Dear friends,
It’s been hard for me to stop thinking about what makes the city livable. A former colleague used to remark that I was the only New Yorker she knew who never seemed to need to get out of the city.
That yellow sky last week panicked me. I felt trapped in my apartment with the windows closed. I felt frightened for all of us and lucky that I was leaving town for a few days.
This is still my place — the place I feel at home with a deep sense of belonging. It could be better, though.
The city needs more trees. Less than one-fourth of the city is covered by the tree canopy and a new bill calls for at least 30 percent and the creation of
an Urban Forestry Master Plan “that identifies strategies and sets goals to protect, care for and expand the city’s urban forest canopy” by July 31, 2024.
Tell your councilmember that you want to see an Urban Forestry Master Plan and more trees in our city.
Lots of us were out in the streets in recent weeks, calling for #CareNotCuts. Incredibly, the Department of Homeless Services is ordering layoffs and cutbacks to meet the mayor’s called-for budget cuts. This is deeply disturbing.
City Hall sent the directive to the non-profits even though it has yet to strike budget with the City Council, which must be reached by July 1.
“The mayor is moving ahead with a plan to cut critical non-profit services at a time of overwhelming need,” said Catherine Trapani, the executive director of Homeless Services United.
The call to cut 2.5 percent from DHS’s budget when nearly one hundred thousand people are housed by the agency is dangerous. DHS can’t cut the rent they pay to house people, so they will be cutting people, programs, and case managers. Ultimately, the cuts will push more people into shelters.
Sewell’s abrupt resignation on Monday represents the most high-profile exit to date from the administration of Mayor Eric Adams, a former NYPD officer who touted her historic appointment. The mayor has pushed back against reports that his hand-picked commissioner left because she felt powerless and undermined by him and his inner circle at City Hall.
The Mayor maintains a close inner circle — dare I call them cronies? — but does not give the people beyond that circle the respect they are due.
The new contract he hopes to sign with the teachers’ union includes
This will result in a shortage of essential workers and demoralization of those who remain.
Tell the Mayor to fund social services, pay teachers fairly, hire and retain the best people, and let them do their jobs.
The NYS Assembly needed an extension and will return to Albany on Tuesday of next week. This provides a little window for action!
There’s a pile of legislation to promote democracy, covering ballot types and election staffing.
Tell the Assembly to pass democracy reforms! This quick action is from Public Citizen.
The failure to pass housing legislation, including tenant protections like Good Cause Eviction, is glaring. The governor is considering some executive action. I welcome suggestions for sensible action.
Incredibly, Sammy’s Law, the home-rule legislation to allow NYC to set speed limits in the city never came to a vote in the Assembly, even though it passed in the Senate. There’s a die-in this morning outside Assembly Speaker Heastie's office in Manhattan. If you can, come lay on the pavement to help end traffic violence.
Join today’s DIE-IN for Sammy’s Law at 11 AM at 250 Broadway.
The recent toxic air in NYC was a powerful reminder that climate impacts ignore political boundaries.
June 20th is the close of the public comment period on a proposal by the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) to create a new Public Lands Rule that would allow conservation leases. I don’t think I adequately explained this on Tuesday, and it makes sense that folks don’t take action when they don’t understand or have adequate information on the issue.
The BLM describes the proposed rule’s intent:
to improve the resilience of public lands in the face of a changing climate; conserve important wildlife habitat and intact landscapes; plan for development; and better recognize unique cultural and natural resources on public lands.
The proposed rule directly responds to the growing need to better manage public lands, waters, and wildlife in the face of devastating wildfires, historic droughts, and severe storms that communities are experiencing across the West, as well as to deepen BLM’s collaborative work with communities, states and Tribes to support responsible development of critical minerals, energy and other resources.
This new rule represents an important shift toward conservation from the long history of prioritizing oil and gas leases.
Tell the Bureau of Land Management that conserving land will protect water supplies and wildlife. Please personalize your comments!
The Mountain Valley Pipeline Southgate Extension was not explicitly named in the fast-tracking provisions that Congress included in the debt-ceiling deal. The developers just submitted their request for an extension of their original Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) certificate, after missing necessary authorizations and abandoning eminent domain proceedings for the project’s route through two North Carolina counties, Rockingham and Alamance.
Extending the Mountain Valley Pipeline into North Carolina threatens water supplies there. Building pipelines lengthens our commitment to planet-destroying fossil fuels.
Please sign and share the petition telling FERC to deny the request to extend the MVP! This quick action is from Appalachian Voices.
Corporate greenwashing can fool us into thinking that profit-driven enterprises share our concern for the long-term prospects of living on earth.
About 37 percent of Nestlé’s greenhouse gas emissions stem from the cattle in its supply chains. Nestlé is one of the globes top five largest dairy processing companies.
Nestlé made a “net zero” climate plan, but the company has only reduced emissions by about 1% in the last five years.
The folks at Changing Markets reviewed Nestlé’s climate plan, and have highlighted both the lack of transparency and reporting and the company’s failure to align with UN guidance on net-zero commitments.
Danone pledged earlier this year “to remove 1.2 million tons of the carbon dioxide equivalent of methane emissions.” In the US, we know Danone as Dannon, Activia, and Horizon Organics.
Danone’s actions put pressure on the rest of the industry. Add your voice.
Tell Nestlé to adopt a specific target to cut methane pollution! This quick action is from Ekō.
Thanks for taking action!
with love,
L