Office Buildings Could Evade Energy Upgrades Via ‘Giant Loophole’ in NYC’s Climate Law, Environmentalists Warn
Local Law 97, the most ambitious city-wide building energy law in the world, is coming to New York City in 2024 with the promise of making its building stock more energy efficient.
But environmentalists say the current rules are too lenient because they allow landlords, especially office property owners, to purchase a certificate known as a Renewable Energy Credit (REC) and simply buy their way out of complying.
“The rule that they have put in place on RECs is far too lax, and particularly privileges commercial office building owners. It gives them a gigantic loophole big enough to evade the law,” said environmentalist Pete Sikora, the climate and inequality campaigns director at New York Communities for Change.
Residents Living Near Queens Waste Facilities Hope Legal Settlement Finally Clears the Air For two decades, residents in Jamaica’s Bricktown say they’ve had to contend with the stench and debris from unenclosed waste transfer facilities nearby. A settlement reached with the facilities’ operators last month could change that for the community, one of the three city neighborhoods most burdened by waste infrastructure. Read the story.
What Hochul & Adams’ Budgets Include for Immigrant Communities—& What’s Left Out Advocates are sounding the alarm over both Gov. Hochul and Mayor Adams’ spending proposals, which failed to include several flagship programs they’ve fought for in recent years as well as reductions to programs that provide English language, literacy and citizenship classes that immigrant New Yorkers rely on.Read the story.
Wait Times for NYCHA Apartments Doubled Last Year, As Number of Vacant Units Climb The length of time it takes NYCHA to rent out available apartments has climbed in recent years, one of many factors exacerbating the city’s affordable housing crisis, lawmakers say. “They just say it’s not ready,” said one resident currently living in a homeless shelter who has been waiting more than 10 months to move into the NYCHA unit she was approved for. Read the story.
Opinion: NYC’s Housing Emergency Demands Good Cause Eviction, More Social Housing “The city and state must stop relying on failed capitalist strategies when developing more housing, which is why I introduced a bill Thursday that would require the city to study the feasibility of creating a municipal social housing development agency.”Read the story.
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¿Qué dijo el presidente Joe Biden en el discurso del estado de la Unión sobre los latinos e inmigración? La palabra “inmigración” solo se mencionó una sola vez en el discurso, cuando dijo “y unámonos también en cuanto a la inmigración. Hagámoslo un asunto bipartidista como solía serlo”. Leer el artículo.
Job Board
This week's offerings
Associate Director,
NYC Energy Efficiency Corporation
NYCEEC, the country’s first local green bank, is a non-profit specialty financier of projects in buildings that save energy and reduce greenhouse gases. The Associate Director will support the General Counsel/Director, Legal in efforts to manage NYCEEC’s legal and compliance affairs and help advise NYCEEC management and staff on various legal, compliance and risk management issues. *
Tenant Counselor, Cypress Hills Local Development Corporation
Cypress Hills Local Development Corporation (CHLDC) is a multi-service, nonprofit community development organization and settlement house in Cypress Hills, Brooklyn. The Tenant Counselor will counsel and represent low-income tenants to prevent eviction, secure apartment and building repairs, stop harassment, and otherwise resolve tenant-landlord conflicts. * Deputy Policy Director, Center for an Urban Future
The Center for an Urban Future (CUF) is a leading think tank focused on the future of New York City. The ideal candidate will have outstanding writing and editing skills; significant work experience conducting research, communications and/or journalism on public policy issues; fluency in New York’s policy and government landscape; a passion for New York; and some familiarity with issues related to economic opportunity.
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