Volume 15, Issue 7

July marked not only summer in full swing, but a number of important climate justice developments. Read on to learn more about our congestion pricing lawsuit, the launching of a key ally’s green worker training institute, recent documentaries from our NYC Climate Justice Hub and a new joint report.

In July, NYC-EJA, represented by Earthjustice, joined a lawsuit with Riders Alliance and Sierra Club to sue Governor Kathy Hochul over her decision to direct the MTA to “indefinitely pause” the congestion pricing program. Passed in 2019, the congestion pricing program is a dedicated funding source for capital projects to improve and expand subway and bus service, starting with the 2020-2024 Capital Plan. Given the Governor’s abandonment of the program, projects like extending the Second Avenue Subway, procuring electric buses, and upgrading subway tracks and signals are at risk. While NYC-EJA itself has joined the lawsuit as a coalition, that should not be interpreted as a sign that every NYC-EJA individual member organization agrees with the current congestion pricing law; NYC-EJA has championed congestion pricing for 17 years, and the current overall condition of our mass transit system is now dependent on congestion pricing revenues. Read the full lawsuit here. 

On July 18th, NYC-EJA joined fellow NY Renews Steering Committee member and REVitalize partner, People United for Sustainable Housing (PUSH Buffalo), at the ribbon cutting of their Sustainable Workforce Training Center, the region’s first green job training center, on the West Side of Buffalo. The 2,500 sq ft. facility is a community-led project that is a major investment for the West Side community and green workforce development. A key goal of the training center and PUSH Buffalo is to expand local hiring opportunities for BIPOC residents in the fields of clean energy and sustainability; to create strong neighborhoods with quality, affordable housing; and to advance economic and environmental justice as part of REVitalize partnership’s goal to build and scale community co-owned renewable energy and energy storage across New York State.

The NYC Climate Justice Hub featured once again on CUNY TV’s Sustainability Matters, but this time the Hub provided the background for a special episode revolving around four documentaries created by students in Baruch College Prof. Shelly Eversley’s Climate Justice course during the Spring 2024 semester. The documentaries – Roots and Resilience, When It Rains It Pours, Bacon Egg and Cheese Sandwitch and Asthma Alley – highlight local climate and environmental justice issues championed by NYC-EJA, including inequitable tree canopy cover, vulnerability to stormwater and flooding events, housing insecurity, food apartheid and toxic air quality exposure. NYC-EJA's Climate and Health Programs Manager Victoria Sanders and GOLES NYC Climate Justice Hub Advocate Shaheeda Smith are featured in Roots and Resilience and When It Rains It Pours, respectively. The episode will re-air throughout the summer and is available on the Sustainability Matters YouTube page.

Dr. Eversley, a Professor of English and Interim Chair of Black and Latino Studies, along with her course and students were in the Hub’s inaugural cohort of CUNY classes engaging with NYC-EJA members and NYC-EJA in the Spring 2024 semester. The documentaries showcase the power and promise of the NYC-EJA and CUNY partnership: the NYC Climate Justice Hub.

The Resilient Coastal Communities Project (RCCP) team, a partnership between NYC-EJA and Columbia University’s Center for Sustainable Urban Development, has completed our first research project, which culminated in the following academic article: Advancing equitable partnerships: frontline community visions for coastal resiliency knowledge co-production, social cohesion, and environmental justice.

In addition, we would like to share this document that highlights some of the key takeaways from the full published article.

City Limits: By Next Century, Hundreds of Critical NYC Buildings Risk Frequent Flooding: Study (7/3/24)

The NY State Attorney General’s Office: Attorney General James Stops Four School Bus Companies from Illegal Idling and Polluting at Bus Yards in New York City Communities (7/8/24) (Also featured in Legal Newsline)

Earthjustice: As Prime Day Draws Record Profits and Extreme Truck Traffic, Assemblymember Marcela Mitaynes and ElectrifyNY Coalition Call for Clean Deliveries (7/18/24) 

QNS: Queens residents voice support for proposed clean energy project connecting offshore wind to Ravenswood Generating Station (7/29/24)

Politico: Weekly New York & New Jersey Energy Newsletter (7/29/24)

CONGESTION PRICING ARTICLES

Office of the NYC Comptroller: NYC Comptroller Lander & Coalition of Advocates and Litigators Announce Two New Lawsuits Challenging Gov. Hochul’s Indefinite Pause of Congestion Pricing (7/25/24)

The City: Dual Lawsuits Slam Hochul’s Congestion Pricing ‘Pause’ (7/25/24)

Reuters: Civic, environmental groups sue New York governor for halting congestion charge (7/25/24)

Associated Press News: Transit and environmental advocates sue NY governor over decision to halt Manhattan congestion toll (7/25/24) (Also featured in The Washington Post, Spectrum News NY1, KTVZ NewsChannel 21, US News)

Gothamist: Advocates sue Gov. Hochul over her decision to halt NYC congestion pricing (7/25/24)

Crain’s New York: Congestion pricing advocates sue Hochul (7/25/24)

CBS News: 2 more congestion pricing lawsuits challenge Gov. Hochul's authority to scrap the plan. Her team's response? "Get in line." (7/25/24)

Daily News: Lawsuits say NY Gov. Hochul had no right to stop MTA congestion pricing plan (7/25/24)

Times Union: Hochul sued over indefinite pause of congestion pricing (7/25/24)

Courthouse News Service: New lawsuits slam NY Governor Hochul on congestion-pricing reversal (7/25/24)

NorthJersey.com: NYC congestion pricing pause by Gov. Hochul challenged by 2 new suits (7/25/24)

Washington Examiner: Hochul sued by transit and environmental groups over Manhattan congestion toll delay (7/25/24)

Bloomberg: NY Governor Hochul Sued Over NYC Congestion Pricing Freeze (7/25/24)

Brooklyn Eagle: Gov. Hochul Faces Lawsuit For Halting NYC Congestion Pricing (7/26/24)

Fast Company: ‘Literally, lawless’: Advocacy groups sue NY Gov. Hochul for halting congestion pricing (7/26/24)

Earthjustice: Three Leading Grassroots Organizations of Transit Riders, Environmental Advocates, and Environmental Justice Community Groups Sue Governor Hochul and the State of New York on Congestion Pricing Block (7/26/24)

Law.com: Gov. Hochul Faces Two New Lawsuits Over Stalled Congestion Pricing Plan (7/26/24)

Trains.com: Lawsuits challenge New York governor’s move to halt congestion pricing (7/27/24)

Land Line: Two lawsuits call Gov. Hochul’s congestion pricing pause ‘unlawful’ (7/29/24)

Colorado Politics: Hochul sued by transit and environmental groups over Manhattan congestion toll delay (7/30/24)

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