“The Climate Action Council Scoping Plan for New York must not allow for new or repowered gas power plants that pollute our air and endanger community health. Additionally, the final plan must set a 2024 deadline for all electric new building construction and a similar 2027 deadline for bigger buildings.”
The city’s aging infrastructure combined with more intense rainfall is resulting in more backups, which took on average more than 15 hours to resolve during the last fiscal year that ended in June.
“Water main breaks have caused outages across my community and contamination from old pipes have left homes with rust colored water for days…The people of New York City deserve functioning infrastructure and real investments are the only way to get us there.”
A federally funded pilot program and a study in parks both seek mitigation strategies for urban heat islands—areas that experience higher temperatures due to heat-absorbing infrastructure and lack of access to features like greenery and bodies of water.
Brad Lander’s Basement Resident Protection Law would create a “basement board” to oversee the conversions and ensure residents of these apartments—called accessory dwelling units or ADUs—have access to tenants’ rights and basic safety protections. It comes a year after rains from Hurricane Ida killed 11 New Yorkers in basement units.
In 2021 alone, New Yorkers purchased 7,645 homes with prior flood damages that totaled more than $23.5 million. The state’s current flood disclosure law contains a loophole that “stacks the deck against buyers,” a new report from the Natural Resources Defense Council found.
The ‘Rainfall Ready NYC’ plan unveiled last week offers short-term fixes to fortify the city against intense rain, as the administration continues to work on a more comprehensive long-term plan, Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) Commissioner Rohit Aggarwala told City Limits.
“To get the most out of its vital investments in protected bike lanes, the city should pull every lever at its disposal to increase access to personal and shared e-bikes.”
The mayor’s office has approved the highest funding for tree planting in half a decade, officials say, allowing the Parks Department to plant 20,000 trees a year for the next four years. But some councilmembers say that pace isn’t fast enough to keep up with extreme weather events that damage the city’s tree canopy.
“New Yorkers now have the opportunity—and responsibility—to help the state move toward true climate justice by submitting input on how to allocate $300 billion for “disadvantaged communities.” Public participation has so far been abysmal: Only four people testified at New York City’s earlier in-person hearing. But it’s not too late: The comment period is open until July 7.”
City Limits uses investigative journalism through the prism of New York City to identify urban problems, examine their causes, explore solutions, and equip communities to take action.
Founded in 1976 in the midst of New York’s fiscal crisis, City Limits exists to inform democracy and equip citizens to create a more just city. The organization is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit funded by foundation support, ad sponsorship and donations from readers.
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