NYC’s 2023 Environmental Year In Review

Talking about climate change on a global scale can feel overwhelming. But looking at just one city makes it easier to see change happening. From fights for the trees to park budgets, green transit, and composting, NYC had a big year of environmental wins. There were also some losses. 

This may have been the hottest year on record, but we still think it’s worth highlighting the many wins that New Yorkers fought for.

Without further ado, here is the 2023 environmental year in review: 

Trees

The trees won in the legislature — both City Council and the State Congrees passed laws, or bills, which protect trees. 

In October, the City Council passed Int. 1065, a groundbreaking bill aimed at expanding the city’s tree canopy cover from its current 22% to an ambitious 30%. Expanding the tree canopy is crucial to mitigating any effects of climate change. 

The State Senate passed a bill that would protect forests outside of New York as well. The bill, which is sitting on the governor’s desk waiting to be signed, would “Ensure companies contracting with the state are not contributing to tropical primary forest degradation or tropical deforestation directly or through their supply chains.” In essence, the bill aims to reduce deforestation by proxy through business, for the sake of controlling climate change.  

The second annual City of Forest Day, run by the volunteer group Forest For All NYC, in partnership with the NYC Parks Department and other organizations, was a rousing success. This year, City of Forest Day programming included 75 different events to celebrate New York’s urban forest. Events included tree plantings, forest restoration, and classes on tree care and maintenance.

Composting

On October 2, curbside composting became mandatory in Brooklyn. The service, run by the Department of Sanitation is free, automatic, and year-round. The composting program also came with the installation of 250 composting bins across the city with 150 more to come. 

The GrowNYC compost collection program, where anyone can drop off compost at select green markets, went through turmoil. GrowNYC’s program has been the reliable and go-to composting program in Brooklyn. But in November, City Council budget cuts left the program out of funding for the year. Thankfully, in mid-December, an anonymous donor stepped in to save the GrowNYC composting program. 

In another, unexpected, composting win, dog owners who walk their pups at the Hillside Dog Park in Brooklyn Heights can now compost their pup’s poo. Once the compost bins are full, they are mixed with sawdust, woodchips, and other carbon-based materials. The compost matures for a few months, then is used to enrich plant beds. These compost bins are spreading to other parks as pilot programs, helping to make a dent in the 74 tons of dog poop dropped daily by NYC dogs.

Transit

Transit is proposed to go green under a new bill in the State Senate. Bill S2966, if passed, would require “Zero-emission standards for watercraft and commuter trains as well as authorize comprehensive studies into the development of sustainable water, rail, and air transportation.” 

Similarly, the Green Transit, Green Jobs bill aims to make NYC’s buses zero-emission. It also incentivizes the creation of green jobs by offering bonuses to companies that provide workers with good wages, benefits, and safety protections. Neither bill has passed through the Senate yet. 

Ferries got a green upgrade this year. Two ferry services, New York Water Taxi and NYC Ferries Governor’s Island service, are introducing new electric and hybrid ships. Both services would be zero-emission, thanks to a new grant from the government to install shoreside charging stations. 

Parks

The NYC Parks Department was hard at work this year. Fresh Kills Landfill, a landfill site in Staten Island, is being transformed into a new park called Freshkills Park. The first section of the park was opened to the public this year, and brought bike lanes, overlooks, and restrooms.

NYC Parks planted approximately 14,900 trees in city parks this year. This is the highest tree-planting total in the past six fiscal years and marks two consecutive fiscal years of tree-planting growth across the five boroughs. 

After 28 years, Fallkill trail in Prospect Park was reopened to the public. The trail, which leads to a waterfall, had become dilapidated. But the Prospect Park Alliance worked hard to clean up the trail and the opening was met with cheers.  

Unfortunately, amid a campaign to increase the NYC parks budget, instead, the budget is being slashed. Advocates argued earlier this year that the parks should receive 1% of the yearly budget in order to maintain parkland which covers 14% of the city’s landmass. Under the proposed cuts, 1,400 park staffers would lose their jobs, effectively leaving the parks dirtier and unsafer, with bathrooms in worse condition.

Bikes

Cycling in New York reached a record high this year. More than 550,000 cycling trips were made this year. 

This comes as the NYC Department of Transportation (DOT) works to install a record number of protected bike lanes this year. The expansion of bike lanes is part of the NYC Streets Plan and requires the City of New York to install at least 50 miles of protected bike lanes by the end of 2023 and 250 miles of protected bike lanes by the end of 2026. The administration installed 19.2 out of 30 required miles in 2022. To track bike lane progress, the advocacy group Transportation Alternatives made a tracker. 

Int. 417 was put on Mayor Adams’s desk to sign as of December 6. The bill aims to streamline the process for approving and building new bike lanes, tying them with larger transportation infrastructure project processes. If Mayor Adams passes the bill, it would become much easier to build the bike lanes required by the NYC Streets Plan.

The Greenways also got an expansion. NYC’s Greenways, protected corridors for cycling that are surrounded by greenery, will expand the existing network by 60 miles under the Adams Administration’s new plan.