Here’s how Queens went green in 2020
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Queens took steps to protect its coastlines in a year full of sustainability activism and achievements.
Photo via Urielevy /Wikimedia Commons
By Rachel Vick
In a year like no other, Queens residents continued to fight for climate justice — working toward carbon neutrality goals set by the 2019 Climate Leadership and Community Protection Act, questioning fossil fuel production proposals for the borough and advocating for renewable resources in Western Queens and Rikers Island.
New legislation to help reduce New York City’s carbon footprint took effect, advocates achieved a hard-earned victory against the fossil fuel conglomerate trying to build a natural gas pipeline and the city put forth a plan to shore up its coastlines against rising seas.
Here are five ways the World’s Borough worked towards a more sustainable world.
City Council cuts building emissions
Astoria Councilmember Costa Constantinides introduced a bill to expand the definition of buildings forced to comply with new emission-slashing retrofits.
The changes subject residential buildings where 35 percent of the units are rent-regulated to the 2019 Climate Mobilization Act, a measure that limits harmful emissions from commercial and some residential complexes.
About 1,000 large buildings fall under the new expanded regulations, likely leading to a 100,000-ton annual carbon reduction — the same effect as taking about 21,000 cars off the road, Constantinides said.
Mayor Bill de Blasio signed the bill into law in November.
NYC plans for flood resilience
A new coastal rezoning plan put forth by the Department of City Planning would alter land use along New York City's 500 miles of waterfront, with a notable impact on the Rockaway Peninsula, Howard Beach and land along the Flushing Waterfront.
The plan would amend zoning laws to make it easier for low-lying communities to build flood-resilient infrastructure and would limit high-risk construction in the areas most vulnerable to flooding as sea levels rise over the next 50 years.
‘Renewable Rikers’ plan gains steam
After the city committed to closing Rikers jails and building four new borough-based jails, advocates and lawmakers continued to push for the island to become a hub for renewable energy and education. Too small for solar, the island would best serve as an energy storage hub, pumping power back into the grid in times of need.
Delays affecting the city’s jails plan leave the proposal in jeopardy, but the goal of transforming the island has gained traction as policymakers acknowledge the need to maximize its potential while acknowledging its dark history.
Gas pipeline rejected — permanently
The state’s Department of Environmental Conservation, prodded by Gov. Cuomo, officially rejected the Williams Pipeline proposal after years of back and forth between National Grid, state agencies and local environmental activists.
The corporation Williams had planned to pump fracked natural gas from Pennsylvania to the shores of New Jersey, through New York Harbor and under the waters of the Rockaways until reaching a land-based pipeline.
Local advocacy groups argued that the 17.4-mile-long pipe off the shores of the Rockaway Peninsula would not only disrupt the ocean environment, but would exist in opposition to the sustainability goals from both the city and the state.
Astoria gears up to fight polluting peaker plants
A plan to overhaul a “peaker” plant in Astoria has become the latest target of activism in Queens. Energy corporation NRG has proposed removing oil-burning infrastructure and instead generating power from natural gas, thus pumping fewer emissions into the environment in an area referred to as “asthma alley” for its high rate of respiratory ailments. Eventually, NRG says, the plant will run on hydrogen power.
But opponents of the plan say hydrogen is right now a pipe dream. Meanwhile, the natural gas vs. oil debate creates a “false choice,” when the city and state should look to renewable energy, said Food and Water Watch New York City organizer Laura Shindell.
Community members were joined by elected officials like Comptroller Scott Stringer, who took a hard stance against the Astoria “peaker” plant, which produces extra power during times of peak use, like AC-cranking heatwaves.
Queens continues to make strides towards a clean energy future with the introduction of a plan to install what will be the state’s largest electricity storage facility, just blocks away from the outdated plant, on land owned by the New York Power Authority — which pledged to look into increasing sustainability efforts in October.
