June 7, 2013
City Reaches Major Milestones in Work on 132 Initiatives for Greener, Greater New YorkMayor Michael R. Bloomberg today released the 2013 PlaNYC progress report and announced that the City is on track to meet all of its ambitious sustainability targets. The report – an annual benchmarking of the City’s work toward its PlaNYC goals – measures progress on more than 100 initiatives that the City has launched to meet its targets for cleaner air and water, more housing and park space, and enhanced quality of life for all New Yorkers. In the last year, the City built on the achievements made since PlaNYC first launched in 2007 by: planting 65,000 trees; breaking ground on a new project at High Bridge Park; launching Citi Bike, the city’s newest public transportation option and nation’s largest bike share program; undertaking the largest expansion of the recycling system in 25 years; and reaching a 16 percent greenhouse gas reduction – more than halfway to the goal of 30 percent by 2030. The 2013 PlaNYC progress report is available at www.nyc.gov.
“We’ve come a long way since kicking off PlaNYC: our air is healthier, our waterways are cleaner, and we’re building a sustainable future for our city,” said Mayor Bloomberg. “The progress report we’re releasing today provides a detailed accounting of where we stand on all 132 PlaNYC initiatives, which were updated in 2011 and continue to evolve to meet the City’s future needs. We’ve made great progress—reducing greenhouse emissions by 16 percent, launching Citi Bike, and planting more than 750,000 new trees. But Hurricane Sandy was a devastating reminder that the threats associated with climate change are all too real, and we must continue to reduce the City’s contribution to the problem, while also taking steps to protect our communities and the infrastructure on which they rely.”
“This year’s PlaNYC progress report highlights the City’s data-driven, analytical approach to policy development and implementation,” said Sergej Mahnovski, Director of the Office of Long-Term Planning and Sustainability. “We continue to set the standard for sustainability planning through rigorous research and analysis as we advance toward achieving our goals, with 94 percent of our 405 milestones now complete or in progress.”
“As this 2013 progress report shows, New York is making great strides in becoming a more sustainable city,” said Marcia Bystryn, President of the New York League of Conservation Voters. “Mayor Bloomberg and his Office of Long-Term Planning and Sustainability deserve a lot of credit for weaving sustainability into the very fabric of city life. In many ways, PlaNYC has set the standard for sustainability action plans for cities around the country and around the world. And here in New York, PlaNYC has created a strong framework to carry sustainability into the next mayoral administration and well beyond.”
“The Clean Heat Task Force was an exceptionally successful collaboration between the government, not-for-profit, and private sector,” said Douglas Durst, Chairman of the Clean Heat Task Force and Chairman of The Durst Organization. “By working together, we established an achievable road-map that significantly reduces the particulate matter in our air and allows homeowners, landlords, coops and condos to upgrade their heating system to cleaning burning fuel without undue hardship or dislocation”
Mayor Bloomberg unveiled PlaNYC in 2007, an unprecedented and comprehensive sustainability program that established the Mayor’s Office of Long-Term Planning and Sustainability and requires the City to conduct annual progress reports, as well as an updated plan every four years. In 2011, the City updated PlaNYC to include 132 initiatives with more than 400 specific milestones to reach by December 31, 2013. The City is on track to meet its targets and an overview of the gains made follows.
Housing and Neighborhoods
New York City’s population will be almost nine million by 2030. To accommodate this population increase, the City set the goal in the PlaNYC Housing and Neighborhoods chapter to create homes for almost one million additional New Yorkers while also making housing and neighborhoods more affordable and sustainable. Since 2007, the City has:
Parks and Open Space
Access to adequate and quality parks and open space is critical to quality of life and public health, especially as the city’s population grows. To enable access for all New Yorkers, the PlaNYC Parks and Open Space chapter sets goals to ensure than all New Yorkers live within a 10-minute walk to a park. Since 2007, the City has:
Brownfields
Prior to 2007, brownfields were seldom redeveloped because no government oversight or liability protection was available to cleanup sites with low to moderate levels of contamination. PlaNYC established the goal of cleaning up all contaminated land in New York City and established an innovative brownfields strategy that blended economic development and community planning. Since 2007, the City has:
Waterways
Through PlaNYC, the City has undertaken bold initiatives to clean New York’s waterways, which have suffered from centuries of intense development and inadequate stormwater management and wastewater treatment. These efforts have increased opportunities for recreation and restored coastal ecosystems. Since 2007, the City has:
Water Supply
New York City provides high-quality drinking water to more than nine million people each day, and maintaining the quality and reliability of our water supply requires significant investment. Since 2007, the City has:
Transportation
New York’s vast system of streets, bridges, tunnels, subways, commuter rail, pedestrian and bicycle routes—and the people and vehicles that use them—move our city and drive our economy. The PlaNYC Transportation initiatives aim to provide safe and sustainable transportation options while ensuring the reliability and quality of our transportation network. Since 2007, the City has:
Energy
New York City’s energy strategy must ensure clean, reliable, and affordable energy today and for the future. The PlaNYC Energy goals will reduce emissions, create jobs, and save money. The City has:
Air Quality
New York’s dense urban environment brings New Yorkers into close contact with sources of air pollution. The City continues its progress toward the PlaNYC goal to achieve the cleanest air quality of any large U.S. city. Since 2007, the City has:
Solid Waste
New York generates more than 14 million tons of solid waste and recyclables each year, with almost half of that sent to landfills or other facilities far away from the City. To reduce costs and environmental impacts, the City set the goal to divert more than 75 percent of Solid Waste from our landfills. Since 2007, the City has:
Climate Change
New York faces threats from the effects of climate change today and in the future. The Climate Change strategies have two goals: to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by more than 30 percent before 2030, and to increase the resilience of the city’s communities, natural systems, and infrastructure. Since 2007, the City has:
Marc La Vorgna/Lauren Passalacqua
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