The Mayor's Office and the NYC Environmental Justice Advisory Board are working on the City's first comprehensive study of environmental justice (EJ). The Environmental Justice for All Report will identify the city's Environmental Justice Areas, analyze environmental and climate issues, and identify which communities are being disproportionately impacted by environmental burdens and which are not seeing the benefits of green investments made by the City.
In December 2021, the Mayor's Office of Climate & Sustainability released a scope of work for the Environmental Justice for All Report. The scope outlines the environmental justice concerns the report will study and our approach to analyzing them.
Learn more about the scope of work
Read the Full Scope of Work
Learn more about the Environmental Justice for All Report by clicking on, or pressing enter on, the topics below.
What is the NYC Environmental Justice for All Report?
In April of 2017, the City enacted historic environmental justice legislation (Local Law 60 and Local Law 64), requiring city government to conduct a comprehensive study to assess the current state of environmental justice in New York City. The Environmental Justice for All Report will analyze environmental and climate issues and identify which communities are being disproportionately impacted by environmental burdens, and which may not be seeing the benefits of green investments made by the City. The report will study issues citywide, but also include a focus on how these issues impact the city's EJ areas.
Read the full scope of the Environmental Justice for All Report
What are the requirements of the NYC Environmental Justice for All Report?
NYC's environmental justice law includes ten requirements for the Environmental Justice Report. These requirements ensure that major climate, environmental, and health concerns are identified and measured, and that existing City programs to address those issues are also examined.
The Mayor's Office of Climate and Sustainability and the City's Environmental Justice Interagency Working Group released a scope for the Environmental Justice For All Report in December 2021 which meets and exceeds these minimum requirements
Read the scope of the Environmental Justice for All Report.The NYC Environmental Justice Report is required to include:
Map of NYC's Environmental Justice Areas
NYC's environmental justice law defines "Environmental Justice Areas" as low-income or minority communities located in the City of New York, based on US Census data (ACS 2014-2018). Defining Environmental Justice Area in this way enables the City to start from a baseline of social vulnerability in the Environmental Justice Report. These areas have been and continue to be more vulnerable to potential environmental injustices due to factors including history of systemic racism and inequitable resource distribution. The NYC Environmental Justice for All Report will identify and describe these injustices.
In the map below, you can enter your address to see if you live in an Environmental Justice Area. Note that some areas have been identified as a "potential Environmental Justice Area". This means that the difference between the census data and the Environmental Justice Area thresholds are not statistically significant, therefore we cannot be certain that these areas meet the income or race thresholds to be considered an Environmental Justice Area. The City will also seek to better understand these areas in the Environmental Justice Report.
Virtual Town Halls
The Mayor's Office and the NYC Environmental Justice Advisory Board periodically host town halls to engage New Yorkers about environmental justice. You can speak directly to the City's leading advocates and experts on environmental justice and learn more about the Environmental Justice for All Report. See below for information about past and future town halls.
Winter 2021 Town Hall
February 25, 2021 6:00pm-7:30pm
View the recording of the town hall
View the presentation from the town hall
Summer 2021 Town Hall
August 18, 2021 6:00pm-7:30pm
View the recording of the town hall
View the presentation from the town hall
View the transcript of the town hall
Check this page, sign up for updates below, and follow us at @NYClimate or @GreeNYC to find out about future town halls.
We have baked public input into every phase of the Environmental Justice for All Report. The links below provide insight into how your comments have influenced this work to date. There will be ongoing opportunities to provide input as the City develops the Environmental Justice for All Report.
Please sign up below for updates and further opportunities to provide input on the Environmental Justice for All Report.
For general inquiries about this work, you can email us at ej@climate.nyc.gov.
First Public Comment Period
Top environmental and climate justice concerns in the five boroughs
Comment period on the Draft Scope
Read the Draft Scope of the Environmental Justice for All Report