Office of Environmental Remediation Announces Updated Mapping Tool

The updated SPEED tool will give community a better understanding of development and environmental measures taken in their neighborhood. On April 23, 2020, The Mayor’s Office of Environmental Remediation released an update to its SPEED environmental mapping tool. The SPEED 2.0 environmental mapping tool allows New York City property owners, developers and community members to create maps of environmental information at a city, borough, neighborhood or site level. All of SPEED’s data is regularly updated … <Read More>


Court of Appeals Affirms Order for Supplemental Environmental Review for Public Schools Built on Contaminated Site

Community Group sued the School Construction Authority seeking a long-term maintenance and monitoring protocol for the Mott Haven School site. The Mott Haven school campus site, consisting of four public schools, was formerly a railroad yard in the South Bronx. The site contained soil and ground water that were significantly contaminated, and the site needed to be remediated before the campus could be built. The campus opened in 2010.

The New York State Department of … <Read More>


Grants planned for local brownfield cleanup program

Remediating City’s contaminated sites is a goal of PlaNYC 2030. In 2007, it was estimated that as many as 7,600 acres of land in the City may be contaminated. The State has administered a brownfield cleanup program since 1994, but many of the brownfields in the City plagued by light or moderate contamination do not qualify for the State’s program. PlaNYC 2030 proposed the creation of an office dedicated to promoting the cleanup and redevelopment … <Read More>


Willets Point Proposal Heard at City Planning Commission

23-acre proposal will include environmental cleanup, expressway ramps, affordable housing, and retail and entertainment complex. The City Planning Commission held a public hearing on land use actions to facilitate Phase 1 of the Willets Point Development Project on July 10, 2013. The application was submitted by the New York City Economic Development Corporation and the Queens Development Group, LLC, a joint venture of Sterling Equities and Related Companies. Phase 1, to be split into … <Read More>


Willets Point redevelopment clears judicial hurdle

Resident and businesses argued City did not fully consider plan’s impact on highway traffic and water supply. In November 2008 the City Council approved a redevelopment plan for Willets Point, Queens. The plan would transform a 61-acre industrial section of northern Queens into a mixed-use neighborhood with more than 5,000 residential units, 1.75 million sq. ft. of retail space, a school, and a hotel. According to the proposal’s environmental review, the City would undertake extensive … <Read More>