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Volume 14, Issue 6

JUNE NEWSLETTER

Dear Edward,

Are Wildfires (Also) The New Normal?

June hit us all like a whipsaw. While we were eagerly awaiting Juneteenth, the National Puerto Rican Day Parade, school graduations and more, we saw NYC's skies darken with smoke, as the sun turned red from air pollution carried over from Canadian wildfires. With little to no warning from the City, NYC residents soon began experiencing respiratory and other health issues as people carried on their days without any forewarning about these risks. Asthma doctor visits in NYC spiked the following days, disproportionately among Black and Brown NYC residents. We ended June with more wildfire pollution expected - coinciding with the Supreme Court’s deeply troubling affirmative action decision and its implications for racial justice looming over us.


Despite assertions from City government that the June wildfire pollution clouds were “unprecedented", as recently as two years ago, NYC’s skies also turned hazy on July 13, 2021 - that time from California’s wildfires - with our local air pollution levels spiking to unhealthy levels of over 150 AQI. As our planet heats up and the climate continues to change, we will likely be experiencing more frequent wildfires and other harsh weather events like extreme heat waves with their impacts being felt on us here in NYC. (June also saw record-breaking heat spikes, with the 4 hottest days ever recorded globally, and various city and state "hottest day" records being broken across the country.) We expect to see more from the Adams Administration to not only address the now-present, immediate climate risks, but also the growing risks and impacts our city faces with a changing climate.

NYC Council Hearing on PlaNYC

On June 15, our Deputy Director, Eunice Ko, and Energy Planner, Daniel Chu, testified on PlaNYC's shortcomings and a NYC carbon accounting bill's pitfalls at the New York City Council Committee on Environmental Protection, Waterfront, and Resiliency oversight hearing on PlaNYC. We emphasized the need to align City government's carbon accounting with the state's Climate Act, and urged immediate action from the Adams Administration for concrete climate action to ensure that low-income and BIPOC communities not get left behind as we plan for and mitigate the impending impacts of climate change like extreme heat. You can read Eunice's testimony here and Daniel's testimony here.

NYC Council Hearing on Citywide Urban Forest Plan

Our Research Analyst, Victoria Sanders, testified in support of newly introduced legislation requiring a city-wide urban forest plan at the New York City Council Committee on Parks and Recreation hearing on June 13. She emphasized the importance of Intro 1065 which mandates the City to create a City-wide urban forest master plan and Intro 1066 which would amend NYC's charter to add trees and tree canopy in the City’s long-term sustainability planning efforts. Trees would join other essential considerations such as air quality and water quality as they are an integral part of the solution to address a number of climate and environmental issues, including one of the most deadly - extreme heat. You can read Victoria's full testimony here.

Renewable Ravenswood Community Event

On June 28th, the NYC-EJA team participated in a community fair hosted by Rise Light & Power and Attentive Energy at the Jacob A Riis Neighborhood Settlement in Queensbridge Houses. This event was an an opportunity for the community to learn more about a plan to turn the Ravenswood Generating Station, the largest power plant in NYC, into a clean energy hub! This project will bring several benefits to western Queens and NYC overall, including air quality and public health improvements, as well as investments in community programs and workforce development opportunities like clean energy training programs. Additionally, this project will help fulfill the mandates set forth in NY State’s Climate Law such as 70% renewable energy by the year 2030.

Establishing an EJ Industrial Development Plan

On June 29, NYC-EJA’s Transportation Planner, Kevin Garcia, and El Puente’s Environmental Justice Campaign and Policy Manager, Rami Dinnawi, testified at the New York City Council Committee on Land Use and Committee on Economic Development joint hearing. The two raised concerns about Int 1012, a bill requiring the Departments of City Planning and Small Business Services, in coordination with the Economic Development Corporation, to develop an industrial development action plan for industrial business zones. The pair called for the bill to include environmental justice priorities and expand on public engagement to ensure a comprehensive, sustainable, and equitable industrial development plan. The duo also noted the impacts of last-mile warehouses and the need to adopt the Last-Mile Coalition’s zoning text amendment application to create a special permit process for new last-mile warehouses in our city. You can read Kevin's testimony here.

Open Positions

We are looking to fill two roles related to the NYC Climate Justice Hub, through our partnership with City University of New York (CUNY):

NYC-EJA IN THE NEWS

National Observer: New York City’s public housing is sinking — literally (6/1/23)


Grist: How NYC officials failed to prepare for an air quality crisis (6/8/23)

 

CNN: Poor air quality on the East Coast is putting vulnerable neighborhoods at higher risk, activists say (6/9/23)

 

Gothamist: Asthma ER visits during NYC smoke haze were highest in high-poverty, Black and Latino areas (6/12/23)

 

NY Focus: As New York Lags on Climate Goals, Some Dirty Plants May Stay Open Past Deadline (6/14/23)

 

Crain’s NY: Floods are becoming more intense. Are voluntary buyouts the answer? (6/22/23)


Columbia Climate School: New York’s Climate Buyout Plans Must Put Communities First, Experts Say (6/23/23)

 

Lohud: Poor air quality means longer hospital stays for kids with asthma in NYC, study finds (6/26/23)


Planetizen: Vote for the Most Influential Urbanists, Past and Present (6/29/23) 

Be sure to check for more exciting news from NYC-EJA about our ongoing work, on our website and in future newsletters! And if you like what you read, please consider making a tax-exempt donation to support our work.
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