Most New Yorkers have heard of the Spectra natural gas pipeline and the dangers it poses – but until recently, it’s felt like a vague, far-off worry that may or may not happen. Unfortunately that couldn’t be further from the truth, as the pipeline (also referred
Yesterday, the city celebrated the 10th anniversary of the smoke-free air act — a landmark legislation passed by New York City that is reported to have saved an estimated 10,000 premature smoking-related deaths among residents. Mayor Michael Bloomberg was
Unshaken by his failed attempt to banish large sugary drinks in the city, Mayor Bloomberg is now after a different public health-related issue with a proposed bill that would require stores to conceal cigarettes. Introduced during a speech this week at the
Adding some clout to NYC’s highly controversial soda ban, Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg, along with Deputy Mayor for Health and Human Services Linda I. Gibbs and Health Commissioner Thomas A. Farley, released new data showing the correlation between sugary drink
When NYC’s city-wide soda ban goes into effect next Tuesday, coffee-drinking New Yorkers might find themselves feeling burned as well. Macchiatos, lattes, frappes and other sweet beverages will also fall under the ban, which could mean that customers at food
Gristedes Supermarket billionaire John Catsimatidis wants to be New York’s next mayor — for just 99 cents! The grocer-turned-magnate announced his bid to succeed Mayor Bloomberg yesterday, with it came news that he’d work for less than Bloomberg’s
Yesterday, the House of Representatives passed the second stage of the Hurricane Sandy relief package. The final tally came in at 241 to 180 in favor of providing $50.7 billion towards rebuilding and recovery as well as preventing damage from future storms.
While many Americans are relieved that the country won’t go tumbling off the much ballyhooed fiscal cliff (yet, anyway) there are thousands for whom relief is nowhere in sight. This week, to the shock of many of his fellow Congresspeople, Speaker John Boehner
Last month, director Josh Fox premiered his new documentary film “Occupy Sandy: A Human Response to the New Realities of Climate Change” against the wall of a building above the Mobil gas station at Avenue C and Houston Street in lower Manhattan. The flash mob of viewers who packed onto the concrete below had only received the exact location of the “guerilla” screening 15 minutes before its debut, following succint instructions to “text @climatecrime to 23559 to stay in the loop”. Read on for some highlights from the new film, which chronicles the efforts of the Occupy Sandy movement after the storm.
They say hindsight is 20/20, but what if we had been warned about Hurricane Sandy as far back as thirty years ago? A report by AP now shows that New York actually began working on new legislation to prepare for scenarios that seem strangely similar to what
Lev Radin / Shutterstock.com
New York is home to 600,000 million street trees, which help keep the city’s air clean and add character to the diverse neighborhoods across the five boroughs. But trees need plenty of TLC, and for years many of them were
New York City offers a wealth of farmers markets throughout the boroughs, but for many New Yorkers, they are still too inaccessible or unaffordable. Luckily, Mayor Michael Bloomberg and Speaker Christine Quinn have announced a new program that will change
You might recognize Colin Beavan as the star of the documentary “No Impact Man”, or you may have read his book by the same name, but you might soon be seeing him in a completely different capacity – as a congressman. Beavan announced last week that he
Since the word got out that New York’s recycling rate has plummeted to embarrassing numbers, the Department of Sanitation has brought in a new leader with the hope of doubling the city’s rate by 2017. Ron Gonen will take on the dauting task of transforming
Dried out shark fins stock countless shelves all over Chinatown, but New York legislators have just announced a bill that may ban their sale. About 73 million sharks are killed and stripped of their fins each year to produce ingredients for shark fin soup.
Mayor Michael Bloomberg and City Council Speaker Christine Quinn announced last week 25 percent of the proposed green building laws have been drafted into law over the last two years. The proposals were part of a green building report originally published
image courtesy Office of the Governor
Governor Andrew Cuomo has just signed a law that creates a new category of company that seeks to benefit businesses across New York State that prove they have socially responsible practices. The new category, Benefit
New York City has been named a recipient of the World Green Building Council’s Government Leadership Awards for Excellence in City Policy for Green Buildings. The honor was announced on Monday during the United Nations Climate Change Conference, or COP17,
Mayor Bloomberg kicked off Climate Week 2011 yesterday with the release of the annual PlaNYC Greenhouse Gas Inventory, which reported a 12 percent decrease in greenhouse gas emissions since 2005. The success of Bloomberg’s green policies was a key part to
New Yorkers were shocked when the state issued guidelines that would allow fracking near decrepit tunnels that supply drinking water to NYC, despite alarming research concerning the dangers of fracking and its devastating affects on the environment. But it
We haven’t heard much lately about the continuing battle to have PCB-tainted light fixtures removed from city schools, but on Wednesday, NYC parents filed a federal lawsuit in response to the city’s refusal to replace PCB laden light fixtures within a shorter
Despite NYC’s solar policy, incentive programs, and the numerous economic and environmental benefits that come with it, only a few homeowners in NYC have been able to install solar panels. It seems that the main obstacle to installing solar panels in residential
