Climate Action
How New York’s Boroughs Went Green
September 23, 2025
Although New York’s popular characterization as a “concrete jungle” may not immediately lead you to think of its “climate action” pedigree, New York City is firmly at the center of the climate conversation.
So it is worth noting that this week is Climate Week New York City, a celebration of climate progress and innovation that extends far beyond the scope of the city’s own famous five boroughs. With world leaders in attendance, such as Kenyan president, H.E. Dr. William Ruto, and deputy first director of Deutsche Bundesbank, Sabine Mauderer, some of the world’s biggest leaders are tackling some of the planet’s biggest climate challenges in the city that never sleeps.
But here at EARTHDAY.ORG, we have always been about grassroots activism, so this NYC Climate Week, let’s shed some light on the localized environmental work that is making NYC greener.
Reimagining Brooklyn’s Skyline – Brooklyn
Historically, Brooklyn’s Sunset Park, on the western waterfront with views of New York Harbor, was the industrial heart of the city, and a critical center of shipping and manufacturing during the Second World War and postwar period. In recent decades, however, the neglected waterfront has fallen into disrepair.
It was just a dead area. Just warehouses, burnt out buildings and that was it.
Carlisle Kelly Jr., Electrician, speaking on Sunset Park in the 1990s
As industrial and manufacturing jobs dissipated in the area, three ‘natural’ gas plants moved in, and the majority-Latino residents of Sunset Park were left to live in the pollution these plants belched out. Operated mainly during periods of high electricity demand, they burn fossil fuels, primarily gas, and in the process release harmful pollutants such as nitrogen oxides (NOx) and sulfur dioxide (SO2) into the air. These pollutants contribute to respiratory and cardiovascular diseases and worsen air quality. Besides emitting these primary pollutants, the power plants contribute to the formation of ground-level ozone and fine particulate matter, which are linked to serious health problems. The neighborhood stands as a quintessential example of how environmental injustice happens.
Elizabeth Yeampirre, a civil rights lawyer and director of UPROSE, one of New York’s most prominent environmental justice organizations, has fought long and hard against the disenfranchisement of local people.
Over the course of 30 years, UPROSE has successfully doubled Sunset Park’s green space, and recently, launched a community solar initiative. Admirably persistent, UPROSE continues to better the lives of Sunset Park community members, and the arrival of a new, major green infrastructure project to the neighborhood is projected to rapidly accelerate the organization’s vision of a green, just future.
In 2017, Norwegian energy company Equinor proposed a large-scale offshore wind farm centered around Sunset Park. The project, aptly named Empire Wind, is set to not only help diversify and clean up New York City’s energy mix, but it has already begun providing jobs for thousands.
To construct the farm itself, Equinor has already employed over 1,500 people, with thousands more jobs created in association with the project’s supply chain and equipment production.
Although stalled by a stop-work order issued by the Department of the Interior, the now-resumed Empire Wind venture shows the positive future of green energy projects, even in the most unconventional of locations.
Not only will the wind farm work to reverse years of fossil fuel-induced community harm, but it is also working to actively integrate the Sunset Park community into the green economy. Often posed as mere means of cleaner energy generation, renewables are far more than that, intersecting with social and economic issues as well.
Cloudbursts in Queens – Queens
Cloudbursts are characterized by a sudden, high density of rainfall in a short period of time. As climate change produces more extreme weather patterns, these downpours pose a real problem for cities such as New York, which often lack the infrastructure to effectively handle so much rainfall in such a short timeframe, causing flood-related disruptions and damage.
In response to this problem, New York City has integrated cloudburst hubs into its infrastructural development plan. Two of these hubs are planned to be built in Queens. They will utilize so-called gray infrastructure, like sewer systems and porous concrete, as well as green infrastructure, like rain gardens, to redirect rainwater off the streets and toward an underground storage tank.
Though not yet implemented, these systems project to make New York City as a whole more climate resilient, providing its residents with a more livable future.
The Bronx is Breathing
An initiative called The Bronx is Breathing is seeking to provide community members with a healthier future to counteract the emissions levels centralized around Hunts Point.
Hunts Point is “the number one diesel truck destination in New York State,” largely due to the Hunts Point Food Distribution Center, one of the largest in the country, which generates about 15,000 truck trips daily. This heavy truck traffic contributes significantly to air pollution, especially particulate matter (PM2.5) and diesel exhaust.
Hospitalization rates for asthma amongst children are 2.5 times higher in Hunts Point than the New York City average. Although freight vehicle emissions are not the sole cause of this exceptionally high asthma rate, they are a major contributor to the issue.
To combat it, The Bronx is Breathing is working with the Greater Hunts Point Economic Development Corporation, in partnership with Volvo and Mack Trucks, to transition the local fleet of freight trucks to EVs. The initiative seeks to build EV charging infrastructure in Hunts Point and start an initiative that supports drivers in attaining collective ownership of the new vehicles, working around both logistical and financial barriers to the plan.
Bringing Back the Oyster – Staten Island
The waters surrounding New York City were once densely populated by oysters, but with the industrialization of the area, the oyster population has been devastated. New York Harbor was once the greatest oyster habitat on the planet, with vast oyster reefs that supported both the local ecosystem and human populations for centuries. But by the early 1900s, decades of overharvesting combined with mounting pollution from sewage and industrial waste led to the collapse of oyster beds.
In 1927, officials declared the harbor oysters unsafe to eat, and since then, oyster populations have been functionally extinct in New York waters.
When oysters thrive, they form oyster reefs, forming a natural coastal defense, which is a critically important component of the marine ecosystem and essential to dampening storm surges. As the oyster population has decreased in the area, the toll of major storms has significantly increased. Superstorm Sandy, hitting New York in the fall of 2012, created a storm surge 14 feet tall, which claimed 44 lives along with thousands of homes and businesses.
To bring the oysters back and prevent another similar occurrence, the Billion Oyster Project is constructing “living breakwaters,” artificial structures that serve to break incoming storm surges. Constructed off the shore of Staten Island, these structures protect on-shore human interests, shielding the coastline from the worst of storms.
But these structures bolster local biodiversity too, over and above just oysters because they mimic the complexity of natural oyster reefs, projecting to provide habitats for a variety of oysters, shellfish, and fish. These reefs will also attract large species like rays, sharks, bald eagles, and seals, drawn to the flourishing biodiversity breathed into the artificial habitats. As a result of this ecological revitalization, the breakwaters may also develop into fishable locations for locals.
The Greenway is the Right Way – Manhattan
As part of the broader Manhattan Waterfront Greenway initiative, a project that seeks to establish a 32.5-mile green ring around the island, Harlem is receiving major funding to revitalize the neighborhood’s public spaces and connect community members to the waterfront.
The initiative goes beyond mere aesthetics, providing residents with practical infrastructure upgrades. Funding for the Greenway is being used to reconstruct seawalls, build new pedestrian and bike pathways, and construct a new waterfront park.
At its core, the initiative ties together human and environmental well-being, simultaneously making public spaces more pleasant while updating its infrastructure to be more climate resilient.
Climate Action is a Local Matter
If anything, New York’s commitment to these green initiatives demonstrates that tangible impact can be made at the local level. While your municipality may not have the same resources as New York City, your voice can make a difference, especially when you organize with other like-minded individuals.
Join our network of volunteers, and get involved in your own community today!
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