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Mayor Offers Progress Report On Green Initiatives

Jen Chung

Published Apr 22, 2010

Modified Apr 22, 2010

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Jen Chung

Published Apr 22, 2010

Modified Apr 22, 2010

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Mayor Bloomberg will be in Times Square today, to celebrate Earth Day (which is 40 years old) with U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon, City Council Quinn, and others, including a virtual Vice President Al Gore. Which makes it perfect timing to look back at Earth Day 2007, when the mayor announced PlaNYC 2030, his list of 127 initiatives for the city to achieve sustainability by the year 2030. (Hey, the Mayor's Office Tweeted this morning, "Welcome to NYC, where every day is Earth Day.") And, for what it's worth, that 2007 speech is also the one where he broached the topic of...congestion pricing.

According to a 2010 progress report (PDF), 56% of the 2009 interim milestones have been achieved or mostly achieved. The Environment News Services notes examples like, "While the city did not meet its goal of constructing 240 Greenstreets by December 2009, only 224 were completed." The Daily News looks at it another way: Only 51 of the 127 projects were completed, with 21 "nearly achieved," and the remaining 55 "suffered budget shortfalls or haven't yet gotten needed support from state or federal governments."

Mayor Bloomberg said, "For three years, PlaNYC has changed the way New Yorkers think about their city and the future. We must continue to tackle the challenges we face and dream big. Our City and future generations are depending on it." More details at PlaNYC 2030 and, after the jump, some achievements cited by the Mayor's office:

Housing

100,000 units of affordable housing created or preserved through the New Housing Marketplace Plan.
19 transit-oriented rezonings completed, enabling the creation of 34,000 units of housing in areas well-served by transit

Open Space
Over 322,000 trees planted as part of MillionTreesNYC
113 schoolyards to playgrounds opened
Construction begun at Calvert Vaux Park and McCarren Pool
224 Greenstreets constructed

Brownfields
Office of Environmental Remediation opened-the nation's first municipal level brownfields office
Regulations released for the NYC Local Brownfield Cleanup Program (LBCP) and the NYC Brownfield Incentive Grant (BIG) Program

Water
All 14 wastewater treatment plants now able to meet Clean Water Act's 85% pollutant removal requirement harbor-wide
$115 million in new investments to improve the overall water quality and mitigate marshland loss in Jamaica Bay
Over 28,600 acres of land acquired to protect our upstate water supply

Transportation
31 state-of-good repair projects begun, leveraging $261 million in federal stimulus funding
200 miles of bicycle lanes installed and bike access law enacted
Times Square, Herald Square, and Madison Square transformed into pedestrian plazas
The number of New Yorkers who bike to work has doubled
Launched the city's first bus rapid transit route and developed citywide master plan

Energy
Greener, Greater Buildings Plan enacted-the most comprehensive green building legislation in the country
84 energy efficiency projects completed as part of our plan to reduce City government energy use 30% by 2017. These projects will result in over $2.3 million in annual energy savings
Federal stimulus funding secured to help property owners finance energy-saving retrofits in existing buildings
Green Codes Task Force report released
Entered into Offshore Wind Collaborative to build a wind farm off the coast of New York

Air Quality
25% of the yellow taxi fleet converted to hybrid vehicles
Clean air school bus law enacted, requiring installation of interior air quality controls on entire fleet and lowering the retirement age of buses
New York City Clean Air Survey winter report released, the most detailed ground-level survey of air quality undertaken by a major city
40 hybrid patrol cars added to NYPD fleet
Released report on electric vehicles

Climate Change
9% decrease in citywide carbon emissions
First ever official New York City-specific climate change projections created

Tagged

earth day

environment

green

mayor bloomberg

PlaNYC

Planyc 2030

Jen Chung

Jen Chung is a former WNYC and Gothamist editor.

Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations

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