EJNYC Community Charrette: Getting Input on Environmental Justice Issues in Harlem

WE ACT has joined forces with New York City Mayor’s Office of Climate and Environmental Justice (MOCEJ) to work together on a citywide outreach effort to engage communities and get their input on the EJNYC Plan, a plan to address the environmental justice issues identified in the EJNYC Report. Engaging with the residents of New York’s environmental justice communities, those who are most impacted by these issues, will be critical in developing effective, equitable solutions.

Thanks to the generous support of conEdison, our first charrette will be here in Harlem on Saturday, Dec. 6th at 10:00 AM at the Manhattanville Community Center. Come join us and help ensure that the voices of our community are included in this plan. RSVP

Celebrating 2025 & Looking Ahead to 2026

We had a wonderful Membership Meeting last Saturday. Thanks to all who were able to join us! In addition to previewing our 2026 Policy Agenda, a draft of which can be found here, we recognized several of our members for their contributions this year:

Members: Take Our Membership Survey

We have launched a WE ACT Membership Survey to better understand those of you who make up this powerful community, including what skills and interests you have and how you'd like to be involved in the future. It’s also available in Spanish. Please take a few minutes to fill it out in English or Spanish. Not a member? You can sign up here! Take the Survey

Take Action: Protect the Toxic Substances Control Act

People of color are disproportionately exposed to toxic chemicals. And now Big Chem is lobbying Congress to weaken the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA), a federal law that protects public health and the environment from harmful chemicals.

With organizations like ours working to pass state laws to restrict the use of these dangerous chemicals that threaten public health, the chemical industry is now aggressively lobbying Congress to undermine these protections by weakening the TSCA. If you believe our health is more important than Big Chem’s profits, we urge you to sign Toxic-Free Future’s petition and tell Congress to stop rolling back these protections. Sign the Petition

Take Action: Rally to Improve Park Bathrooms & Drinking Fountains

NYC Parks maintains 1,100 public bathrooms and 3,400 drinking fountains, nearly 70 percent of all the public restrooms citywide. These facilities are critical for public health, human relief, and equity. But decades of disinvestment and chronic understaffing have led to far too many being closed, broken, or unsanitary.

We invite you to rally with the Play Fair Coalition on Monday, Nov. 24th at 12:00 PM in City Hall Park to call attention to the sorry state of our parks’ public restrooms and drinking fountains and to demand the passage of Intro 1425, which would invest in the staffing needed to maintain these essential facilities. You can also testify at the City Council oversight hearing immediately after the rally - at 1:00 PM on the 8th Floor of 250 Broadway. Learn More & RSVP

Take Action: Sign the Petition to Reinstate the MTA Ban on Alcohol Ads

In 2018, we were part of a coalition that successfully advocated for the MTA to ban alcohol ads in our transit system. But the MTA quietly reversed course and is now allowing such advertisements.

Our members have made it clear that we need a safer, more hospitable transit system, and ads that encourage unhealthy behavior are counterproductive, especially given how many minors use the subways and buses. We hope that you will take a minute to sign the petition, which was created by one of our former organizers, Bailey, who was part of the initial campaign. Sign the Petition

Our opposition to the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) proposed scrapping of its 2009 Endangerment Finding, which states that greenhouse gas emissions “threaten the public health and welfare of current and future generations,” was reported in a Fox News article on the opposition to EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin’s national tour touting his new deregulation agenda. The article appeared in other outlets, such as the Spanish-language version of Yahoo news, Yahoo Noticias.

Last week, we reported that Briana Carbajal and New York State Senator Nathalia Fernandez co-authored an Op-Ed in LoHud.com – the website of The Journal News, which covers the Lower Hudson Valley – urging New York State Governor Kathy Hochul to sign our bill, passed unanimously by the state legislature, banning PFAS and other dangerous chemicals from menstrual products. The Op-Ed also appeared in sister newspapers across the state, including the Binghamton Press & Sun-Bulletin, Canandaigua Daily Messenger, Corning Leader, Elmira Star-Gazette, Herkimer Times Telegram, Ithaca Journal, Middletown Times Herald-Record, Poughkeepsie Journal, Rochester Democrat and Chronicle, and Utica Observer-Dispatch. Click here if you would also like to ask the Governor to sign the bill into law.