“Trees cross party lines and geographic lines. They are the great uniter,” said Manhattan Borough President Mark Levine, who with his fellow borough presidents is pushing City Hall to commit to funding the additional plantings in the sustainability plan the administration will publish in April.
As of last month, the state had doled out just over $2 million of the $27 million set aside for the relief fund, according to recent data shared with City Limits. In total, 405 of the 554 New Yorkers who applied have been approved, and 352 have actually received the aid.
A staff of just 302 people tend to a crop of over 865,000 trees across the city. Adams’ preliminary budget aims to slash $46 million from the Parks Department, which environmentalists fear signals a step back in the mayor’s promise to keep New York City’s canopy alive and growing.
Across the country, cities are transforming asphalt schoolyards into spongy, shady community centers. The new playground at PS 184M Shuang Wen School in Manhattan’s Chinatown, for example, has a porous turf field that can capture an estimated 1.3 million gallons of stormwater runoff.
“Addressing New York City’s organic waste output isn’t just about keeping our streets rodent free. It’s about communities across the country where our waste ends up in polluting incinerators and towering landfills, including the largest in the state: Seneca Meadows.”
New studies have found that the mental development of children exposed to Superstorm Sandy in utero are associated with stress. This article originally appeared in Nexus Media News and the Guardian.
Organic waste collection has become a growing priority as the city seeks to reduce the amount of waste that ends up in landfills, though its composting efforts have been rolled out in fits and starts over the last decade.
The program will charge companies for carbon pollution and introduce a novel rebate initiative that promises to distribute $1 billion to New Yorkers. But environmentalists say its success will rest on how exactly the state designs the program, to ensure it doesn’t allow companies to essentially pay to pollute without meaningfully lowering emissions.
Advocates say the findings add new urgency to the state’s efforts to transition its energy sources away from fossil fuels, and as environmental groups renew calls for state lawmakers to pass legislation that would ban gas hookups in new construction statewide.
“New York State has the lowest per capita emissions in the country. Compared to the rest of the United States, New York City has by far the best transit, and it is the only city where living car-free is the standard. Other cities should pursue more climate-friendly urban design, but New York City should lead by welcoming more people.”
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