NYLPI Applauds Signing of Strong New Lead Protections into Local Law
February 11, 2020
NYLPI’s Director of Environmental Justice Rachel Spector spoke at a bill signing with Mayor de Blasio in support of a package of new laws creating stronger enforcement of protections against toxic lead. NYLPI and coalition partners played a key role in …
NY Daily News: NYC kids’ sports access disparities persist, new Education Dept. data shows
January 14, 2020
New Department of Education data shows that racial disparities in access to high school sports persist, the New York Daily News reported. The data released was mandated by a NYLPI-backed bill passed last year. The median number of teams available to a …
City reduces waste capacity after NYLPI-backed legislation and lawsuit to clean up transfer station
December 20, 2019
Empowered by a waste equity law (Local Law 152 of 2018) passed in 2018 with the support of NYLPI’s coalition, the NYC Department of Sanitation has reduced the permitted waste capacity for three transfer stations in Brooklyn. In 2017, NYLPI sued one of …
Reuters: Infamous New York island jail could have new, green life
December 20, 2019
A Reuters article quoted NYLPI Senior Staff Attorney Melissa Iachan on the campaign for a Renewable Rikers. A series of City Council bills would transform the notorious jail into a renewable energy hub. “It’s turning something that has been bleak, may …
QNS: Coalition of environmental and criminal justice advocates unite around Renewable Rikers legislation
December 12, 2019
Photo credit: Max Parrott/QNS QNS Coalition of environmental and criminal justice advocates unite around Renewable Rikers legislation By Max Parrott / Thursday, December 12, 2019 A coalition of environmental justice advocates and criminal justice refor …
Op-Ed: The Energy Behind the Renewable Rikers Vision
December 11, 2019
The Gotham Gazette published an op-ed by Councilmember Costa Constantinides and NYLPI Senior Staff Attorney Melissa Iachan making the case for a Renewable Rikers Island. The plan would create a solar farm, state-of-the-art wastewater treatment plant, …