Funding a Cleaner and More Resilient New York City

By Liam McGowan

As the clock ticks down toward the June 30th deadline for the NYC City Council and the Mamdani Administration to agree on a Final Adopted Budget for FY27, NYLCV is urging lawmakers to invest in the policies, programs, and infrastructure we need to build a cleaner, healthier, and more resilient city. 

NYLCV’s Deputy Director of New York City Policy, Alia Soomro, testified before the City Council at the Public Executive Budget Hearing on June 10, where she outlined NYLCV’s key priorities.  

As the federal government rolls back decades of bipartisan environmental protections and drastically cuts funding for clean energy, and as our city continues to experience heat waves, extreme rainfall and flooding, droughts, and sea level rise – which disproportionately impacts low-income communities and communities of color – local environmental leadership matters more than ever. 

NYLCV appreciates several commitments included in the Mayor’s Executive Budget and the City Council’s Preliminary Budget Response, such as expanding the Fair Fares program to make subways and buses fully free for households under at least 150% of the federal poverty line, funding for bus and bike lane projects, waste containerization, DEP’s Bureau of Coastal Resiliency, assistance for Local Law 97 and building decarbonization projects,  as well as the new iteration of OMB’s Climate Budgeting document.

We are also encouraged that the Mamdani Administration baselined $15 million for NYC Parks, including $3 million in permanent funding for critical forest management staff to support the care of our natural areas. We are excited about the release of NYC’s first ever Urban Forest Plan, which aims to reach 30% tree canopy citywide by 2040, and is an important step toward creating a cooler, healthier city for all.  

However, significant work remains to be done.  

Parks 

NYC Parks are an essential outlet for all New Yorkers. As Soomro noted in her testimony, “a Trust for Public Land report recently highlighted how New York City’s parks system national ranking has been downgraded to 20th place, due in no small order to lack of funding and significant cuts to the agency’s core staff over the last three years.”

NYLCV urges the Mamdani Administration to baseline a remaining $8 million for NYC Parks, which would secure employment for 115 critical parks staff who are currently slated to lose their jobs by June 30th. Additionally, Soomro urged the Mayor and City Council “to bring parks funding up to 1% of the city budget, as the Mayor committed to do during his campaign.”

Urban Forest Plan

NYLCV urges lawmakers to include $150 million in the FY27 Budget to fund the initial implementation of the city’s first-ever Urban Forest Plan, along with $1 million for the Mayor’s Office of Climate and Environmental Justice to support non-NYC Parks agencies tasked with heightened management and expansion of trees in their jurisdictions. 

Buildings and Energy

Buildings are the largest source of greenhouse gas emissions in New York City, and ensuring Local Law 97, which sets a limit on harmful building emissions, is funded and implemented effectively is a top priority for NYLCV. Part of how we accomplish that is by making the process for building owners more straightforward and affordable. We appreciate the Administration providing $1.8 million to a new Co-op and Condo Hub within the NYC Accelerator program. This will provide specialized support to over 1,000 low- and middle-income co-ops and condos through engagement, decarbonization planning, and connecting with existing incentives and financing. We encourage the city to continue prioritizing funding and technical assistance to help buildings meet the Law’s 2030 emissions goal.

Battery Energy Storage Systems (BESS)

“BESS are a critical component of New York’s clean energy future,” said Soomro. “These safe systems can help meet grid reliability needs amid growing electricity demand, cut costs by mitigating the need for costly traditional infrastructure upgrades, and dramatically increase the grid’s ability to onboard new renewable energy.”

BESS are also essential to finally retiring outdated and highly-polluting peaker plants, which are often located in Disadvantaged Communities. 

In order to ensure BESS applications can be handled efficiently, NYLCV calls for the funding of additional staff lines to support permit and safety reviews at FDNY and DOB’s Office of Technical Certification & Research.

Transportation

Improving street safety and increasing access to mass transit will mean fewer cars clogging our roads and less pollution choking our communities. NYLCV urges the City to fund and implement the NYC Streets Master Plan, which will improve street safety, accessibility, and quality for all New Yorkers. 

Along with calling for fully funding and staffing the Department of Transportation, we support the expanding Fair Fares eligibility to 300% of the Federal Poverty Level (FPL) including fully free for households under 150% of the FPL.

NYLCV also urges the Mamdani Administration to continue prioritizing investments in bus stop upgrades, improvements in bus speeds, and adding protected bike lanes to make our streets safer, while also prioritizing and funding Vision Zero policies that encourage safety through engineering, education, and enforcement to better protect pedestrians, cyclists, and motorists.

Sanitation and Zero Waste

Funding NYC’s Department of Sanitation means cleaner, more enjoyable streets for all. It is crucial to fund the purchase of Empire Bins (a European-style stationary on-street container for use by larger buildings) and automated side-loading trucks as the city continues to expand waste containerization.

NYLCV supports the NYC Community Compost Network request of $9,290,000 for the city’s Community Composting programs. Expanding recycling and organics services to all NYCHA residents is a major priority, including increasing funding for DSNY and NYCHA staffing and for composting operations, like the successful program being run by the non-profit Green City Force at nine NYCHA developments.

Department of Environmental Protection (DEP), Water and Stormwater

NYLCV appreciates the Administration’s allocation of $10.6 million in FY27 for DEP’s Bureau of Coastal Resilience, which will establish critical in-house capacity to manage the city’s growing portfolio of shoreline protection assets and strengthen coastal resilience planning. 

The NYC Water Board Rental Payment, which would allow the City to charge the Water Board more than $1.3 billion in rent from 2026 through 2029, must be eliminated, as it takes money away from DEP water-related infrastructure improvements and allocates it to the city’s general fund for non-water purposes. Along with funding the Stormwater Masterplan – providing $10 million – NYLCV also stresses the importance of providing sufficient funding for DEP and MOCEJ hiring and retention.

We also call for $3 million in funding to fully implement the Unified Stormwater Rule (USWR), including $2 million for additional staff at DEP to support its implementation, as well as permit processing and site inspection to ensure compliance. 

Electric School Buses (ESBs)

Another key NYLCV priority, specifically for the Department of Education, is to fully commit to the timely implementation and funding of Local Law 120 of 2021, which mandates an all electric school bus fleet by 2035 to cut harmful pollutants, improve public health and air quality, and fight climate change. 

“The City must work with school bus vendors and utility companies to plan, develop, and fund school bus charging infrastructure throughout the City,” Soomro told the Council, “especially at school bus depots located in disadvantaged communities and ESB workforce development programs.”

Emergency Management

The city must allocate $1.2 million for the implementation of Local Law 128 of 2025, which codifies the NYC Cooling Centers Program. This should include funding for maintenance, staffing, increased hours of operation during extreme heat events (including weekends), and a public education campaign on extreme heat awareness and mitigation. 

While the executive budget deadline is fast approaching, city leaders have an opportunity to put forward investments that will improve public health, boost climate resilience, and create a more sustainable New York City for generations to come. 

We look forward to working with the City Council and the Administration to ensure these priorities are reflected in the Final Adopted FY27 Budget. 

Take Action!

As the June 30th deadline approaches for the FY27 Adopted Budget, we encourage you to contact your elected officials to show support for climate and environmental programs!

Below is a testimony template you can use to draft comments and the webpage for submitting your testimony:

Liam McGowan has been a communications fellow at the New York League of Conservation Voters since November 2025, and intern since September 2025. He graduated from the University of Vermont in May 2025 with a B.S. in Environmental Science (Biology concentration). During his time at UVM he assisted with projects in the Rubenstein Ecosystem Science Laboratory. To learn more about Liam, visit his LinkedIn page located here.

06.15.26 // AUTHOR: Press //