Cannonsville Dam. Image Credit: NYC DEP.

New hydroelectric power plant for City to be erected at reservoir in Cannonsville, NY. On September 16, 2014, Emily Lloyd, Commissioner of the New York City Department of Environmental Protection, announced that a standing ninety five billion gallon reservoir one hundred and twenty miles northwest of New York City in Cannonsville, NY will be outfitted with four turbines to generate clean electric energy for the City. This is New York State’s largest hydroelectric project in two decades. According to a statement given by the DEP, the plant, costing the City approximately $72 million, is expected to produce revenue of $2 million each year as well as dramatically reduce greenhouse gas emissions. (read more…)

Howard Slatkin. Image Credit: DCP.

Howard Slatkin, the director of sustainability for the New York City Department of City Planning, was a frequent visitor to NYC while growing up in New Jersey, but it was not until he moved to the City after studying history at Brown University, that he became interested in architecture and the social life of places. He earned a master’s degree in urban planning at Columbia University in 2000. At that time the concept of sustainability, though embedded in the course curriculum, had not yet gained the notoriety it has today.

From City planning to City sustainability. Slatkin joined the Department of City Planning immediately after graduation in the summer of 2000; he started as the community planner for Brooklyn Community District 1. His first task was to look closely at the Williamsburg, Brooklyn area and how the community was changing around the L subway line. His work eventually became part of the 2005 Greenpoint-Williamsburg Rezoning. The rezoning addressed population growth in the area and the disparity between the actual and legal uses of industrial buildings that were increasingly being used as residential and commercial spaces. The experience exposed Slatkin to many important issues including mixed-use development, waterfront redevelopment, and affordable housing, which became one of Slatkin’s areas of expertise and focus. The Greenpoint-Williamsburg Rezoning created the City’s current tool for affordable housing development – the Inclusionary Housing Program, which allows developers to take advantage of a floor area bonus in exchange for creating or preserving units of affordable housing for targeted income levels. The program has been used to encourage affordable housing development in many of City Planning’s rezoned areas, including Hudson Yards, West Chelsea/High Line, and West Harlem. From there, Slatkin became increasingly involved with the policy side of city planning and eventually became deputy director of strategic planning, where he oversaw the special projects, and in particular the green initiatives, for all of City Planning’s divisions.

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Cas Holloway

Cas Holloway, as commissioner of the Department of Environmental Protection, is responsible for protecting the City’s environment. This includes ensuring that clean drinking water from upstate aqueducts reach the City’s 950,000 buildings and that the City’s 14,000 miles of water and sewer mains remain in good working order. The agency also plays a major role in implementing PlaNYC by promoting the use of modern, “green” infrastructure.

Holloway joined the Department of Parks and Recreation under Commissioner Henry J. Stern after graduating from Harvard College in 1996 with a degree in government. After spending a year generating private sponsorships for parks, Stern named Holloway as his chief of staff.

Two years later, Holloway enrolled at the University of Chicago Law School, earning his law degree in 2002. He began his legal career as an associate at Cravath, Swaine & Moore and then served as a clerk for Judge Dennis G. Jacobs, now Chief Judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit. Holloway later joined Debevoise & Plimpton where he focused on corporate litigation and regulatory investigations. (read more…)

Michael Goldblum and Michael Devonshire replaced Stephen Byrns and Roberta Brandes Gratz. Architect Michael Goldblum and architectural conservator Michael Devonshire have replaced Commissioners Stephen Byrns and Roberta Brandes Gratz on the Landmarks Preservation Commission. Byrns joined Landmarks in 2004 and is a founding partner of BKSK Architects LLP. Gratz joined Landmarks in 2003 and will continue to serve the City as a member of the Sustainable Advisory Board for PlaNYC.

The City Council approved Goldblum’s appointment in October 2010 and Devonshire’s appointment in December 2010. The eleven-person Commission must include three architects, an architectural historian, a city planner or landscape architect, and a realtor. There must also be at least one resident of each borough. (read more…)

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 of brownfields, including those that are not enrolled in the State program. To that end, in 2009, the City Council passed the New York City Brownfield and Community Revitalization Act creating the Mayor’s Office of Environmental Remediation.

The Mayor’s office has promulgated two sets of rules that became effective in May 2010. The first set of rules sets forth the requirements for the Local Brownfield Cleanup Program, which is modeled on the State program. Participating developers submit to governmental oversight and community participation during the remediation process. In exchange, a developer may receive a limited release of liability from the City upon completing the program. The rules emphasize community involvement and protection of the environment and public health. (read more…)

Guidance for greenhouse gas emissions analysis and PlaNYC assessment among additions to manual. On May 17, 2010, the Mayor’s Office of Environmental Coordination released the revised City Environmental Quality Review (CEQR) Technical Manual. The manual summarizes the City’s environmental review process and provides guidance on the analysis of potential environmental impacts from projects undertaken directly by the City, financed by the City, or that rely on permits or approvals from the City. The City published the first manual in 1993, and it was last revised in 2001. The updated manual’s applicability to ongoing environmental reviews is discussed in the document’s introduction.

The manual has been revised and reorganized and now contains screening and preliminary analysis tools. It reflects changes in the review process resulting from recent legislation and new methodologies. A chapter on greenhouse gas emissions has been added that provides guidance for assessing the impacts of direct and indirect operations, mobile source, and construction emissions. The manual’s Land Use, Zoning, and Public Policy chapter now contains a sustainability consistency assessment for large, publicly sponsored projects, which uses PlaNYC as a guide to define sustainability for the purposes of environmental review. (read more…)