March 20, 2010 · www.gothamgazette.com

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Environment Reports:

Failing to Weatherize Low-Income Homes
The state has failed to weatherize the vast majority of low-income homes that it received grants to so from the federal government, according to a report by the US Department of Energy's inspector general. The city's hiring freeze has resulted in an inability to build the staff needed for the program, the report states.  2010-03-18

State Ranks Low on Mercury Thermostat Collection
New York ranks 31st in a national study about mercury thermostat recovery conducted by a coalition of environmental groups including NYPIRG. Thermostat makers only collect under 5 percent of them nationally, and only 1.3 percent in New York. The groups are calling for a mandatory collection program.  2010-02-05

Electric Cars and New York
By 2016, up to 16 percent of all new vehicles purchased in New York City could be electric, according to a new study from the city and McKinsey & Company. It found there is potential that a large group of New Yorkers would be willing to change their behavior -- like starting to park in a garage with a charging station instead of on the street -- to own an electric vehicle. It also found these potential electric car owners would be willing to spend more for their green vehicles, meaning tax incentives and subsidies may not spur purchases.  2010-01-12

Dirty Heating Oil Pollutes New York
A report by the Environmental Defense Fund shows that 9,000 city buildings that burn the dirtiest grades of heating oil release more pollution than all the city's cars and trucks combined.  2009-12-23

Dirty Buildings
About 9,000 buildings in the city, many in affluent neighborhoods, burn the dirtiest grades of heating oil, according to a report by the Environmental Defense Fund. Together, the report says, the buildings -- accounting for about 1 percent of city buildings -- produce more pollution than all the city's cars and trucks combined.  2009-12-21

State's Energy Efficiency Ranking
Only four other states are doing more than New York to implement energy efficiency, according to the American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy.  2009-11-18

Drilling Near City Reservoirs
The Paterson administration is preparing to OK natural gas drilling near the city's upstate water reservoirs. A study by environmental consultants Hazen and Sawyer found that drilling near reservoirs can, "allow previously isolated contaminants to flow into shallow groundwater or surface water". 2009-10-09

Local Governments and Climate Change
The Regional Plan Association and ICLEI-Local Governments for Sustainability compare the metro region's local governments' plans for climate change and carbon reduction. 2009-10-08

Water Plant Woes
The water filtration plant being built in Van Cortlandt Park is over cost and behind schedule, according to two audits released yesterday by City Comptroller William Thompson Jr. One audit found that in 2004 the Croton Water Treatment Plant was estimated to cost $994 million. Now, the comptroller's office says, the Department of Environmental Protection has awarded contracts for the facility totaling more than $2.1 billion. A second audit found the plant will not open by the Oct. 31, 2011 deadline, leaving the city subject to fines. A link to the audit on cost overruns is below. 2009-09-02

Report Card on Beaches
With warm weather finally here, New Yorkers for Parks has released its report card on New York's seven city beaches. The report found conditions improved somewhat since 2007 but said "New York City's 14 miles of public beaches still need additional maintenance attention." 2009-08-14

Beach Quality in New York and New Jersey
Testing the Waters:A Guide to Water Quality at Vacation Beaches, a report by the Natural Resource Defense Council, provides a rating guide for the nation's most popular beaches based on quality, monitoring and notification of contamination. This year's report shows that New York and New Jersey's beaches are in bad shape. Most of the area's beaches received poor to mixed reviews. 2009-07-31

Air Pollution May Lower IQ
Exposure to a certain type of air pollution can lower a child's IQ, according to research conducted in Manhattan and the Bronx by the Columbia Center for Children’s Environmental Health. A study of children of Dominican and black women who did not smoke found children exposed to environmental pollutants known as polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons had IQs abut four points lower than similar children who did not have high level of exposure to the pollution. The pollutant in question comes from burning of coal, diesel, oil and gas, or other organic substances such as tobacco. For a summary of the report, go to the Mailman School of Public Health. 2009-07-21

What New York Can Learn from Other Cities
This new report by the Drum Major Institute offers examples from other cities of solutions to problems in the policy areas of economic opportunity, housing affordability, criminal justice, workplace standards, environmental sustainability, and health care. 2009-07-16

Environmental Scorecard
With the primary election only two months away, the New York League of Conservation Voters has issued a report rating how all members of the New York City Council voted on what the group sees as key pieces of environmental legislation. The scorecard considered 13 issues and rated members accordingly. Seven members got a 100 percent, while six tied for the lowest rating -- 17 percent. 2009-07-15

NYC is Green Collar Ready
Two new reports by by the Political Economy Research Institute at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst (PERI), Center for American Progress (CAP), Green For All, and the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) show how investments in clean-energy economy could positively impact the American economy, creating more jobs for lower-income workers in addition to lowering energy and transportation costs. As clean energy and climate legislation moves through Congress, new data show that a $6.7 billion investment in New York City would create 62,949 new jobs. 2009-06-22

Green Jobs and Green Homes
New York should create a retrofitting program to make residential housing more energy efficient according to this report by the Working Families Party and a national group called American Progress. They say that 60,000 years worth of green jobs could be created, $1 billion saved through lower energy bills, and residential energy consumption reduced by 30 percent to 40 percent. 2009-05-28

The City's Green Apples and Bad Apples
For the third year in a row, the Natural Resources Defense Council has compiled a list of the city's best and worst environmental places. On the best list, Red Hook Community Farm and Marcal Paper (in New Jersey) are included. On the worst, Coney Island holds a place, as does the State Senate. 2009-05-01

City Trails in Number of High Performance Buildings
New York City has 41 buildings with a LEED rating -- a certification for its efficiency in water and energy use and carbon emissions -- according to a new report by the Center for an Urban Future. That leaves the city in the middle for number of certifications. There are 70 in Chicago, 63 in the comparatively tiny Portland, 55 in Seattle and 47 in Washington, DC. 2009-04-30

Environmental Reviews Should Include Climate Change
New York should require an environmental reviews of land use, energy, industrial, transportation and other projects that includes climate change implications, according to a new report by the Municipal Art Society. The review proposed would incorporate the disclosure of the projects' potential greenhouse gas emissions and an exploration of how to mitigate those emissions. It would also include the consideration of how climate change will impact the projects and what could be done to prepare for that. 2009-04-24

State Climate Change Strategy
Although New York has a number of laws, policies and programs addressing global warming, there is no comprehensive strategy and no binding target for carbon reductions, according to this report by the New York State Bar Association. As such, they recommend setting goals of reducing emissions to 80 percent below 1990 levels by 2050, a target proposed by President Barack Obama. The report also lays out an additional 22 initiatives the state could take that would actually save money or be of modest cost. 2009-04-03

A Blueprint for Growth
"One City/One Future: A Blueprint for Growth That Works for All New Yorkers" is the product of four years of collaboration by civic leaders, neighborhood advocates, community development organizations, labor unions, affordable housing groups, environmentalists, immigrant advocates, and others. It offers policy 54 recommendations. For the full report, visit here. 2009-03-31

The State's Carbon Emissions
Each New Yorker emits 10.9 metric tons of carbon dioxide a year, compared to a national annual average of 20.3 metric tons per individual, according to this report by the New York Affordable Reliable Electricity Alliance. 2009-02-26

The High Cost of Idling
With the city rarely enforcing restrictions on idling, cars and trucks sitting at the curb with their engines running create as much pollution every year as 9 million large trucks driving from Hunts Point to Staten Island, according to a new report by the Environmental Defense Fund, an advocacy group. "Idling Gets You Nowhere" applauds the City Council for passing new laws on idling last month and urges the Bloomberg administration to enforce the restrictions on idling. 2009-02-11

The High Cost of Idling
With the city rarely enforcing restrictions on idling, cars and trucks sitting at the curb with their engines running create as much pollution every year as 9 million large trucks driving from Hunts Point to Staten Island, according to a new report by the Environmental Defense Fund, an advocacy group. "Idling Gets You Nowhere" applauds the City Council for passing new laws on idling last month and urges the Bloomberg administration to enforce the restrictions on idling. 2009-02-10

Protecting the City's Wetlands
A recent report from the mayor's office finds that while existing Federal and State laws do a good job protecting the City's tidal wetlands and its large freshwater wetlands, smaller freshwater wetlands (less than 12.4 acres) are not as well protected and thus more vulnerable to threats from land use and development. 2009-02-06

MTA Unveils Draft Sustainability Report
The Metropolitan Transportation Authority yesterday unveiled a draft report offering ideas for making the agency more sustainable. State level recommendations included: supporting the Ravitch Commission report; creating a clean-air surcharge for vehicles; authorizing cameras on buses; and encouraging the use of pension funds and endowments for investments in transit projects. Among the recommendations for the city are creating a transit-oriented-development task force to work with the M.T.A. and charging more for parking during peak hours. The report also proposed creating a more expensive "green Metrocard" that riders could purchase in order to support making the M.T.A. more sustainable. 2009-01-09

Healthier School Buses
The Environmental Defense Fund proposes a $30 million retrofit program for the city's school buses over three years. The program would upgrade the bus fleet's diesel engines so that 90 percent of their pollution would be eliminated. Pollution is five times higher inside buses than it is outside, according to the report. 2008-10-03

Earthquake Risk for City
The city is at substantially more risk of being hit by an earthquake than previously thought, according to a new report by seismologists at Columbia University's Earth Institute. One of the findings of the study is that the Indian Point nuclear facility rests on the previously unidentified intersection of two active seismic zones. Although large quakes are uncommon in the area, the report says that the region's high density raises the risk. 2008-08-22

How Parking Requirements Lead to More Driving
This study from Transportation Alternatives, a pedestrian and bicyling advocacy group, finds that New York City’s residential off-street parking requirements encourage car ownership and use, and contradict city sustainability goals which seek to reduce traffic, air pollution and carbon emissions. 2008-08-19

Is New York's Sustainability Plan Sustainable?
Tom Angotti examines PlaNYC2030 and concludes that, despite its many noble goals promised improvements in the environment and public health, the plan continues the policy of promoting extremely high densities at high value locations, which can create negative environmental and health impacts, and neglect other parts of the city. This is one in a series of working papers sponsored the Hunter College Center for Community Planning and Development. 2008-08-08

Green State Lawmakers
Environmental Advocates released a report this week recognizing the state lawmakers that supported all four of the "super bills" that the organization considered priority. In the Assembly, the listed lawmakers actually voted on all of the bills, but the Senate list includes those that cosponsored or requested to cosponsor those not brought to a vote. The bills were: the Wetlands Protection Act, the Bigger Better Bottle Bill, the Global Warming Pollution Cap, and two Net Metering Reform bills. 2008-07-24

New York Less Vulnerable to Gas Prices
A new report from the Natural Resources Defense Council found New York was less vulnerable than most states to higher gas prices. The report factors in how much residents spend of their annual income on gas and what each state has done to reduce oil dependency. New Yorkers spend about 3.3 percent of their annual income on gas. It also recognizes the state's attempt to provide clean energy incentives, emission standards and idling restrictions. 2008-07-23

New York Behind on Meters
A new report from Transportation Alternatives, a biking and public transportation advocacy group, says three cities are leaping ahead of New York City with new technology and higher meter rates to prevent drivers from cruising for parking. The policies of San Francisco, Chicago and Washington D.C., the report contends, can help reduce traffic on city streets by opening up spaces, decreasing the parking "cruising" that contributes to 45 percent of some congestion. 2008-07-16

From Potholes to Planning: Will the City’s Transportation Agency Changing Routes?
Transportation initiatives are central to New York City’s long-term sustainability agenda outlined in PlaNYC. In this paper, Paige Cowett looks at whether, even with new leadership and a strategic plan, transportation policy in the city will change directions. This is one in a series of working papers sponsored the Hunter College Center for Community Planning and Development. 2008-07-01

Shrinking the Carbon Footprint of Metropolitan America
This report from the Brookings Institution quantifies transportation and residential carbon emissions for the 100 largest U.S. metropolitan areas, finding that metro area residents have smaller carbon footprints than the average American. Dense metro areas such as New York, Los Angeles, and San Francisco stand out for having the smallest transportation and residential footprints. 2008-06-24

City Fails to Pay its Own Water Bill
An audit by the City Comptroller found that the city’s Economic Development Corporation had not paid water or sewer bills for the last 22 years on a leased property in Sunset Park, Brooklyn. The unpaid bills totaled $4.5 million, according to the New York Times. The city’s Department of Environmental Protection has now billed the corporation for $497,000, which accounts for two years of payments. Under an agreement with the City Council, the city cannot seek payment for previous years. The audit found that the Economic Development Corporation failed to contact the Department of Environmental Protection to ask why it wasn’t being billed for water and sewage use - charges it must pay under its lease agreement. The Department of Environmental Protection was unaware that the Army Terminal had been leased to city's corporation. 2008-06-10

New York’s Sustainability Plan: Trailblazer or Copycat?
Paige Cowett examines other cities that have developed sustainability plans, comparing the efforts in London and Los Angeles to New York's She concludes that PlaNYC fails to address economic equality and social inclusion as the London plan does and that PlaNYC is limited in some ways by the constraints on the authority of New York City’s government in New York State. This is one in a series of working papers sponsored the Hunter College Center for Community Planning and Development. 2008-06-01

Drinking Water Protection
The Clean Drinking Water Coalition, which includes the likes of NYPIRG and Riverkeeper, has released its first annual report card grading the city's Department of Environmental Protection on its protection of drinking water. Although the department received good grades overall, the report finds a number areas in need of improvement. They have concerns with the turbidity, or cloudiness, of the Catskill Watershed, and see a need to step up acquisition of land around the Croton Watershed, among other things. 2008-05-16

Polluted School Sites
A legal loophole allows the city to open schools in leased buildings that could pose hazards to children, according to a report released yesterday by Public Advocate Betsy Gotbaum. The report, "The High Cost of Leasing Schools," focuses on existing buildings leased by the School Construction Authority. Some of these are on former industrial sites, but under existing law, the authority does not have to get an environmental review of these properties. To remedy the situation, the report calls for closing what it terms "the leasing loophole in the Public Authorities Law." 2008-05-07

PlaNYC Status Update
The status of PlaNYC a year after its launch is chronicled in this progress report by the Bloomberg Administration. It says that of the 127 initiatives that comprise the plan, 90 percent have been launched. Some of the highlights include the opening of 69 schoolyards as public playgrounds and the planting of 50,000 trees; the streamlining of brownfield cleanup programs; 60 miles of new bike lanes; the passing of legislation codifying greenhouse gas reduction targets and fuel efficiency standards for new cabs. One plan put on hold was an effort to enroll the city in a federal flood management program to reduce insurance rates. This was halted because it was found that insurance rates would not fall significantly enough. 2008-04-24

Priorities and Progress in PlaNYC
With the anniversary of PlaNYC this month, the League of Conservation Voters has released a report that assesses the plan's progress and identifies priorities that the city should take as Mayor Michael Bloomberg's time in office winds down. One recommendation the League makes is increasing the cost of parking in the Central Business District. Another is requiring city funded cultural institutions to adopt energy efficiency measures. The report also calls for job training in green industries. 2008-04-23

Sustainable Energy Independence for NYC
This report from the the Sierra Club of New York City looks at how higher fuel prices could affect transportation, heating, shipping, electricity, and food costs. It also asks city officials to create a task force to "study potential local impacts and mitigations of energy volatility, and to require consideration of energy volatility in all city agency budgeting and planning decisions." 2008-04-01

Energy Costs and Capacity in NY
Albany must curb energy costs and increase capacity to meet rising demand, the Manhattan Institute argues in a new report. It notes that New York City and Long Island have some of the highest electricity rates in the country, and for the city to meet electricity demand in the city through 2012 alone, it will need to add resources equivalent to a new 500 megawatt power plant. To address these issues in the city and statewide, the report recommends a variety of options from reauthorizing a power plant siting law called Article X to the relaxation of environmental regulations and a reduction in taxes and fees imposed upon energy generators and transmission companies. 2008-03-13

Thoughts on Global Warming
A survey conducted by researchers at Columbia and Yale universities found that the majority of New Yorkers believe global warming is occurring now and city leaders must do more to address it. The survey, led by the Center for Research on Environmental Decisions at Columbia, found 78 percent of New Yorkers thought global warming is happening now, and 82 percent thought it was caused mostly by humans or caused equally by humans and natural occurrences. 2008-03-10

Renewable Energy in New York
A task force headed by Lt. Gov. David Paterson has issued 16 recommendations to generate more renewable energy in New York State. The group called for an eight-fold increase in solar power generation from photovoltaic cells, providing funding to enable 25 percent of the state's energy to come from renewable sources by 2013 and attracting renewable energy companies to New York. The task force maintains that increasing use of energy other than fossil fuels could produce revenues and create up to 43,000 new jobs. 2008-02-27

Moving the City Beyond Oil
PlaNYC should be updated to address volatility in energy prices and supply caused by global warming and oil consumption, argues the Sierra Club NYC Group in a revised and updated report first published in May. They call for the formation of a taskforce to study the issue, and for requiring all city agencies to consider energy volatility in budgeting and planning decisions. Some of the other recommendations for reduced energy consumption include: the implementation of congestion pricing; encouraging local food production; and stricter energy efficiency standards for buildings and construction. 2008-02-21

Buried in Bottles
The New York Public Interest Research Group released a survey last week that measured the amount of litter at 20 locations throughout the state. The survey found that 21 percent of the litter, by volume, included non-deposit containers that could be captured if the state were to expand its bottle bill to include non-carbonated beverage containers -- legislation the group is pushing for. The group contends recycling would increase if bottles, such as water or iced tea containers, were included in the state’s bottle bill, which requires a 5 cent refundable deposit on soda, beer or other carbonated beverage containers. 2008-02-20

Lead Poisoning and Immigrants
Immigrant children are five times more likely than other New York City children to suffer from lead poisoning, according to a report by the city health department. Because children who have arrived in this country recently are the most likely to be affected, the health department thinks the children may have been exposed to lead in their countries of origin, where the toxic metal might be less tightly regulated. Exposure to lead is linked to learning and behavioral problems in young children. 2008-01-07

The Impact of Flight Delays On NYC
Escalating flight delays at New York City area airports, far outpacing those in the rest of the nation, are diminishing New York City’s competitive edge in the global marketplace and increasing pollution in adjacent neighborhoods, according to a new report by New York City Comptroller William C. Thompson, Jr. "One of the New York City’s major competitive advantages is its outstanding air connections with the rest of the nation and the world,” Thompson said. “This advantage is now being degraded by the declining reliability of air travel into and out of New York.” 2007-12-03

Curbing the Pigeon Population
Councilmember Simcha Felder released a report that recommends fines for individuals who feed the city's pigeons and suggests that the city consider using birth control to control their numbers. The report contends the pigeon population causes infrastructure damage and poses a public health risk. In addition to banning the feeding of pigeons, Felder also recommends the appointment of a "Pigeon Czar," who would oversee the city's pigeon control programs. The czar would replace the fragmented oversight currently in place, where multiple agencies and departments have jurisdiction. 2007-11-13

Alternatives to Congestion Pricing
A report released yesterday by the group Keep NYC Congestion Tax Free offered a variety of alternatives to congestion prices that it says would result in the same amount of traffic reduction as Mayor Michael Bloomberg's congestion pricing plan. Among the reports suggestions are: raising the cost of parking in the central business district and greatly reducing the amount of free parking in Manhattan, reducing the amount of parking placards given to city employees, increasing the amount of taxi stands, raising tolls on bridges and tunnels, increasing fines for parking infractions and modernizing traffic signals. 2007-10-12

Preserving Jamaica Bay
With the marshes of Jamaica Bay rapidly disappearing, the city Department of Environmental Protection has issued a two-volume report proposing strategies to restore and maintain the vital wildlife habitat. Among other measures, the Jamaica Bay Watershed Protection Plan calls for reducing discharges into the bay. Such discharges, particularly of nitrogen from wastewater treatment plants, have been blamed for much of the area’s degradation. 2007-10-10

Traffic Congestion
Traffic in the New York area continues to get worse, consuming ever more time and fuel, according to the latest report from the Texas Transportation Institute, which takes annual readings of congestion in American cities. It found that traffic delays in the metropolitan area cost more than $7 billion in 2005 (the most recent year) and consumed an excess 242 million gallons of fuel. While the average traveler wasted 14 hours in traffic delays in 1982, the year the institute began compiling that number, he or she now wastes 48 hours. 2007-09-19

The City Council’s Federal Agenda
The City Council released its federal agenda yesterday focusing on funding for health care related to the September 11th attacks, affordable housing and health care for children from low-income families. The council is calling for nearly $2 billion in federal funding from 2008 through fiscal year 2012 to track the mental and medical care of World Trade Center workers, as well as for the expansion of health care for others affected by the attacks. The council also urges Congress to adopt protective measures for affordable housing at the risk of foreclosure and grants for the rehabilitation of affordable housing in bad condition. The council is also calling for the reauthorization of a federal and state subsidized health insurance program for children and its subsequent expansion to higher income families. 2007-09-18

Report Faults EPA on 9/11 Clean Up
The federal Environmental Protection Agency was found to have underperformed in its second effort to clean building interiors of dust from the fallen Twin Towers, according to a report by an investigative arm of congress. The agency should have tested interiors above Canal St. and in Brooklyn, it said, but the testing it did perform was inadequate because it failed to check hard to reach places. The report by the Government Accountability Office also found that a majority of the members of an expert panel set up to help develop a cleaning program thought the panel failed in all of its goals. Furthermore, the agency was not entirely open with the public about the results about its first cleaning, the investigative office says. The agency told the public that the indoor testing showed most of the interiors to be safe from asbestos, but 80 percent of that testing was from samples taken after the residences were professionally cleaned. Also, since the results were based on a voluntary program, the report states that the samples were based on only 20 percent of eligible residences. 2007-09-06

How "Green" are New York's Streets?
A new report by four alternative transportation groups across the country rates how "green" their respective cities' streets are. New York, which was assessed by Transportation Alternatives and ranked last out of the four, has much to be applauded, but has many areas of needed improvement, the report said. While it lauds the mayor's PlaNYC and the new transportation commissioner, the city must elaborate on details of that plan and create a strategy for pedestrian safety, the report said. 2007-08-17

City Drinking Water Tunnel At Risk
The Delaware Aqueduct System - which supplies more than half of the city's drinking water - is leaking and in need of accelerated repair, a new audit by the state comptroller has found. Although the city jas been aware of the issue, the audit points out, it has not taken adequate steps to repair the pipe, nor has it developed an emergency response plan to deal with a potential collapse. 2007-08-16

Possible Impacts in the Outer-Boroughs
Although Mayor Michael Bloomberg says his congestion pricing plan is integral to creating a more environmentally friendly and sustainable city, a report issued this week by Councilmember David Weprin contends the plan merely shifts environmental and health impacts to outer-borough neighborhoods outside of the congestion pricing zone. According to the report, “because areas with the highest incidence of asthma are generally the same areas with the greatest number of mass transit riders, it therefore follows that affected neighborhoods will be subjected to an even greater health risk should congestion pricing be implemented.” If mass transit alternatives are not accessible, the report warns, drivers would park in areas outside of the congestion zone and consequently increase traffic there. 2007-07-19

Climate Control in the Northeast
If greenhouse gas emissions are not reduced from their current levels, Manhattan landmarks like Wall Street and Battery Park could be flooded once every decade by 2100, according to a report by the Union of Concerned Scientists and a team of more than 50 scientists and economists. Unveiled at the New York Botanical Garden Wednesday, the report examines the effects of greenhouse gas emissions over the next century across the Northeast. The report looks at two scenarios: one with the continued reliance on fossil fuels and another that takes into account the incorporation of clean and renewable energy. By the end of the century, according to the report, the city could see temperature increases from 6 to 14 degrees above record levels, the extinction of Long Island Sound’s lobster fishing industry and a serious threat to its crops, such as apples and sweet corn. 2007-07-12

Congestion Pricing Debate
With the mayor’s congestion pricing proposal bogged down in Albany, Assemblymember Richard Brodsky has issued a report sharply critical of the plan to charge motorists for driving in parts of Manhattan. Although conceding that congestion is a serious problem, the report questions the fairness of using “pricing mechanisms … for distributing scarce public resources or solving social problems.” It calls the plan a “regressive tax” that will largely burden working families.” The Drum Major Institute has issued a memo rebutting some of Brodsky’s criticism and arguing that congestion pricing would benefit most middle class New Yorkers. 2007-07-11

Extreme Heat and Your Health
The New York City Office of Emergency Management offers safety information for the heat wave and locations of the city's 290 cooling centers. 2007-07-10

Rethinking Environmental Review
The Manhattan Institute's report "Rethinking Environmental Review” lays out steps to improve the City Environmental Quality Review process. Environmental review was instituted so that public officials would understand the full environmental implications of a project and could plan for any necessary changes to municipal infrastructure and services. Over time, the report argues, the process has evolved to focus solely on legal disclosure as a kind of "litigation insurance” and needs to be reformed and streamlined. 2007-05-18

Moving Beyond Oil Dependence
A report from the Sierra Club NYC Group, entitled "Moving NYC Toward Sustainable Energy Independence," offers short and long-term recommendations for energy conservation. Ideas include adjusting parking fees to discourage driving, instituting work weeks of fewer but longer days, and closing 42nd Street and Broadway to automobile traffic. 2007-05-11

More Recycling Needed to Help Lower City
This report from the Independent Budget Office finds that the city’s cost for collecting and processing recyclables is expected to remain higher than the cost for collecting and disposing of refuse. It estimates that the total cost recycling will be $206 per ton in fiscal year 2008, 23 percent more than the $167 per ton it will cost to collect garbage. The higher per ton cost is due to the relative inefficiency of collecting the smaller volume of curbside recycling. 2007-05-04

Increasing Recycling
While recycling costs more than conventional garbage disposal, that gap will narrow in the future as it becomes increasingly expensive to ship garbage to landfills and incinerators outside the city, according to the Independent Budget Office. Recycling could become more economical if the city promotes recycling and, if the market for recyclable materials expands. In that event, recycling could help the city “slow the projected growth in sanitation costs.” 2007-05-02

City's Air Quality
A report by the American Lung Association shows New York City's air is even more polluted than it was last year. Last year, New York City was ranked the 15th-worst region in the country for daily particle pollution. Pollution levels are even worse this year, according to the report. 2007-05-02

Public Advocate's "Green" Proposals
In response to Mayor Michael Bloomberg's proposals to make the city more environmentally sustainable, Public Advocate Betsy Gotbaum has released a report, "Twelve for 2030," which proposes ways to expand access to commuter lines, attract “green” businesses and jobs to the city, and create incentives to protect affordable housing. 2007-05-01

Relieving Congestion
Traffic congestion is a major problem throughout New York City, not just in Manhattan, and private cars, many driven by people who live in the city – are the key cause, according to "CITYinFLUX: Understanding and Untangling Traffic and Transportation in New York City," a report by Schaller Consulting. To reduce the congestion, the report recommends a multi-faceted approach, including improvements to public transportation, more efficient use of street space, and charging motorists to use some roads and to park. 2007-04-20

New York
The Environmental Protection Agency released a draft "Filtration Avoidance Determination," which names New York City as one of only five large cities in the country with drinking water that does not need traditional purification. The city has agreed to spend $300 million over the next 10 years to acquire undeveloped land in the watershed as a means of protection. In addition, the city is constructing a facility to provide water disinfection using ultraviolet light to maintain the quality of drinking water. 2007-04-17

Counting Greenhouse Gas Emissions
An inventory of the city’s greenhouse gas emissions, released yesterday by Mayor Michael Bloomberg, finds that the city’s emissions in 2005 accounted for approximately 1 percent of the U.S. total. While per capita emissions were far lower here than in the United States as whole, they have been increasing in recent years, the inventory found. The figures on the emissions, which are considered largely responsible for global warming, will serve as the benchmark for reducing such pollution by 30 percent between now and 2030, a target the mayor set late last year. 2007-04-11

Traffic and Health Problems
Over two million New Yorkers live within 500 feet of a major roadway, putting them at risk for pollution-related health problems, according to this report by Environmental Defense. "All Choked Up: Heavy Traffic, Dirty Air, and the Risk to New Yorkers" sums up the science of these risks, and suggests some solutions. 2007-03-29

Scaffold Safety
The Scaffold Worker Safety Task Force, created in response to a series of deaths and injuries (there were 29 construction deaths in fiscal year 2006, a two-thirds increase from the year before), issued a series of 13 recommendations in this report, “Steps To Safety,” (e.g., increase enforcement of safety rules; improve training programs; promote use of 311 to report unsafe conditions), which Mayor Michael Bloomberg recently announced his administration would invest $6 million to begin implementing. Most of the money will go to the creation of a Scaffold Safety Unit within the Department of Buildings. 2007-02-09

Traffic Data
The New York City government does not have the information it needs to address the city’s traffic congestion problem or to plan for anticipated growth in auto and truck traffic, according to a report by Schaller Consulting, released by Transportation Alternatives, an advocacy group. While the city government does collect information about traffic in Manhattan, it does not collect important data about travel within and to business districts in the other, increasingly congested, boroughs, the study found. 2007-01-24

Clean Technology and Jobs
The emerging market for clean technology has the potential to be a source of many new jobs for New York, according to this study by the New York City Investment Fund, the economic development arm of the Partnership for New York City. Combining upstate New York's underutilized manufacturing base, raw materials and research talent with the capital available in New York City would allow the state to get ahead of the curve on the trend towards cleaner technology, it argues. It gives several specific proposals. 2007-01-18

Traffic's High Cost
New Yorkers who live on streets with lots of automobile traffic spend less time outside and are more likely to limit their children's outdoor play than people who lives in less congested places, according to a new study by Transportation Alternatives, an advocacy group. The study, “Traffic’s Human Toll,” also found that New Yorkers living on high traffic streets have a more negative perception of their block. Almost half of respondents surveyed said reducing the number of cars traveling their street would "totally improve" the quality of life. 2006-10-11

Linking Deaths to Ground Zero
The federal National Institute of Occupational Safety and Health has released a draft of guidelines that would help determine whether first responders at the World Trade Center site died because of toxins released by the collapse of the Twin Towers. The guidelines set a high standard for establishing such a link, saying “Data does not yet exist to quantify relationships between WTC exposures and diseases causing death," but the federal agency cautioned that the current document is only a draft released to get feedback. 2006-09-20

Pollution and Child Development
Prenatal exposure to pollutants from car, truck or bus engines, heating, power generation, and tobacco smoke can adversely affect child development. A study of children in Washington Heights, Central Harlem and the South Bronx found that those whose mothers had been exposed to high levels of urban air pollutants during pregnancy had lower scores on mental development tests and more than double the risk of developmental delay. Previous studies have shown that air pollutants can reduce fetal growth, but, according to Columbia University’s school of public health, which conducted the study, this is the first one to reveal that city pollutants can also affect cognitive development. 2006-05-31

Working Towards a Sustainable City: Accomplishments and Agenda
In this draft report, the City Council examines its actions on the environment in recent areas -- on areas such as lead paint, pesticides, and endangered species -- and lays out additional steps that must be taken. 2005-10-14

Loud Nightlife
A majority of complaints about noisy bars made to the city’s 311 hotline come from Manhattan. And the most gripes come from Community Boards 2 and 3, which cover much of lower Manhattan. The report by City Councilmember Eva Moskowitz lists the 10 bars that have been the subject of the most complaints and offers recommendations to help silence noisy nightlife. 2005-08-08

Garbage Plan Will Cost More at Beginning
Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg's plan to ship most of New York's residential garbage by barge instead of by truck will initially add $100 million a year to the city's trash disposal costs, according to a report released yesterday by the city's Independent Budget Office. 2005-06-03

Preliminary Mayor's Management Report for Fiscal Year 2005
The Preliminary Mayor's Management Report for Fiscal Year 2005, according to City Hall, "provides an early update of how the City is performing four months into the fiscal year," offering "performance highlights and statistics for agencies, as well as data on inquiries received by the 311 Citizen Service Center." Also, Search by agency 2005-02-15