“About 70 percent of New York City’s climate-heating pollution comes from energy use in buildings, with the majority of that pollution coming from large buildings covered by Local Law 97.”
Under New York’s climate law, “disadvantaged communities” that have borne the brunt of pollution and other environmental issues are being prioritized for funding and climate-related benefits. But swaths of Southeast Queens didn’t make the cut, what local leaders say was an oversight.
Research on microplastics and human health is still in its early days, said Mary Johnson, a principal research scientist at Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health. But one thing is clear: each stage of the life cycle of plastic disproportionately impacts vulnerable communities.
While the Department of Social Services says more people were accepted into supportive housing last year than the year prior, a new report shows persistent barriers and rejections, including some that violate the city’s own guidance.
“The need for parks where everyone feels welcome is vital. The COVID-19 pandemic underscored the value of greenspaces, as people of all backgrounds flocked to local parks to safely exercise and socialize. And somewhere right now, there are young people whose creative juices are in search of a safe outlet.”
“Waste has always been inflicted upon the margins,” said Oliver Franklin-Wallis, author of the new book “Wasteland: The Secret World of Waste and the Urgent Search for a Cleaner Future.” Waste, he writes, is often exported from rich countries to poor ones, a phenomenon known as “toxic colonialism.”
Timely processing rates plummeted to under 30 percent for cash assistance applications and under 40 percent for SNAP for the fiscal year ending in June, according to the latest Mayor’s Management Report.
“After Hurricane Sandy, my school closed for a week, while whole school student bodies had to be relocated across the city. More recently, my school’s basement and entire first floor flooded the week before school started due to heavy rains.”
“This is not a story about cricket, its popularity, and whether New Yorkers would support the expansion of it. The issue here is the proper use of public parkland.”
Workers, especially people of color and immigrants, are suffering in increasingly hot weather. But some advocates and lawmakers have solutions.
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