City on the Edge: Climate Change and New York City
Welcome to City Limits' City on the Edge newsletter, where we feature reporting and as resources for readers about climate, health and the environment in New York City.
Here are the latest stories from City Limits:
Outsourced NYC Trash is Causing a ‘Never-Ending Odor Event’ Upstate, Lawsuit Alleges
Residents in upstate New York are putting a new statewide constitutional right to its first test in two lawsuits filed this spring, alleging that a landfill receiving garbage from the city is disrupting their right to clean air and a healthful environment.
Sewer Backups Nearly Doubled in NYC Last Year Due to Climate Change
The city’s aging infrastructure combined with more intense rainfall is resulting in more sewer backups, which took on average more than 15 hours to resolve during the last fiscal year that ended in June.
Comptroller Proposes Roadmap to Legalize NYC’s Basement Apartments
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.
Opinion: Transit Riders Won Congestion Pricing. We Deserve To See It Happen
“With years of work, riders pried congestion pricing from a recalcitrant Albany. We intend to see the program fully and fairly rolled out next year. When congestion pricing is implemented, drivers will pay their equitable share to access the most heavily trafficked and transit adjacent neighborhoods in the United States.”
Opinion: New York Needs a Bold Climate Action Plan
“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 more intense storms that climate change is bringing to the five boroughs overtaxed the City’s drainage infrastructure and caused a significant increase in sewer backups.”
-- A spokesperson for the city's Department of Environmental Protection
Celebrating 46 years of informing and empowering democracy in New York City
While we have sold out tickets for the Gala on October 26, please join our cause by donating on behalf of our 2022 City Limits Gala & Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony honorees. Donors will be highlighted in the Gala program.
The Mark Edmiston Fellowship in Business Innovation
This fellowship honors Mr. Edmiston’s leadership and decade tenure as the City Limits Board of Trustees chair. This fellowship supports coverage on housing and homelessness as our primary editorial pillar, leveraging our legacy and expanding this coverage at a pivotal time for New York City. The City Limits Homeless Shelter Tracker, developed with talents and funds supported by this fellowship, was featured in The New Yorker, and has garnered other policymaker and press recognition.
The Jarrett Murphy Fellowship? in Climate & Health Reporting
This fellowship honors the extraordinary 14 year tenure with City Limits as the newsroom leader. City Limits utilized the fellowship funds to further invest in climate and health journalism and was recognized as a finalist at this year’s Clarion Awards from the Association for Women in Communications. This work also received a merit prize for feature reporting by the Silurian Press Club. Further increased visibility as the lead media sponsor for the 2022 Waterfront Conference.
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In a time of health emergency, fiscal crisis and political tension, City Limits' in-depth, policy-focused reporting isn't just worth reading. It's worth supporting so others can read it, too.
