Opinion: What NYC’s Mayoral Candidates Are Missing on Climate

“Several critical policy areas deserve far more attention in this mayoral race, particularly when it comes to environmental justice in frontline communities, which are mainly in the outer boroughs.”

As New Yorkers get ready to elect their next mayor, climate stands out as a key issue shaping the city’s future. Climate law—particularly Local Law 97—has been a large topic of conversation throughout the mayoral race, with candidates’ positions on its enforcement potentially influencing voter decisions. While it’s encouraging to see LL97 in the debate as a sign that the city is moving in the right direction, its impact remains limited for neighborhoods outside Manhattan.

The next mayor will inherit a city facing compounding environmental challenges and widening inequities. As the election unfolds, one question looms large: Will the next administration translate policy ambition into neighborhood-level change?

Because while LL97 is a step in the right direction for the city, a true climate legacy will depend on addressing the inequities that persist in how resilience is planned, funded, and felt across all five boroughs. Beyond promises, the mayor must reduce daily environmental burdens that harm New York City residents, especially low-income and BIPOC communities. 

Several critical policy areas deserve far more attention in this mayoral race, particularly when it comes to environmental justice in frontline communities, which are mainly in the outer boroughs. What I wish to see and hear more of from candidates as we approach the election are concrete commitments to addressing the issues that shape daily life outside Manhattan.

• Infrastructure upgrades: Flooding and combined sewer overflows routinely impact neighborhoods in Queens, East New York, and the Bronx, yet upgrading drainage systems, green streets, or stormwater management in these neighborhoods is rarely discussed. Upgrading streets with permeable surfaces can help counteract flooding. With a recent pause on billions in Federal funding for infrastructure projects and severe cuts to the Building Resilient Infrastructure and Communities Program, actionable plans to address dated infrastructure that continuously fails New York City residents must be established. 
• Tackling extreme heat: 2025 is predicted to be among the hottest years on record, with life-threatening triple digit temperatures and high humidity impacting millions across the country. Extreme heat disproportionately impacts frontline neighborhoods with limited tree cover, and large-scale funding for cooling strategies such as tree planting, reflective surfaces, and accessible cooling centers could save lives. 
  
  A citywide commitment to planting trees and building and maintaining green spaces so all New Yorkers, regardless of neighborhood, benefit from shade, cooling, and access to nature should be a goal for the next mayor who takes office. The city should begin to map extreme heat and identify communities that experience an unequal burden as a first step in pursuing and securing funding for capital investments for extreme heat solutions.
• Truck pollution: Truck pollution continues to drive some of the nation’s highest asthma rates in the South Bronx and other frontline areas, with little talk of regulating warehouses or investing in clean freight. The next administration can take on the freight industry directly by incentivizing electric trucks, building clean distribution hubs, and enforcing zoning reforms that prevent overconcentration of warehouses in frontline communities. Capping and rerouting throughways in climate burdened communities, like the Capping the South Bronx Expressway campaign, can help alleviate pollution in the outer boroughs.
• Rising utility bills: Rising utility bills threaten to make the clean energy transition inequitable without stronger commitments to community solar, microgrids, and energy affordability programs. Expanding programs that allow tenants, homeowners, and small businesses to benefit directly from renewable power generation is critical. Supporting and implementing programs and initiatives similar to those outlined within the state’s Sustainable Future Fund to reduce carbon emissions and make energy-efficient updates can provide collective energy relief for the city.
• Waste and sanitation inequities: Waste infrastructure remains deeply unequal, with outer boroughs continuing to bear the impacts of the concentration of waste transfer stations in vulnerable communities and illegal dumping, despite the Department of Sanitation’s ongoing enforcement efforts. To reduce the impacts of transfers and daily traffic from heavy diesel trucks traveling to and from these stations, the city should continue to invest in rail-based transfer facilities. While recycling and composting infrastructure has expanded citywide, fines for noncompliance with the mandatory composting law were scaled back shortly after implementation and will not resume until 2026.
  
  Meanwhile, only about 17 percent of the city’s curbside waste is recycled. Supporting new proposed legislation, such as the Packaging Reduction and Recycling Infrastructure Act (PRRIA)—which aims to cut non-recyclable packaging by 30 percent over the next 12 years—will continue to push the city forward. The city has made progress, but there is still significant work that needs to be done.*

Accountability, not ambition, will define the next mayor’s legacy. Voters deserve more than broad promises. They deserve specific, actionable plans that translate into safer, healthier, and more resilient neighborhoods—for all. It is important for voters to research and push candidates to share how their proposed policies and initiatives will be funded. Having funding and a budget is a clear indication of a candidate’s commitment to a promise and their consideration of policy beyond a mere idea.

Additionally, it’s important to pay attention to whether a candidate has outlined a clear timeline of when the initiatives and policies will be implemented. Metrics provide voters with a guideline to follow and assess whether something is achievable during a mayor’s term. There is a difference between a plan and a promise.

Voters should also look closely at a candidate’s track record—and know what a mayor can actually control. Some policies can be enacted directly by City Hall, while others require state approval, so understanding that distinction is key to separating promises from achievable action.

On Tuesday, New Yorkers have the opportunity to decide the next mayor and with it, the city’s climate future. Let’s make sure we’re choosing leaders who prioritize equitable, evidence-based climate action, and hold them accountable for delivering on the promises that will shape the city for generations to come.

*This section was updated after publication to correct information about the city’s progress on recycling and sanitation enforcement.

Alicia White is the president and founder of Project Petals, an environmental, climate and community development organization providing education and resources to help under-resourced communities improve green spaces, food security, and environmental resilience. White is also the founder of Blue SKYie, a company focused on social and environmental innovation.