PlaNYC was officially unveiled on Earth Day 2007 as a constellation of objectives to make a “Greaner, Greater New York,” including steps to reduce the city’s total carbon footprint by 30% by 2030. Community organizations and environmental groups were consulted in the creation of the plan and many organized around the goals of the plan. Others criticized the plan for various reasons, especially for leaving out major areas of sustainability.
Now it is time for PlaNYC 2.0. Mayor Bloomberg’s Office of Long Term Planning and Sustainability recently released a progress report about the plan that can be downloaded here: http://www.nyc.gov/html/planyc2030/html/news/update.shtml. As part of the mandated four year update of the plan, they are now soliciting public feedback through internet sites, emails, text messages, and community conversation meetings.
I attended one such community conversation on October 19th, 2010. This meeting was held at the Borough of Manhattan Community College, a CUNY school. David Bragdon, the newly appointed head of PlaNYC reported on the progress of the plan’s goals thus far and acknowledged the feedback that had already been voiced about including solid waste, food systems, and sustainable economic growth into the updated plan. In the breakout session that I participated on we discussed climate change. The people within my group emphasized that the goal of a 30% reduction by 2030 may not be ambitious enough to avoid severe climate change consequences. The burning question about the carbon reduction goals of PlaNYC right now may be: How do we reach the 30% reduction goal sooner than 2030? It was fitting that this community conversation was held at a CUNY school because the CUNY system (along with other major NYC universities) has agreed to accept the challenge to reduce the institutional carbon footprint by 2017 instead of by 2030. Whatever your feelings are about the merits of PlaNYC, at the very least it has shown the potential to open dialogues about sustainability. In my future posts I plan to cover CUNY’s efforts to meet the ambitious 2017 deadline, and place these efforts in the context of PlaNYC, other New York City sustainability efforts, and sustainability efforts across the country and around the world.
Do you have any ideas you would like to see incorporated into the update of PlaNYC?
Here’s how you can participate.
Community Conversation Meetings
Bronx
October 26, 6-8 pm
Lincoln Hospital, Bronx
First Floor Conference area, Main Entrance
234 East 149th Street, Between Morris and Park
Co-sponsored by Youth Ministries for Peace and Justice and the Campaign for New York’s Future
Transit
West Queens
November 3, 6-8 pm
Frank Sinatra School for the Arts
Tony Bennett Concert Hall
35-12 35th Avenue, Astoria 11106
Co-Sponsored by the Campaign for New York’s Future
Transit
[Several meetings have already occurred, and additional events will be announced]
Website to vote for ideas:
Text Message #:
Fill in the blank by texting your idea to 917-791-3064 (the official PLANYC mobile input unit.) “One idea to create a greener, greater New York City is to ____.”
