Sustainable Waterfront Public Lecture Series

February, 2011 - Volume 2, Issue 1

In This Issue: Upcoming Public Lecture Series (co-ponsored with Pratt Institute) and National Smart Growth Conference

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Greetings!

NYC Environmental Justice communities and storm surge zones
Pratt Institute's Graduate Center for Planning and the Environment and the NYC Environmental Justice Alliance are co-hosts of the 2011 Sustainable Waterfront Public Lecture series.  The Public Lecture series is free and open to the public, and will begin this Friday, February 11th at Pratt Manhattan Campus (144 West 14th Street), Room 213, from 6:00 - 7:30 pm.  Space is limited - to RSVP, please email prattpspd@gmail.com. 

New York City, with its 578 miles of coastline, presents incredible opportunities for maritime and recreational activities, natural areas and visionary waterfront development. However, NYC is also among the U.S. cities most vulnerable to the impacts of climate change - from sea level rise to hurricanes. (See NYC-EJA's map above showing environmental justice communities inequitably designated as "Significant Maritime Industrial Areas", or SMIA's, under NYC's Waterfront Revitalization Program.  SMIA designations not only cluster polluting infrastructure in low income waterfront communities of color, but does so in areas vulnerable to storm surges. To learn more, please visit our website at www.NYC-EJA.org

Change along NYC's waterfront is inevitable. In response, NYC and NYS agencies have released new plans, programs and policies to address these future realities. We invite the authors and framers of these proposals to discuss how their overall visions and proposals advance environmental, equity and economic development goals.

This Friday, 2/11: NYC DEP Deputy Commissioner for Sustainability Carter Strickland will discuss NYC's Green Infrastructure Plan, which aims to reduce combined sewer overflows by 40%, while reducing energy consumption and the city's carbon footprint through "green infrastructure." Below are other upcoming lectures:

Friday, Feb. 25th - Waterfront Action Plan: Maritime & Industrial Uses, with NYC EDC Vice President Andrew Genn

Friday, April 1st - Vision 2020: Comprehensive Waterfront Plan, with Michael Marrella, NYC Dept. of City Planning Project Director

Friday, April 29 - NYS Climate Action Plan, with Alan Belensz, NYS Attorney General Schneiderman's Office (& former Director of the Office of Climate Change with NYS Department of Environmental Conservation)

Hope to see many of you at the Lecture series.  Space is limited - don't forget to RSVP!

20 years of fighting for cleaner and more just communities - one block at a time,
The NYC Environmental Justice Alliance

Friends:

 

Last week, NYC-EJA staff and members served as panelists at the 10th Annual National Smart Growth Conference in Charlotte, NC.  Sponsored by New Partners for Smart Growth, this annual gathering attracts government, non-profit and academic experts in the fields of smart growth and sustainable development to discuss trends and best practices to combat sprawl and its attendant environmental impacts.  NYC-EJA members were invited to discuss the implications of smart growth policies for communities of color on such plenary and workshop sessions as: Perspectives on Equitable Development; Latinos and Smart Growth: Lost in Translation; and Sustainable and Equitable Transportation for Communities: Reprioritizing Federal Policies.   

 

For more information on NYC-EJA's work in the area of smart growth and sustainable development (or better yet, to support that work with a tax-deductible donation), please visit our website at www.NYC-EJA.org.  You'll be glad you did!

 

Hasta la proxima,

Eddie Bautista,

Executive Director