Volume 15, Issue 2

In February, NYC-EJA took advantage of the extra Leap Year day to dig in deeper in our environmental and climate justice fights - read on to see what one extra day helped us manifest!

On February 15th, NYC-EJA joined Councilmember Alexa Avilés, Councilmember Erik Bottcher, and Red Hook residents in a press conference supporting the Our Air, Our Water Act (Int-0004-2024). The bill requires the use of shore power by cruise terminal operators and community traffic mitigation plans in neighborhoods impacted by cruise ships at berth. A single diesel-powered docked and idling cruise ship can emit more pollution than 34,000 idling long-haul trucks. The bill would provide a reduction in air pollution and vehicular traffic for south Brooklyn and complement the work of the Last-Mile Coalition to reduce traffic in NYC.

On February 27th, NYC-EJA's State Climate Policy Manager Celeste Perez testified in support of Intro 055 at the City Council Committee on Sanitation and Solid Waste Management's hearing alongside allies from the Transform Don’t Trash coalition. This bill would require the City to begin accepting commercial waste at publicly-owned Marine Transfer Stations, thereby significantly reducing the number of polluting, dangerous diesel garbage trucks traveling in and out of communities overburdened by private, truck-based transfer stations. Transform Don't Trash was also quoted in this article about the proposed bill and released a statement on the same.

The MTA is accepting comments on the proposed toll rate schedule for NYC’s congestion pricing program. The comment period is open until March 11, 2024, 11:59pm and the MTA will also host four hybrid public hearings to solicit comments. During the program’s Environmental Assessment review process, due to the projections for increased truck traffic and tailpipe emissions in the Bronx, NYC-EJA submitted a list of policies for the MTA to achieve a “net-positive” outcome to reduce emissions and vehicular traffic. NYC-EJA will continue monitoring the rollout of the congestion pricing plan and the place-based mitigation efforts to ensure a “net-positive” program is achieved.

After a months-long vetting and onboarding process, the six NYC-EJA organizational members participating in the inaugural phase of the NYC Climate Justice Hub -- Brooklyn Movement Center (Central Brooklyn), El Puente (Williamsburg), GOLES (Lower East Side), The Point CDC (Hunts Point), We Stay/Nos Quedamos (Melrose) and UPROSE (Sunset Park) -- have each been matched with a team consisting of a pair of researchers from the CUNY system to help develop specific projects and initiatives. Projects range from (1) developing a model for community-owned and -managed energy infrastructure to (2) coordinating a community assessment on knowledge of environmental justice and climate justice issues that will inform the development of a neighborhood resiliency plan to (3) conducting a multimodal mobility study to mitigate neighborhood-level environmental and climate impacts and much more.

On February 13th, NYC-EJA's Deputy Director Eunice Ko discussed how the NYC Climate Justice Hub is cultivating student community leadership to support frontline solutions and communities on a panel called "Fostering Student Leadership: How Universities Can Support the New Generation of Climate Leaders" at the "Higher Education Climate Leadership Summit" hosted by Second Nature and the Intentional Endowments Network in Long Beach, California.

The impacts of the climate crisis on New Yorkers are indisputable: from crumbling public transit to worsening extreme heat and storms. All this, while the perpetrators – the fossil fuel companies – run scot-free. Something's got to give! 

Join us in Albany on March 20th with NY Renews to mobilize for the solution – the Climate, Jobs & Justice Package! Transportation will be provided from NYC.

With NY Renews coalition members across the state, we’ll be calling on Governor Hochul and the state legislature to pass key climate legislation along with the People’s Climate Justice Budget to invest in critical climate and environmental justice projects across the state. Together we can kickstart New York’s clean energy transition, lower energy bills for families, and create good, union jobs along the way. Let’s make sure lawmakers hear our message loud and clear!

Prism Reports: NYC climate activists say the city isn’t doing enough to fight for green schools (2/13/24)

City Limits: New York to See Hotter Temps, More Rain, Flooding & Worse Storms, New Climate Report Says (2/15/24)

Crain's New York: Mayor's 'green economy action plan' seeks to grow workforce of tomorrow (2/28/24)

NYSERDA: Two Offshore Wind Project Awards Announced, To Deliver Clean Power in 2026 (2/29/24)

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