV therefore supports Intro 2317, a bill that would place an emissions cap on all new and renovated buildings and encourage building electrification. However, we feel that there need to be some major amendments to the bill so that we approach the complexities of building electrification pragmatically.

Every day, almost 100 million plastic utensils are discarded across the United States. The cost to dispose of single-use food ware in a single year is estimated at about 1 billion dollars. Despite these shocking numbers, many restaurants still give out disposable cutlery with every take-out and delivery order. Intro 1775-B is a bill that would require food establishments to only provide non-reusable utensils, condiments, and napkins upon request. While similar bills have been successfully passed in major cities such as Los Angeles, the New York City Council has yet to even have a council hearing concerning this bill. The New York League of Conservation Voters supports the passage of Intro 1775-B to reduce the city’s residential waste.