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Environment

While serving as Chief of Staff to Assembly Member Jonathan L. Bing our office received an honor from the New York League of Conservation Voters for introducing environmentally friendly legislation that helped enable the MTA's Select Bus Program.

As someone who grew up in New York City and State the environment including our City and State parks, greenways such as running and bike paths, and waterways are of integral importance. As a child I grew up playing in Carl Schurz and John Jay parks, and as an adult I've hiked in our State parks with Surprise Lake Camp, biked over 75+ miles of our greenways with Transportation Alternatives, swam across the East River with NYC Swim and in the Hudson River with the New York City Triathlon, and trained everywhere with the Asphalt Green Triathlon team.

As an avid user of our City and States natural resources, you won't find a better advocate for our environment. After all what other candidate would fight to keep the City's rivers clean enough to swim in?

Solution for Environment: Improve upon PlaNYC's million trees initiative.

Submitted by kallos on Sun, 02/05/2012 - 1:01pm
Issue: 
Environment
Solution: 
Improve upon PlaNYC's million trees initiative.
Explanation: 

Our City needs more trees, but not at the sake of cutting others down. A large, fully grown tree removes almost 70 times more air pollution than a newly planted tree. PlaNYC’s goal of a million trees in New York must account for trees that are cut down. Tree protection should be part of the approval process for any construction project. We should make it easier for individuals and community groups to plant new trees by streamlining the permit process and providing assistance when needed. We must also seek to lower pollution and corresponding asthma rates in low-income areas by planting trees and building parks there to green our urban environment. We can raise funds for new parks and trees with the selling of naming rights for individual trees, park benches and slabs and through Tax Increment Financing.

Source: 
Former New York City Public Advocate Mark Green, "Change for New York: 100 Ideas for a Better City," 2009.
http://markgreen.com/100#29
Organization: 
Mark Green for New York Public Advocate

Solution for Environment: Reduce emissions and improve the environment by phasing in congestion pricing.

Submitted by kallos on Sun, 02/05/2012 - 1:01pm
Issue: 
Environment
Solution: 
Reduce emissions and improve the environment by phasing in congestion pricing.
Explanation: 

Phasing in congestion pricing would vastly improve transportation in New York City while we wait for infrastructure improvements to catch up with growth. The Partnership for New York City estimates that eliminating excess traffic congestion would add as much as $4 billion and 52,000 jobs to the regional economy, along with reducing losses of $2 billion in revenue and 8,674 jobs in the manufacturing sector, on an annual basis. Let's renew our effort to bring congestion pricing to New York by allowing Albany legislators greater say in how it is implemented.

Source: 
Former New York City Public Advocate Mark Green, "Change for New York: 100 Ideas for a Better City," 2009.
http://markgreen.com/100#30
Organization: 
Mark Green for New York Public Advocate

Solution for Environment: Improve regional public transportation by keeping infrastructure up to date with regional growth.

Submitted by kallos on Sun, 02/05/2012 - 1:01pm
Issue: 
Environment
Solution: 
Improve regional public transportation by keeping infrastructure up to date with regional growth.
Explanation: 

Even with the most recent bailout, the Metropolitan Transportation Authority will face budget shortfalls in the future. Meanwhile, our transit system continues to carry one-third of the nation's transit passengers who, according to NYPIRG, pay nearly twice as high a percentage of system operative costs than the national average. We must (a) base funding decisions on current ridership, future ridership and perspective City growth, (b) create a dedicated funding stream so that money people think is going to infrastructure improvements does not get spent elsewhere, and (c) give the City and State Comptroller the power to do full audits of the MTA's finances and records.

Source: 
Former New York City Public Advocate Mark Green, "Change for New York: 100 Ideas for a Better City," 2009.
http://markgreen.com/100#31
Organization: 
Mark Green for New York Public Advocate